7 keys to highly sharable content
One of the joys of working as a marketer is that it gives you a front row seat to emerging trends. Over the course of my career, I have been lucky enough to work with more than 150 brands across various industries and all major aspects of digital marketing. After a decade and half of marketing, patterns begin to emerge.
I analyzed some of the most successful content shared across the web over the past decade and took note of the common themes.
What follows are seven key takeaways based on the most successful pieces of content shared on social media.
1. Be Surprising
Some of the most shared social media posts are surprising. Is there a shocking factoid or insight in your industry or area of expertise? Lean into it. Be sure to capture the surprise in your headline.
Example: “109 Year-old Woman Said Secret to Long Life is Avoiding Men”
2. Leverage a Trend
From bacon to Baby Yoda, trends and memes ruled the ‘10s. If you have an opportunity to tactfully leverage a popular trend, give it a shot. But, be careful not to hop on a trend too late. It’s much more difficult to resonate after everyone has moved on.
3. Evoke Emotion
I noticed that most of the highly shareable posts evokes some type of emotion, ranging from awe to joy. If your content inspires, it will likely create a lasting impact. Inspiration comes in various forms: beautiful pictures, uplifting words, or a compelling story.
4. Use Compelling Images
A picture might not be worth a thousand words today, but it’s still worth a heckuva lot. Facebook and Twitter posts with images tend to perform better than ones without. When choosing an image, consider whether or not people are likely to stop scrolling once they see the image.
5. Challenge the Norm
Want to stand out? Challenge norms. Ask an unusual question. Give your readers something to ponder. Some of the most shared posts of the last decade provoked controversy.
Be careful with this approach — it doesn’t work for every audience. Don’t be contrarian for the sake of being contrarian.
6. Promote Interactivity
People love quizzes. The best type is one that tells readers something about themselves. The second best category is a knowledge quiz. Successful publishers encourage their readers to share the results of their quiz, which helps increase visibility. People generally like to share to belong to a tribe.
Examples of Highly Shared Quizzes:
“What decade do you actually belong to?”
“Can you actually see all the colors?”
7. Provide Practical Advice
People like articles with practical steps to success. Tap into your knowledge base and share what you know about your subject area.
Example: “How Successful People Stay Calm”
To summarize:
State a surprising fact
Leverage a trend or meme to gain traction
Inspire your audience
Use stunning imagery
Challenge norms
Introduce an interactive element and make it easy to share
Write to help people solve problems or answer pressing questions
Last but not least…
Viral Posts Are Outliers
Of course, simply writing based on a proven formula does not guarantee of success. (See: the myth of virality.)