Everyone hopes the content they create for their social media campaigns will spread far and wide, but not everyone is successful. While any particular item may become popular or fail to spread for a variety of reasons, you can do a lot to help it succeed. Here are a few ways to give your social content an extra boost as you usher it into the world.
I got the idea for this piece from Todd Heim over at Search Engine Journal. As he notes, it goes without saying that you should focus on the quality of your content. If it isn't as good as you can possibly make it, then you need look no further for the reason it didn't spread. The problem is, while high quality is necessary for the spread of your content in social media, it isn't sufficient.
So why might high quality content fail to catch on? One reason might be the simple assumption that “if you build it, they will come.” It doesn't exactly work that way. “They” won't come if they don't know it's there. And guess who needs to tell “them” that your content is there? You do.
If you've already built up a strong base of users, you can use them to help get the word out about your new content. If you don't, you will need to put in the time building up your traffic. Even content with the greatest viral potential in the world needs a nudge to reach its audience. Fortunately, if you blog, there's a fair bit of cooperation built into the culture – so if you help someone spread their content (by writing about it in your blog or maybe letting them do a guest post), there's an excellent chance they'll be happy to return the favor. So the first thing you need to add to your viral content checklist is promoting your new content.
For the second reason your awesome content might fail to go viral, you need look no further than your title. If you can't write a good headline, you're not alone (as regular readers of my articles and headlines probably know by now!). These days, though, with so much competition for a reader's time, your headlines need to be not just good, but compelling.
If you can bear to be a little sensationalist in your headline, go for it. “One in 12 Children Suffer Life-Threatening Condition” is a bit more likely to make a reader click than “One in 12 Children Suffer From Food Allergies.” If you know anything about anaphylactic shock, you know it really IS a life-threatening condition...and your target audience will read your article all the way through.
If your headline is compelling enough, people will not only read it, they'll spread it to others who will read it, too. Heim notes another reason to make sure your title isn't boring: most of your readers won't read the whole thing. They'll form their opinion of the entire work – over which you've labored long and hard – from the headline alone. So, as Heim notes, “if you want your content to spread, even if it’s the most fantastic and interesting article ever written, you’re going to need a fantastic and interesting title.” Make sure that writing a winning headline is the second item on your viral content checklist.
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