Apparently, one of the biggest frustrations concerning content marketers is adding the elements that make their content highly shareable. Also known as “share triggers”, experienced and smart content marketers use such elements in their blog posts to register numerous shares from their audience. Here are the major triggers that should tempt readers to wildly share their content.
Information gaps to ignite curiosity
According to a study by Carnegie Mellon University, people normally consume and share content that clears particularly unknown topics. The research also talks about the information gaps, strong motivators that encourage people to acquire clarity regarding a topic. In short, filling information gaps makes people avidly read and share your content like never before. The idea of identifying and enlightening the information gaps is to ignite that emotional curiosity, later getting rewarded in terms of many shares across the web. Consider an example of an information gap in the “Basics of Facebook Ad Targeting”. Around 99% of marketers fall into the trap of detailed targeting and custom audiences and are unaware of it. We’ll talk more about it later and learn how to avoid it. Now, this is a common example of an information gap that readers most probably won’t know about, but will learn about it in detail later in the article, guide, etc.
Create a memorable piece
Around a staggering 2.4 million blog posts are published each day. And what is your chance to make your piece stand out from this ocean of content out there and register social shares? While a memorable content makes a lasting memory in the minds of your readers. However, easier said than done. One of the best techniques is the zig-zag method which explains that when everything else zigs, you zag. The content we publish either goes against popular opinion or a particular topic is examined from a different perspective unlike previously explored. Remember, it’s not about writing a piece that is obligated to beat the world, it just has to zag. Consider the example of the SEO industry. It is commonly believed that web traffic, brand recognition, and some quality backlinks can be achieved through guest blogging, i.e., posting articles on third-party blogs. According to Tim Suolo, guest blogging isn’t as effective as people normally consider. Obviously, the article gathered the attention of numerous SEO professionals, hence, registered regular shares and backlinks. In other words, Tim zagged when everyone else was busy zigging. However, be sure to back your counterargument with credible data, as Tim used in his article.
Great content design
Great content design is one of the most underrated aspects of content sharing. When people first visit the landing page on your website, they’ll be subconsciously inspecting the content design through micro-impressions. Putting it simply, an attractive content design assists readers in deciding whether they should stay or leave, presents perceived value, and influences their motivation to link or share it across their network. Using quality infographics is a great way to enhance the content appeal on your website. Furthermore, the colour changes should also be kept to the minimum and consistent throughout the content piece or blog. Another important thing to note is that your content should be designed for skim readers. Nobody likes to read a long wall of text, but the writer should smartly breakdown the content in bite-sized chunks with appropriate headings, subheadings, quotes from SMEs, and visual content to make it more presentable.
Relevant content utility
The content utility is about creating actionable content that gives readers more of practical, how-to steps rather than plain introductory information found elsewhere. Try to write more through worksheets, checklists, step-by-step recipes, free online tools, and related ways. But why does content utility holds an utter significance for sharing? As we know, the internet is flooding with millions of blogs, forums, and articles at each second, and a typical descriptive blog is another boring piece that a reader will find at almost every link on Google’s search results. The prospect is to provide some valuable advice or steps, something that educates your readers to become a better learner, cook, teacher, digital marketer, data scientist, or any other profession you’re writing about. Consider the example of top blogs such as Content Marketing Institute, Smartinsights, SEMrush, etc. Such platforms only accept quality articles that talk about actionable tips, “how-to” articles, or step-by-step processes, rather than simple listicles. Nevertheless, the primary objective is to make the content popular enough to get as many shares as possible.
