Of all global internet users, 46 percent share social content on a regular basis. Only nine percent of people don’t share anything at all. Also of not – among all US internet users, 70 percent share social content
The type of content that brands upload has the most profound impact on its shareability. Infographics, for example, are shared three times more often than other types of content. Articles with an image get twice the social sharing of texts without.
These numbers can help you craft a social media presence that has a huge viral potential. If you want your followers to reshare content frequently, you’ll need to rely on a couple of effective approaches.
Getting key influencers to share your social media content is one of the best approaches in terms of maximizing visibility. A post that is shared by a social influencer gets 31.8 more reshares on the average.
These are people who have excellent reputations within their respective areas of expertise. They also enjoy a massive follower base, making influencers the key to effective social media marketing.
So, what does it take to get an influencer to notice your content?
For a start, you’ll have to write high-quality niche texts, or you have to discover sources of such content. If you’re known for sharing original, intriguing and well-researched pieces of specialized text, chances are that you’ll get influencers to notice you.
Giving influencers free publicity (mentioning them in your articles or posts) can also help you forge mutually-beneficial relationships. All types of collaboration are excellent for shaping up your social persona. On top of getting a bigger number of reshares, you’ll also be noticed by the influencer’s audience.
Inspirational Content that Provokes Positive Emotions
Giving people a positive emotion is one of the best options for encouraging social sharing.
University of Pennsylvania researchers have found out that people prefer sharing content that has positive connotations. They’re always looking for something inspiring, something that can provoke a smile.
Other research has shown similar results. HubSpot, for example, found that negative comments have the destructive power to curb audience growth.
Social content that provokes emotions like awe, joy, amusement and laughter gets the biggest number of shares. Content that provokes sadness or surprise tends to offer the worst performance.
This doesn’t mean you should include at least one uplifting message in everything that you share online. Still, try to craft your social media profiles as positive spaces that encourage good vibes. If you accomplish this goal, you’ll soon see the number of shares begin to increase.
Make Social Sharing Easy
This is one of the simplest, yet most effective strategies for getting people to reshare your content.
Today’s audience relatively lazy. If people have to complete numerous steps in order to accomplish something, they simply won’t complete the tedious process. Thus, if you want to encourage social sharing, you’ll have to make it as easy as you can.
Add social sharing buttons to your website and your blog posts. This way, people who feel impressed by your content will get to share it on social media effortlessly.
The inclusion of the so-called tweetables in posts is also an excellent idea. These are short pieces of content (facts, statistics, quotes, etc.) that come with a tweet button incorporated in the text itself. Thus, if people like the specific snippet of information, they can instantly post it to their Twitter stream.
Use Visuals
As mentioned earlier in the introduction, visuals are some of the most powerful tools at your disposal when it comes to getting more of your content shared.
There’s a simple explanation for the effectiveness of visuals. The brain processes visuals much faster than text. Images provoke an immediate emotional response. This is the main reason why if people like the visual, they’ll also be likely to read the text.
All kinds of images can help you boost engagement. In addition, they’ll add some diversity and color to your social media presence.
You can try infographics, diagrams, charts and even cartoons. Most of these can be made effortlessly – there are dozens of free infographic tools you can try online. They’ll give you access to graphical elements and cool fonts that will enable you to enjoy the benefits of custom-made content.
The same applies to videos. Video clips tend to be shared much more frequently than text.
Some companies and content creators worry that putting together a high-quality clip is difficult and expensive. Luckily, most smartphones are capable of producing decent footage that can easily be edited and enhanced through the use of free software.
Focus on Your Headlines and Descriptions
Finally, you have to sell your social media content in order to encourage sharing.
The headlines and social media descriptions you use will determine whether people will pay attention to your content or move on to another profile. Choose something witty, something that appeals to your target audience.
At the same time, it’s very important to avoid misleading people. If you promise to reveal a secret in the article that you’re sharing, make sure that it features such information.
Click-baiting (the creation of scandalous titles that are misleading) may work once or twice. When people find out that your headlines and descriptions are manipulative, however, they’ll almost surely stop visiting your pages and sharing your content.
Boosting social sharing is all about quality content and having a sound strategy for the setting up your online presence.
Take time to think about the needs and preferences of your audience. Offering something personalized and useful will increase the effectiveness of your approach and maximize the viral potential of your social media profiles.
Featured Image Credit: CC 0; Public Domain. View original image on flickr.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Alice Clark
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- Social Media Tip: Choose Content that People Will Want to Reshare - March 21, 2017
