How to Create the Kind of Content That Gets Shared
If you want to thrive on social media with your content, then you really need to take advantage of the nature of the platform.
Social media platforms offer us a huge amount of potential because they allow us to tap into social networks and connections that exist in the real world.
This in turn allows our information to spread through those connections and that’s where the idea of something going viral comes from.
Viral content is essentially content that enjoys exponential growth.
So you post something to your followers and they then respond by sharing it with some of theirs.
This then results in their contacts sharing it with their contacts and if this cycle continues you can end up getting thousands or even millions of views.
In order for this to work, your content needs to be something that people want to share and it needs to be the kind of thing that naturally lends itself to being shared.
How can this be made more likely?
The Psychology of Sharing Content
If your post is going to be shared as quickly as possible, then you need to understand why it is that people share in the first place.
And the answer to that is that people usually share to communicate and/or to express themselves.
A lot of sharing is basically narcissistic. The real reason we post is to tell the people we’re friends with, something about ourselves.
This makes us very likely to share things that we feel captures who we are. Just like we might hang a something in our room if we like the message.
The other reason people share is because they think someone else will particularly respond to the content. In that way we are doing them a favor and showing that we’re thinking of them.
Sharing content becomes a form of communication.
In both situations though, content thrives because it is tailored for a specific person.
So think about this when you write your own posts:
Who is this for?
What kind of person will share this?
More Tips
This will instantly help your content to spread but there are more things to consider as well.
One is that very often people share your stuff before they’ve actually read it.
They base their decision to share or not on the title and the image.
What does this tell you?
You need an eye-catching image and a great title!
If you got benefit or value from todays post How to Create the Kind of Content That Gets Shared, please feel free to leave me a comment below.
Also, see some related posts you might have missed below.
Home Business Coach, Entrepreneur, Author and Speaker
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Interesting post. I love your piece on the psychology of sharing. The post title and image really does decide how many people engage with it, it’s all people have to go on before opening the actual post. Great information Lynda..
Thanks Keith. Yes its interesting on the reasons why people share some things and not others.
People have always been afraid to share other people’s stuff. What they don’t understand is they see you as someone who is sharing value and it shares someone else’s information but teaches others you a leader of value
I totally agree with that. I think it can also come down to a lack of confidence in themselves top.
I’m attracted to the headlines and images as well. This is great info Lynda! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Demetri, I appreciate it
Whenever I share a blog on Social Media, its usually because I want to be able to access that content in the future. By having access to this content, I can find answers to questions that I may have regarding a certain subject. So, you are right when you say “Just like we might hang a something in our room if we like the message.”
That’s another awesome reason to share Gary! Thanks for sharing that
So weird how some things go viral and then the posts where you probably didn’t put muc thought into gets commented and shared like crazy
Awesome post Lynda loved it
Its crazy isn’t but well worth studying exactly what people share. Getting a viral post is awesome. Thanks for commenting Lynette