When it comes to writing content, you’ve been there and done that. You’ve got a great following but there seems to be less and less interaction after each post goes live. You’ve been looking for a few ways to breathe new life into your brand’s website. What’s a writer to do?  Your blog is the perfect platform to show off some other forms of content that can help spotlight your brand and invite your community to get involved.

Don’t limit yourself to sharing content on your blog or website, though. Step outside your comfort zone and consider spicing things up by sharing these 5 forms of content, across your social media outposts:

Add Photographs: Did you know that business-oriented web pages with images performed 91% better than those pages without images? Let’s face it, we’re visual people. We’d much rather read an article that has a photo attached to it than just a straight page of text. Photos are a great way to draw people in for a closer look.  Another creative way to use photos is by sharing them on your Facebook page. The photos you share there can give your community insight about your company’s culture and tone. Please don’t limit yourself to sharing photos of your products. Share photos from conferences, events and even holiday festivities around the office.

Embrace Video: Did you know that 71% of online Americans use video sharing sites? Video is an excellent way to tell stories, share information and educate others. Consider using video to share tips or even to demonstrate how your product could be used. Video is wonderful way for you to show the human side of your brand. How about creating a top ten list of your most asked questions and have your executives answer them on camera? Maybe even do it Letterman style.

Create Podcasts: Including a podcast as a part of your content is like having your very own radio show. It’s a fantastic opportunity to share audio content with your community. Even if you’re not sure about creating and hosting your own podcast series, you can still create podcasts – just use the content you’ve already written. All those eBooks, white papers and case studies could easily be turned into podcasts for your community to download and take with them on the go. Imagine all the places your community might enjoying listening to your content, like at the office, during their morning commute or while working out at the gym.

Use SlideShare: SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. It has 55 million monthly visitors and 120 million page views, and is one of the 200 most visited websites in the world. Added bonus? In addition to presentations, SlideShare also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars. (Repurpose your content!) Plus, SlideShare makes sharing so easy. Your community can download your slides, embed them on their own site or even use them as a part of a presentation to make a case for getting on-board with your brand, as opposed to your competitors. SlideShare even allows you to categorize and tag your content so it’s that much easier to find, too.

Include Infographics: People are talking about and sharing infographics. Infographics are a great way to visually communicate information in a fun and creative way. Plus, your infographics don’t have to be run of the mill either, they can be as unique as your business or brand. In fact, some infographics, like the ones created by the folks at ImagineThink.net, could even be considered works of art. Additionally, if you want to make your infographics more shareable, be sure to include Tweetable statements to go along with them.

I hope this post helped kick-start your creative juices.  For more information on creating content for a social media community, be sure to grab this month’s eBook!

How are you spicing up your content? Are you already incorporating different types of content into your social media strategy? If not, which of these five would you be most likely to try?

Trish Forant is a Community Manager at Radian6. She tweets about social media and her adventures in South Florida. Connect with her on Twitter at @Dayngr.

Date: Thursday, December 10th
Time: 2pm EST

Do we really need to Make a Case for Social Media?

With …
•    325 million on Facebook
•    100 million on MySpace
•    40 million on Twitter
•    100 million daily views on YouTube
•    50 million people blogging

Edward Boches says social media changes everything except the need for creativity! He should know, as the Chief Creative Officer and Chief Social Media Officer at Mullen, a modern advertising agency based in Boston. He definitely has an opinion!

He’ll share those opinions and a multitude of stories in a Twebinar with Radian6’s Amber Naslund and David Alston on Thursday, December 10th at 2pm EST. Join us and meet Edward as he shares his passion for “Creativity in the age of Social Media”.

This Twebinar is open to communities everywhere so please join us by logging in with your Twitter account on Thursday, Dec 10th (no preregistration is required) or listen to the audio on our Engaged Brand BlogTalkRadio channel.

What is a Twebinar?

A Twebinar is a mashup between a live podcast/audio broadcast and Twitter as the backchannel for discussion.

How Can I Participate?

Since we’ll be using Twitter, just tweet us your questions with a #radian6 hashtag, include a “?” and we’ll be sure to see them. We’ve built the Twebinar interface so you can see all the tweets and discussion at a glance, listen to the broadcast, and submit your questions as we chat.

Twebinar Tips:

• Once the Twebinar has started, log in and you should hear music or the live broadcast. If you don’t hear the audio right away, please refresh your browser.
• If you login before the Twebinar starts, refresh your browser once the Twebinar begins and the BlogTalkRadio (BTR) interface will show up and start playing.
• To ask a question, simply type it in to Twitter using the #radian6 hashtag and end it with a “?”. We’ll see it.
• Your hosts for this episode will be @ambercadabra and @davidalston. Feel free to send them advance questions on Twitter if you like. We’ll also have @vargasl on hand to help gather and answer your questions during the broadcast.
• If you’d prefer to listen to the audio without the Twebinar interface, you can do so at our BlogTalkRadio channel.
• The full broadcast of the event will be posted on our blog after the event is over, or you can always listen to the archive on BTR.
• Any other questions, leave them here in the comments or ask us on Twitter and we’ll do our best.

Head to the Twebinars site to log in and join the discussion (don’t worry, we don’t see your login credentials; Twitter keeps those). We can’t wait to talk with Edward, and we hope you bring along some questions.

GE is a company that’s relentlessly focused on innovation, and their approach to social media is no different. The communication team at GE has launched their very own TweetSquad, a group of 10 individuals that engage with their community on Twitter and use the platform to collaborate with coworkers, but most importantly help GE’s boomers and Gen-Xers become fluent social networkers. It’s a sort of reverse mentoring system that’s a fantastic example of how companies can spend time and effort building their internal awareness and understanding of the power and potential of social media across the enterprise.

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, August 5th at 1PM EST as we talk with GE’s marketing & communications team about the Tweetsquad, what it’s meant for GE and their adoption and immersion in to the world of social networking, how they’re measuring success, and what they’ve learned to guide their future efforts.

The Twebinar format, if you haven’t been before, is a mashup between a live podcast/audio broadcast and Twitter as the backchannel for discussion. We’ll be using the hashtag #radian6 and picking up your questions along the way. We’ve built the Twebinar interface so you can see all the tweets and discussion at a glance, listen to the broadcast, and submit your questions as we chat.

A few Twebinar tips for the uninitiated:

• When you log in, if you don’t hear the audio right away, refresh your browser.
• To ask a question, simply type it in to Twitter using the #radian6 hashtag and end it with a “?”. We’ll see it.
• Your host for this episode will be @ambercadabra, so you can send questions to her in advance on Twitter if you like.
• If you’d prefer to listen to the audio without the Twebinar interface, you can do so at our BlogTalkRadio channel.
• We’ll post the full broadcast after the event on our blog, and you can always listen to the archive on BTR.
• Any other questions, leave them here in the comments or ask us on Twitter and we’ll do our best.

Head to the Twebinars site to log in and join the discussion. It’s going to be a great chat – don’t miss it!

Update: Listen to the archived broadcast here if you missed it!

Stacy DeBroff is the founder of Mom Central, a one-stop web resource dedicated to providing busy moms with smart household and parenting solutions. She also heads up the company’s consulting arm, where she and her team provide strategic advice and resources to companies who want to reach the powerful Mom market.

Stacy is a powerhouse of information and insights about how the social web is changing the game for companies and brands, and compelling them to understand customer loyalty in ways they never have before. Her deep bench of experience in law, writing (she’s the author of several bestselling books) and the world of parenting gives her a unique perspective on how Moms (and Dads) drive buying behavior, and how social media has empowered them to have stronger voices than ever before.

So download and have a listen to our chat with Stacy where she’ll share thoughts on online influence and what makes it unique, ROI vs. SOI, the challenges brands will face with a new social web, and where Dads fit into the mix.