On his blog, Jeff Bullas shares “10 Ways To Create Contagious Content for Your Social Media Marketing.” We’ve spent some classes analyzing which social media messages are most engaging and shareable. Here I’ll discuss a few of Jeff’s strategies and provide my own example for each.
1) Use good news.
Sites like Buzzfeed and Upworthy have content that is constantly shared. This is because their articles use headlines that play on our curiosity. They also focus more on positive emotions. People like to share content that makes them feel good. They also like to be the sender of content that they know will make others feel good as well.
BuzzFeed sharing positivity.
2) React fast.
Oreo’s tweet was one of the most popular posts surrounding the birth of the royal baby, Prince George, back in 2013. Oreo published it only a few minutes after the announcement of the birth. But they had planned for the post and prepared a creative image ahead of time, making sure that it was tasteful and appropriate.
Oreo reacting to the royal baby news.
3) Use a great story.
While we try to be logical when making purchase decisions, the truth is that we buy many items based on how they make us feel. Yes, rational benefits and product features influence our decision. But more importantly, so does a great story surrounding a product. Great stories make use of our emotions and they don’t even have to be that dramatic. Take a look at Budweiser’s Superbowl commercial following the friendship between the Clydesdales and a puppy.
Will you apply some of these strategies in your next social media post?