Members will keep coming back to social networks that produce fresh, exclusive content. Knowing how to promote that content is just as important as having it in the first place. You can take advantage of the built-in abilities to send a broadcast message or share a piece of content with all members of your social network to promote new content and bring members back. Both of these features are extremely powerful for driving recurring usage to your social network.
Send a Broadcast Message. When you send a broadcast message or share a piece of content with all members, each member of your social network will receive an email directly in their email inbox. This means they don’t have to sign in to the social network to see the message – they’ll immediately receive an email. It’s an instant way to keep members updated on what’s happening on your social network, and to encourage members who might not have visited in a while to sign in and check out what’s new.
When you promote a specific piece of content to members of your social network, they’ll likely sign in to check it out, and they may end up spending a ton of time on your social network browsing around and enjoying what you have to offer.Broadcast messages are plaintext only, but you can include the links to any fresh, special content you want people to see.
Share Content. When you use the “share” feature to share a piece of content with all members, they’ll receive a nicely formatted HTML message, including your profile photo, a bit or information about your social network, and its icon. If you’re sharing a photo or video, a thumbnail of the photo or video will be included along with its title and description. If you share a blog or forum discussion, they’ll see the icon of the member who added it as well as an excerpt from the beginning of the post.
Learn from BroadwaySpace. One social network that has continued to do this right is Broadwayspace, a social network for actors and fans of Broadway.
Here’s an example of how Broadwayspace promotes its exclusive content:
1. They send out a broadcast message to all members linking directly to a new exclusive video of Will Ferrell just posted to Broadwayspace.
2. Members click through and find themselves spending the next 15 minutes watching an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay for their new Broadway show in a video exclusive to Broadwayspace.
Like all of the media players on Ning, by default, the video player is totally integrated into the look and feel of your social network, and the watermark logo is always a link back to your social network. Now, this isn’t rocket science, but it is a great example of how you can set your social network apart doing what should come naturally to you: capturing the amazing experiences unique to your social network, then sharing it with your members via a broadcast message. This is simple execution done right.