Community Content Planning & Ideas

Content is the fuel that powers any Community and the link between the Host and Members. As the Host, you can lead the Community and shape the purpose of the Community with the content strategy.

However knowledgeable you are about your field, it is natural to have days when you draw a blank.  We created this article to give you inspiration on those days, and to make it easier to create enough ideas for long-term content planning and strategy. 

Content Planning Resources

Community Content Strategy

Content Ideas

Content Planning Resources:

There are many ways to plan your content from Post-it notes on whiteboards to spreadsheets and dedicated tools. If you’re not using one of these already, we recommend that you start with a simple system that allows you to focus on the developing content.

Community Content Strategy:

Your Community content strategy should support the purpose of the Community and deliver value to the members. It should contain both long and short term goals, both for you the Host and the Community.  The strategy should continue to evolve as the Community grows and evolves. These articles will help you determine the strategy that fits your specific Community:

Your Community Strategy is Incomplete Without a Clear Content Strategy by Clem Auyeung

(Good article on brand-focused community content strategy - recommended reading)

6 Tips to Build A Strong Community Content Strategy - Blake Morgan

(Originally for social media, but very relevant for a B2C community app too)

Do You have the Right Content Strategy For Your Online Community? - Isha Vohra

(For communities created around a business)

Content Ideas:

Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas from blogs or social media. Reuse ideas that you’ve personally had success with or seen in other apps. Here are some resources that you can adapt for Community posts and content.

🧠Inspiration

🤣Jokes

🤓Trivia 

💬Quotes

📺Trending Topics

🎲Contests

📅Special Dates 

🎁Bonus Ideas

🧠Inspiration:

Although these are ideas for social media or blogs, it is easy to reuse them to Community content. Don’t forget that, once your Community is active, the easiest way to get ideas is to ask your Community members and then look at the levels of engagement and interaction once you try an idea. 

🤣Jokes:

Not suitable for every Community, but good to beat the Monday blues or to use in an Off-topic feed (consider adding one - if you have a very active Community or find too much off-topic stuff in other feeds).

🤓Trivia: 

A simple way to get attention and engagement is using trivia. Ideally,  these facts and trivia should be related to your field. Here are some sources of general trivia that can be used either as statements or questions. 

💬Quotes:

Use an insightful quote to provoke discussion, make a point, or inspire. Combine with images to make them visually more attractive. 

📺Trending Topics:

Find the latest topics and trends in your industry, then ask your own questions, create polls, and give an opinion. Or newsjack a mainstream news story and put a field related slant on it.

🎲Contests:

Giveaways and contests are a great way to raise engagement and celebrate holidays or Community milestones. There are many options, from the simplicity of a giveaway with a commenter picked at random to complex multistage sponsored contests. We recommend that you make the rules very clear and that you screen record and document the picking process for high value or sponsored contests. 

📅Special Dates:

Holidays, festivals, and observances are great excuses to do activities in the Community and to get members involved. You can pick a suitable Event and make that the theme for a period; enabling you to build a set of linked content around the theme. Whether it’s Black History Month, Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, or World Diabetes Day - there are opportunities for all kinds of Community content. 

🎁Bonus Ideas:

Here are a few bonus resources:

How to encourage user-generated content by the Disciple team

How to Create Content for an Online Community by Venessa Paech