Hi Wimpie,
I am pretty active on social media. I've had to be just to get GX the numbers it had. I serve as an admin, moderator, and owner for several pages and groups on facebook, for example. I also work closely with my current' company's social media manager. In that science, there are three general factors that drive a following:
- Consistent posting
- Original Content
- Discussions/threads
Constant posting is absolutely essential. It is the new advertising/marketing goal for companies to be on top of your news feed. For followers to click like and share, etc. Constant posting proves that there is an active and dynamic community following and that alone lures new followers every day. Consistent posting gets more shares, more shares means more followers, more followers mean more players, etc.
Original content is probably THE most important thing on this list. Followers are less and less interested by the shared and reshared posts that float around the internet. Everyone wants to be on the cutting edge of the next new thing or big story. And, unfortunately, simply posting roleplays won't generate the sort of traffic that would boost our player base, imho. Current players may love it, I know I would, but new people would more than likely find themselves lost. What I mean when I say OC in regards to BM, I am talking about pictures, videos, that sort of thing. Things that are unique enough to BM, or striking enough to the outsider, that they are compelled to learn more.
Both of these lead to the final portion: Discussion threads. People talking about your posts is the best indication of a healthy, active following. Take the recent conversation about graphic violence in roleplays, that was an outstanding conversation and, if shared to social media, may only grow. Discussing complex social issues, researching historically relevant items, comparing in-game situations to current media trends like movies and shows, these are the tie-ins that will help anchor new players. I have ideas for this: Roleplay of the Week, Featured Realm of the Day, Featured Character of the Day, etc.
All of that said, we won't get very far at all unless we motivate our current player base to feed into these three things. That means getting as many players as we can to join the facebook group/page, to follow BM on Twitter, hell I'll even make a fake Tinder/Grinder account just to randomly bring in more people if I have to, but unless we can find a way to get our current layers on board to get the ball rolling, I think we'd be doomed to fail before we even began. We need volunteers willing to like and share BM posts
daily. To comment on threads
daily. To suggest new topics and generate new content
daily. It may sound like a lot, but in reality it may only take 5 minutes out of each of our days. but 5 minutes from each of us over an extended period will add up, my friends. I know it.
