In today’s endless sea of social media content being published every day, only the best content that deserves to get shared and engaged with does.
Even platforms themselves have made it clear they’re doing promoting businesses just because they have large followings! It’s up to brands and content creators to make content their followers believe is worth engaging and naturally want to share with or without assistance an algorithm.
By understanding what makes content shareable and engaging, you're able to increase your understanding of your audience, their buyer's journey, and what type of content is best for them specifically.
Content creation, especially unique content creation, is essential for any marketing strategy. Going "viral" within your target audience can not only increase your brand awareness and sales but also help create a better community surrounding your brand.
Before you can create shareable and engaging content, you first have to understand why your audience would want to in the first place.
Why Do Users Share Content?
We all want our audience to share and interact with our content, but do we really even know why they would want to?
Besides being entertaining or educational, what is the real reason people share content with others?
A study conducted by a team of UCLA psychologists found that people have an inherent desire to dispense information. We’re wired to share—and there are certain ideas that we’re most likely to share.
One great way to ensure your audience sees and engages with your content is by taking advantage of Inbound Marketing.
What Is Social Selling the Inbound Way?
Customer experience is critical these days, and the masses have spoken.
No one wants to be sold to anymore.
Audiences don’t want cold calls, they don’t want marketers reaching out, and they don’t want interruptive ads displayed while they’re trying to enjoy their favorite podcast or show.
That’s where Inbound Marketing comes in.
Content marketing is the fuel for any successful inbound program, and social media is the ultimate content marketing vehicle!
Social media allows you to stay connected to consumers. A solid social media presence drives traffic to your blog posts, sends traffic straight to your landing pages, and is all about personalized content for your specific audience.
When your content is naturally shareable and engaging, your inbound marketing strategy will flourish.
Social Media Shares May Impact Your SEO
While the basic existence of a Facebook site for your business doesn’t mean you’ll rank higher, when search engines see that your social media sites are credible, shared often, and post high-quality content, they’re more likely to consider you a valued brand.
Because our feeds are partly curated by what our friends and followers are engaging with, when someone likes, comments, or shares a post, there’s a high chance we will see that post as well.
As you can see from the above graph, pages that rank higher on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) tend to have a better social media presence with higher engagement rates.
Visual Storytelling Can Be Important for Your Brand
Visual storytelling can help make complex stories easier to understand and, as a result, deliver a more impactful message.
When users see a story they can relate to or find interesting, there's a higher chance they will share it with those who they feel can also relate.
According to research, people remember images more than they do words. Marrying a great brand story with powerful imagery is a great way to create a viral marketing campaign.
Great storytelling that stimulates all senses promotes the release of feel-good brain chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine. These chemicals can prompt us to feel more comfortable, more relaxed, and more motivated. We are more likely to click a button, make a purchase, or follow a readily available call to action.
Naturally, the feel-good afterglow of experiencing a great visual story makes viewers want to see another and another after that.
One great example is the Super Bowl Budweiser commercials they have been airing every year for over 15 years!
Most of us remember at least one of the commercials they’ve aired or multiple. And it’s something we all talk about when discussing our favorite or least favorite Super Bowl commercials. This is because of their ability to visually tell a story in an emotional way.
When your content creates an emotional response like the above commercial does, it makes audiences engage and share them.
How to Make Your Content More Engaging
Creating content that is more engaging and shareable is important to not only increase your brand awareness and conversions but to help build your audience as well.
Acquiring a new customer costs seven times more than maintaining an existing one, so making sure your community engages and interacts with your brand is essential.
The number one way to make your content more engaging is to have a CTA on all your content.
A CTA is a call to action, or a reason for your audience to engage. this is a sentence or comment such as "leave your favorite memory in the comments" or "tag someone who would look great in these jeans." They can also be buttons or links that say "sign up," "subscribe," "get started," or "join free."
Some of the best examples of engaging content are the Facebook posts you see that say, "Bet you can't name a state without the letter A besides Alaska!"
These types of content make people want to engage because it makes them feel smart because, of course, there are more states with the letter A in it! The call to action in this instance is “bet you can’t name a state.” This sentence creates an emotional response that your audience takes.
Other ways to make your content more engaging:
Write for your audience
Produce actionable content
Make your audience think
Nail your headline
Make your audience have an emotional reaction
Ask them questions
Ask for their opinion
How to Make Your Content More Shareable
Creating shareable content is more complicated now than ever for several reasons. These reasons mostly are because platforms have restricted the visibility of businesses' accounts, trending content looking and sounding the same, and because new companies are created all the time.
When you add these three points together, you get an environment where shareable content is harder and harder to create.
However, there are ways to break through the shareability barriers and create content that resonates with your audience:
Nail your niche
Engage with your community and ask what they want to see
Include videos
Spark an emotional response
Give away free stuff
Be educational, not promotional.
Take advantage of visual storytelling
Use statistics and facts
When you use multiple or all of these suggestions, your content is guaranteed to become more shareable with your audience!
Graphic Design is Essential in Creating Shareable and Engaging Content
As we uncovered earlier, visual storytelling is one of the best ways to grab your audience’s attention and make them feel like they’re a part of your brand!
One of the most important steps when creating content that is designed to be shared and engaged with is making sure it looks good, is on-brand, and is unlike anything they’ve seen before.
Zoek Graphic Design services are an excellent way to make sure that all happens.
Our team of experts is here to create content for you that is designed to give your audience an emotional response they’ll want to share with their friends and family. Book a free strategy call at the link below.
Kellyann Doyle is a Content Marketing Writer at Zoek, an SEO, Web Design, and Digital Marketing Agency that assists small and medium-sized businesses with their online footprint. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in 2013 from the University of Houston with a Major in Communications and a Minor in Marketing and has been working in the Digital Marketing world ever since. When not working, you can find Kellyann trying new recipes, enjoying a good nap, or watching Friends for the 500th time.