Content that remains unshared is like a plant that you forgot to water – a lot of initial time, effort and money has been invested into it but once it’s established it withers and dies.
Sigh…
So how do you make sure your content doesn’t go unshared?
What is the magic formula that achieves mass social sharing resulting in tons of referral traffic?
FYI, there is no magic formula, but there are a few things that your content marketing team should keep in mind:
- Did you write a fantastic piece?
- Is the content share-worthy?
- Is it technically sound?
- Does it have the right meta title and description?
- Does the piece have great keyword structure?
If truth be told, content doesn’t improve your ROI rate if no one shares it.
In order to measure the ROI for content, it’s quite easy – it begins with shares, likes and comments and ends in conversions and leads.
So, being a digital marketer or content marketer, how do you create great pieces people want to share.
Let’s find out!
Figure out your target audience first
Believe it or not, this is one of the biggest factors for successful content.
For any industry or niche, there is a specific audience.
Do you know exactly who your audience is? What do they value?
Develop buyer personas and think carefully about what they value.
Now think deliberately are you marketing to your target customers and catering to their needs, or are you marketing to professionals?
Yes, there is a big difference between B2B and B2C marketing and sales – knowing the key difference will help you develop the right type of content your audience will love.
When you develop B2B content, it is recommended to at least create 3 to 5 customer personas that influence the decision makers in the sales funnel based on what triggers them to commit to an action.
For example, an executive will be more likely interested in reading a piece that is informative, thought-provoking and philosophical in nature.
On the other hand, a sales manager is more interested in reading an actionable piece or guide that will help them to generate qualified leads and increase conversions.
Undoubtedly, emotions play a great role in B2B content, but they simply can’t be overlooked for B2C content. Regardless of the type of information you are passing along to your consumers, make sure emotions influence their purchase decision.
Think, why should consumers care about what you are posting? What are their pain points and how are you trying to solve them?
When it comes to developing customer personas, you can get information from different places:
- Google analytics: This data reveals how visitors get to your site, which keywords bring them there and how long they visit the site.
- Team efforts: Your digital marketing team can collect valuable insights for your target customers from their own experiences.
- Social media: Get the most out of social media by analysing what your audience love to read and share.
- Surveys and Polls: Accept it, your current customers are your most valuable assets for figuring out your target audience and helping you create content they actually want to share with their circles.
So, you have got the idea, but the question is, does developing content that helps solve your target audience’s pain points get massive shares or likes?
To make your content shareworthy, follow the next steps.
Grab the attention of your audience
In this fast-paced competitive business world, it is not possible to spread your marketing messages just like many companies did with TV commercials in the past. Now things have changed. You need to be clever.
You need to create content that stands out to your audience, otherwise, they will not bother to look at it.
Avoid overly promoting branded stuff
Yes! Don’t make this mistake. The student who stands up in front of the class and says, I’m the best! Is the least popular or avoidable student.
However, the student who is entertaining and talks about the latest happenings is the most famous one.
So, share useful and educational posts rather than promoting your products again and again.
Catch the trending and important topics
Write about the important and trending topics that are relevant to your industry. This way, your website or blog will become a reliable source of information that people will prefer to visit and of course, share.
Use the Power of Video
Statistics suggest that 77% of Americans own a Smartphone and approximately 65% of people use Smartphone’s to consume content and watch videos.
Images and videos are easier to digest on social media using Smartphone’s. In addition, people find it easier to read lists and headings in order to quickly consume the main points within an article.
Create Infographics
Infographics, memes and GIFs can also be used to enhance the shareability of your content. In fact, this can be extremely useful if you summarise your content in an infographic as it is one of the types of content that is most shared on social media.
Use Tools to Increase Shares
Most marketers may be wary of using a tool to improve shares as they believe it’s all about the type of content that matters most for sharing. But in reality, it’s very challenging to get a lot of shares and likes, even if you content is flawlessly written.
For instant amplification, digital marketers can use the following tools:
These social media tools help make content promotion and distribution easier while offering social analytics of each post.
Determining the current search trends help you create content your target audience will surely want to share. Google Trends is an incredibly amazing tool that can help you identify content that is trending in the search engine results pages. You can find the most relevant topics and then adjust the category according to your business type, industry and of course, target buyers.
Key Takeaways
What’s the point of using social media tools if your content isn’t useful to your audience?
It’s highly advised to invest your time and efforts in analyzing who your audience is, what their problems are and what they actually want. Offer them immense value and try to help solve your customers’ problems.
Look for different ways to make your content interesting, unusual and shareable. Stay updated with all the current trends, add shareable images, infographics and engaging videos into your posts that readers love to share.
Keep up your efforts at a steady pace and eventually people will share your content.