Did you know you can add simple elements into your content to make it highly shareable? They’re known as “share triggers.” And using them in every post you publish you will be able to get hundreds of social media shares. Even better, they’re easy to create and they work. Even better still, you don’t need a big following or email list for share triggers to work. All you need is to know how to use them.
Share trigger 1: Information gaps to spark curiosity
People have a desire to consume and share content that delivers clarity around an unknown topic, according to research conducted by Carnegie Mellon University. The study also raises the idea of information gaps – powerful motivators for people to seek clarity about a topic.
In other words, adding information gaps to your content encourages people to not only keep reading but to share your content. The secret is to use information gaps to spark emotional curiosity then to make sure you satisfy it to get rewarded with more social shares.
Step 1: Preview something
What do you notice? I opened a powerful information gap by previewing something unknown to readers but available later in the guide. When readers see this, they think: “Wait! There’s a trap to targeting on Facebook? I’ll keep reading to find out what it is.” See how information gaps are simple, yet super effective at sparking curiosity?
Step 2: Give a solution
Once you make people aware of a potential gap in their knowledge, they’ll want to fill it with information that puts their curiosity to rest. If you want to be rewarded with lots of social shares, then you need to provide a resolution that satisfies their knowledge gap.
Share trigger 2: Create memorable content
It’s incredible to think that almost 2.4 million blog posts are published every day. How do you make your content stand out and get lots of social shares? Create memorable content because it sticks in the minds of readers like glue.
Share trigger 3: Great content design
One of the most underrated aspects that makes people share content is good design. When people first land on your content – they have a series of subconscious micro-impressions about it. Content design:
– Helps readers decide to stay or leave.
– Indicates perceived value.
– Affects their willingness to link and share it.
Here are three quick tips to instantly improve your content design:
1. Use high-quality imagery with lots of information
Easy-to-read graphs like this one work well because readers can easily see interesting data. Infographics are another great way to boost your page design and perceived value. They also come with the bonus of being highly shareable assets.
2. Keep colour changes to a minimum
Stick with two or three primary colours and make the palette consistent across your blog. If your images use neutral colours people are more likely to share and embed them because they fit in better with their site.
3. Design your content for skim readers
One key share trigger I haven’t mentioned yet is content length. Nobody likes to read a wall of text.
Break your content up into smaller, bite-sized chunks of information. An easy way to do this is by adding subheads and images into your content – the more, the better.
Share trigger 4: Content utility
Content utility is all about creating content that gives readers practical advice. Think worksheets, step-by-step recipes, checklists, and free online tools.
Why does utility correlate strongly with shareable content?
It turns your content from just another informative blog post to something that’s super practical for the reader. The trick is to make sure your readers can follow the steps (think cooking recipes) to achieve a result.
Share trigger 5: Social currency
Probably the most potent share trigger, social currency works on the premise that people like sharing the good news, more specifically, news that makes them look good or reinforces their beliefs. The real secret to social currency happens when you make influencers in your industry look good. Here’s a simple three-step method for adding social currency into your content:
Step 1: Reach out to influencers in your space via email and ask them a simple question related to a topic. Don’t forget to mention you’ll link to their site.
Step 2: Incorporate influencers’ responses into your content.
Step 3: After you’ve published your article, email the influencers to let them know the post is live and ask them to share it. It can result in a tweet or post seen by thousands of their followers.
Even better, because your content sources are industry heavyweights, people will pay attention to it and are happy to reshare it too.
Share trigger 6: Content length
BuzzSumo looked at the social shares of 100 million blog posts and found that content length is a factor for creating shareable content. In other words, long-form content generally outperforms shorter content in terms of social media shares.
Long-form content generally provides more comprehensive answers to readers’ questions, which further boosts its perceived value, making it worthy of a share.
Share trigger 7: Call-to-action conclusions
When someone reaches the end of your content, they think “What do I do now?” If you’re smart, you can use this to your advantage.
Simply ask the reader to share your post or leave a comment. That’s all there is to it.