Make Chamber Life Easier By Creating Content That Multi-Tasks

Awhile back I was perusing a chamber website and clicked on the blog. There I found a stark, blank, lonely page with one post that said “Coming soon.” The post was dated 2013. It made me sad. It made me sad because this chamber was trying. They understood the value that a blog could deliver to members, but like a lot of other chambers, they obviously lacked the resources to get it up and running.

It reminded me of another time when I came across a chamber Twitter (now X) account with once again, one lonely post. The post read: “Really excited to get into this Twitter thing!” It was dated about two years prior to me stumbling upon it. There were no other posts to the account. It was a digital ghost town.

I get it. You’re busy. In the interest of full disclosure, I get busy too. It can be hard to keep up with the demands of digital media cycles. But digital media is one of the best and most affordable tools to help you connect with your members.

If you are short on time or resources you can make the most of what you have by creating content that multitasks.

Start With Content Pillars

A content pillar is a core topic that serves as the foundation for your content strategy. It helps guide you in creating content that your members and prospects will find valuable and relevant.

One important thing to remember is that your should align with your chamber’s mission, key initiatives, and value proposition. One could argue that just about anything could be relevant to your members, establish content pillars that directly tie back to the value of membership.

Some examples of content pillars might be your advocacy work, economic development, business resources. Also, don’t forget about networking and the value of being part of the community that is the chamber. By structuring content around these themes, you can improve engagement, increase awareness of what the chamber is and does and better tell your story.

Content Repurposing Strategy

Once you have pillars established, it will be easier to come up with content ideas, and when you have an idea, take a few moments to consider how that single idea can be put to work in other ways.

Let me demonstrate. Since quality networking opportunities are a common thread among chambers, let’s use networking as our content pillar for this exercise.

5 Ways to Repurpose a Single Piece of Content

#1 – Blog Article

The topic experiences its first life as a blog article: Five Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Your Next Networking Experience (or come up with your own title). Have a staff member write it, or maybe a volunteer who is a networking ninja.

Don’t have a blog? Nice try, you’re not getting off that easy. Publish it as a newsletter article or use LinkedIn’s publishing platform.

#2 – Social Media Post

Turn that blog article into a social media post. Pull a single tip out of it to stand on its own or write an intro line that creates some curiosity and link to the blog article for followers who want more.

#3 Share an Infographic

Create and share an infographic that delivers your content in a visual way.

Don’t have a graphic designer on staff? No worries! Use a Canva template or find a shareable one on the internet that ties into the theme and push the link out to your members.

Better yet, save the search and design time and just use ours. You have our permission. 😀

#4 Ambassador Tips

Put your Ambassadors to work on this one. Have them provide you with their top networking tips for chamber events.

Create an image post by overlaying their quote on a networking event photo or using a photo of the Ambassador alongside the text. Let them know you’re posting it, and get their permission to tag them. If you’re really ambitious – record them as video tips with an invitation to come along to the next event.

Example script: Hi, I’m Laura Smith with XYZ Enterprises. I’m an Ambassador for the Chamber and my #1 networking tip is to bring plenty of business cards, you’re going to need them. Check the Chamber calendar for the next Business After Hours. I hope to see you there!

#5 Informal Survey

Create an informal, fun survey on the topic of networking using your preferred social media platform’s survey feature.

Example: What’s your business card strategy at networking events?

Take a huge stack, you never know.
10-15 should suffice
No business cards, use LinkedIn.
I don’t know, I always forget mine.

Let the Content Creation Begin

Once you’ve got the hang of how to do this, you will never be short of content ideas again, and if you keep it simple, it will make content creation much easier and more efficient than ever before.

If could use some help, check out our Networking Know How™ Series – a package of 12 done-for-you videos, customized with your chamber logo.