Have you ever had a post go viral? I’m still looking forward to that day and of course, working towards it, which is why I love receiving guest posts like the one below.
Everyone creates content with the hope that it will go viral. Can you imagine your blog receiving millions of views from qualified prospects? What would that do for your conversion?
So it’s understandable for content marketers to feel disappointed when they log onto their analytics to discover that very few visitors have read your work or liked your post on social media.
Creating viral content requires a blend of compelling content, excellent promotion, and a responsive target audience.
It’s entirely possible for marketers to control the first two elements of a viral post by writing great content and promoting it through their social channels. However, it’s impossible to force your audience to share, comment, or like your post. Or is it?
Understanding the psychology of your readership provides further insight into what compels them to share your post. Here are 5 reasons why people would want to share your content.
1. Sharing Increases Happiness
People like to share content that makes them happy. Remember that meme you sent to everyone in your address book last week? The chances are it was a positive, happy, or humorous image that inspired you to share it with your social circle.
Nobody likes a negative Nancy, so make sure that you keep the theme of your content in a positive light. Negative comments lead to fewer followers and an apathetic audience that has no incentive to share your post.
2. Sharing Content Defines Who You Are
The kind of content you share forms your online persona. In essence, what we share is who we are. Studies show that the desire to share content comes from a compelling need for acceptance that controls the release of dopamine in the brain.
The study also indicated that one of the primary reasons for sharing content is the anticipation of the reaction to the post by your social circle. How many likes will it receive? How many comments will I get on my post? Every like, or comment you receive releases a satisfying dose of “feel-good” chemicals.
3. Sharing Builds a Network
Do you remember the last time you sent your friends or family a link to an article, video, or meme? More than 80% of people share content as a means to stay connected to their social circle when they are out of touch. Alongside this fact, more than 70% of people share content to connect with others that share their desires and interests.
4. Sharing Provides Self-Fulfillment and Supports Causes They Believe In
Almost 70% of people share content because it makes them feel involved with social issues. People enjoy receiving credit for valuable information they share to their network. More than 80% of people share content online as a means to support causes they believe in. People believe social media empowers them, providing a platform to share their feelings on brands and non-profit organizations.
The most vital component of a viral post is how easy it is to share. People are inherently lazy. If they have to scroll up and down your post to find social sharing buttons, chances are they’ll move onto another piece of content, rather than take the effort to find your sharing buttons.
Make it as easy as possible for visitors to your site, or followers on social to share your post. Drop social sharing buttons, retweetable quotes, links, and Pinterest buttons to your images. Placement of these buttons is critical.
As a best practice, keep your social share buttons below, above, and on the left side of your content. Monitor your site heat map to analyze the most effective placement for your social share buttons and keep testing different placement strategies until you find what works for you.
Will this be my first viral post? Care to share it with your friends?
Click on the share buttons to the left and share to your favourite social media platform.
Hi Lauren,
What a well-written post. I think you have the issue spot on and I would love one of my posts to go viral too. I think you need to write from the heart about your chosen subject to get people to re-post and re-tweet etc.
Keep up the good work,
Sharon
Sharing relevant information with family or friends also tells them you’re thinking of them. It’s a kind of “look what I found!” moment that we all like to share.
I read a lot of blog posts during the week and often share if I think that the blog I’m reading is well written and researched on any given topic.
Hi Annette, you are so right, what a great point to make. I suppose it’s akin to getting together and reading a book, poem or article in a magazine or playing a piece of music to friends before we had the internet.
Thank You for popping over to read one of my posts, I hope you enjoyed it.