Marketing Advice - Viral Posts "The Ripple Effect"
by
[Pete Grimes](/articles/author/Pete Grimes)
Posted on
04/02/2022 11:10
Ever wonder what makes some Facebook posts, videos, or blogs “go viral,” while yours are lucky to have 7 shares and two comments?
While it might seem like some well-kept secret, the truth is it’s easy enough to create shareable content, if you put some thought and creativity into your efforts.
Viral Posts contain 3 things:
- Entertainment (the reader finds it interesting/funny/entertaining)
- Quality (regardless of post length, the quality is excellent and shareable)
- Emotional Impact (people can't help but share)
In his very insightful book, “Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference’, Malcolm Gladwell explores the viral trends in business, marketing, and human behavior. And how they ‘tip’, crossing a threshold, tips, and spread like wildfire.
I highly recommend that book, but here are some insights within a page that may be helpful to you, too.
Everyone Loves Infographics
Whether you want to know more about how coffee is grown, or you’re looking for ways to boost your blog traffic, you’ll find a variety of infographics to fill you in.
These colorful, easy-to-read graphics share vast amounts of data while still entertaining an audience. By condensing numbers and stats down to easily digestible bite-sized pieces, you can make valuable information highly understandable for any audience. Even better, your market will be happy to share (and share and share).
If you’re not artistic, or don’t have the skills required to create your own, you can hire designers from Fiverr and other job sites, or use a tool such as Piktochart to quickly make infographics your audience will love.
(Tip: create an embeddable link for your infographic and encourage other blog owners to share it on their sites. You’ll automatically drive traffic from every site that posts your content.)
Create Valuable Posts
Writing a blog post?
Don’t just skim the surface of a topic. Dig deep. Provide as much information as you can on the topic. (Hopefully you’re getting that here…?)
While some bloggers will tell you that shorter is better, the truth is, posts of 3,000 words are more likely to be shared than their shorter cousins. So don’t worry about attention spans. Readers have proven they want good info and they don’t mind digging into a long post to find it.
Let Yourself Shine
No one wants to read or share another “me too” post. Not you and not your audience.
What they do want — and what they’ll happily share with their friends and fans — are personality-driven pieces that aren’t afraid to take a stand. Nothing hidden; no “corporate babble”.
It’s easy to form a connection with someone like that because you feel like you know them personally. And what do you do with your friend’s content? You share it, of course!
We like to share funny, insightful, and motivational posts because it makes us feel funny, insightful, and motivational.
There is no magical solution, but to be more shareable, just be yourself, be transparent, and be valuable. In short, just do what you’re already doing, and then add a dose of your special sauce.
And, lastly, feel free to share this with someone you think would benefit from it!
Content Marketing Social Media Marketing Thought Leadership
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