Creating good content means nothing if it can’t be shared with your intended audience. In this sense, social media channels have become the modern bonfire in which people gather together to share their stories with one another. Admittedly, though, some stories are worth listening to more than others, and herein lies the challenge of creating killer content that people will share across the networks.
If you’re stumped with how to do this, here are just a few tips on how to develop content that can get you those precious shares on the social networks.
Write a Compelling Headline
Your headline will usually be the first thing people will see regarding your content. As such, it has to really stand out and grab their attention as much as possible. Nowadays, it’s very common to see “how to” and list-type articles. Instead of phrasing your headline with something like “Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Make Your Site Mobile Responsive”, you can try rephrasing it to a more imperative tone and come up with “Don’t Get Left Behind: Switch to a Mobile Responsive Site before It’s Too Late”. Of course, you shouldn’t try to over sensationalize your headlines either. If you plan on sticking to a headline that sounds dire, just be sure to back up your claims in the actual body of your content.
Looks Do Matter
It may seem like a shallow thing to point out, but visual elements are a key point if you want your content to be noticed on the social networks. When promoting your content, don’t just settle for a generic image – or worse, no image at all! Similar to your headline, your content’s featured image is one of the first things that people will see. This is why people tend to share eye-catching photos as much as compelling content, when they read through their social media feed.
Design Content that Fits with Your Metrics
Depending on the goal of your social media campaign, you will need to develop specific content that can fulfill these objectives. For instance, if your aim is to create a solid following, then putting out viral content that can easily gain you followers and subscribers is the best course of action. On the other hand, if you want to increase your engagement through interaction, creating online quizzes and polls is a great way to get your readership involved. Just remember to identify what you want to measure for your end goal and then create the appropriate type of content for it.
Create Various Types of Content
Don’t be satisfied with just one type of content. If you just churn out tons of blog posts and informational articles, then people will eventually get bored if they don’t see any sort of variety to your content. There are people who don’t always have the time to read through a thousand word article and prefer something more visual or bite-sized. There are many different ways that you can present the same type of information. Here are just a few popular examples that you can use:
- Infographics
- Videos
- Guides
- Whitepapers/Ebooks
- Podcasts
- Interviews
Just remember that good content is something must be shared with the world. If you have a worthwhile idea, put it out there and share it across your favorite social media channels. Just make sure that your content aligns with your goals and that it’s something your audience is actually looking for.
