Shareable content is content your audience finds so valuable, entertaining or thought-provoking that they can't wait to pass it along to their friends and followers.
Being able to create this type of content is the holy grail for any business looking to go viral. When you nail it, your content spreads organically, expanding your reach and moving the needle for your business.
So how do you crack the code and start producing content that has people eagerly hitting that share button?
In this post, you’ll discover 10 proven strategies to help you create engaging, shareable content that gets attention and drives real results.
How To Create Viral Content
1. Write Irresistible Headlines
The attention span of an average internet user is short. This means you have mere seconds to capture someone's attention and convince them to click through.
If you want your hard-crafted content to see the light of day, you need to start with a headline that is so enticing, your readers simply can't resist clicking.
Here are some proven formulas you can use to craft headlines that grab attention:
Use Numbers in your headlines.
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Listicles and "X Ways to..." headlines get higher click-through rates
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Numbers provide a specific, easy-to-digest amount of value
Make Credible Promises
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Headlines that offer the reader something of clear value are sure to pique their interest
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Reveal little-known hacks, share life-changing tips, or provide solutions to problems
Inject Curiosity
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Creating an information gap compels people to click through and find out more
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Tools like the Headline Analyzer can help identify how "curious" your headline is
Keep it Concise
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The ideal headline length is 6-12 words
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Anything longer risks losing the reader's attention
2. Incorporate Story Telling
If there's one surefire way to make your content more engaging and shareable, it's through storytelling. Humans are hardwired to connect through stories. Our brains respond to stories, helping us feel empathy, and creating deep connections between the storyteller and the listener.
In the world of content marketing, that type of emotional resonance is pure gold.
Tips for Seamlessly Weaving Stories into Your Content:
Open with a Hook
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Use a vivid description, intriguing question, or cliffhanger to immediately grab the reader's attention
Incorporate Mini-Stories and Vignettes
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Use short narratives to illustrate key points or lessons
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For example, share a story about a client's challenge and how your product/service helped them
Get Personal
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Sharing your own experiences, emotions, and struggles can build trust and make an authentic connection
3. Embrace Contrarian/Antagonistic Content
While it's tempting to stick to mainstream ideas, content that goes against conventional wisdom often ends up being the most viral and talked-about. This is because human beings are naturally drawn to controversial content.
When you take a bold, contrarian stance on an issue, you immediately capture people's attention.
They're intrigued by your willingness to "go against the grain" and would want to engage with your content - whether to debate your points, share it with friends, or simply consume it out of sheer curiosity.
How to Come up with Contrarian Content:
Challenge industry norms and best practices:
- Identify common assumptions or "rules" in your industry and question them. Propose alternative approaches that go against the grain.
Take an unpopular stance on a current event or social issue:
- Research trending topics that have polarizing debates using BuzzSumo.
- Craft a perspective that offers a unique, contrarian viewpoint.
Use data and research to support your contrarian stance:
- Uncover relevant statistics or studies that back up your unconventional position.
- Leverage data to build a compelling, fact-based argument.
Stay authentic and avoid being provocative just for the sake of it:
- Ensure your contrarian content is grounded in genuine beliefs or insights.
- Aim to spark thoughtful discussions, not just attention-grabbing headlines.
4. Create Shareable "How-To" Guides
Practical, actionable advice and guidance is something most readers can’t say no to. People love content that offers them real value and helps them solve their problems or achieve their goals.
By creating detailed, easy-to-follow "how-to" guides, you're giving your readers something they can immediately put into practice.
When crafting your shareable how-to guides, there are a few key formatting tips to keep in mind:
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Break the content down into clear, logical steps
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Use concise, straightforward language and avoid jargon
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Incorporate visuals like images, screenshots, or infographics to illustrate the steps
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Format the guide for easy skimming, with plenty of subheadings and bullet points
This type of easily digestible, scannable format makes your how-to content much more shareable, as readers can quickly understand the key takeaways and steps involved.
5. Develop Case Studies
Case studies are more effective at generating leads than other types of content marketing. The reason for this is simple: case studies allow you to showcase real-world results, which helps to build trust and credibility with your audience.
By highlighting how your products, services, or strategies have helped other customers or clients, you're providing concrete proof of your expertise and value.
When crafting case studies that your readers will want to share, here are some key strategies to keep in mind:
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Focus on a specific, relatable customer or client challenge
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Clearly outline the steps you took to address the challenge
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Quantify the results and outcomes with concrete data and metrics
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Use a storytelling approach to make the case study engaging and easy to follow
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Incorporate visuals like charts, graphs, or screenshots to support the narrative
6. Produce Shareable Visual Content
Visual content is absolutely important for engaging your audience and getting your message to stand out. Social media posts with images see more engagement than those without. And articles with relevant images get more views than those without.
Visuals help break up your content, making it more scannable and interesting. Plus, powerful visuals make it easier to get your content shared.
Here are some best practices for creating shareable visual content:
Images:
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Use high-quality, eye-catching images that are relevant to your topic.
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Opt for original photography when possible, as this tends to perform better than generic stock photos.
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Canva and Adobe Spark are great tools for quickly creating branded, professional-looking images.
Infographics:
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Data-driven infographics are a fantastic way to make complex information easy to digest.
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They're also highly shareable on social media.
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Platforms like Visme and Piktochart have user-friendly infographic builders.
Videos:
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Video content is exploding in popularity.
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Short how-to videos, reels, or animated explainer videos tend to perform very well.
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Consider using a tool like Loom or Vyond to create polished videos without a big budget.
7. Delight Your Audience
With the average person exposed to thousands of content per day, it takes something truly special to capture (and keep) your audience's attention.
That's where the element of delight comes in. When you delight your audience, you trigger positive emotional responses that make them feel good.
This drives them to want to interact with your content further and share it with others. It's a proven way to boost engagement, because content that evokes positive emotions is more likely to be shared on social media.
So how can you add a touch of delight to your content? Here are some effective techniques to try:
Humor: A well-placed joke or funny anecdote can instantly brighten someone's day and make your content more memorable. Just be sure your humor aligns with your brand's personality.
Interactivity: Interactive elements like quizzes, polls, and choose-your-own-adventure stories encourage your audience to actively participate. Fun activities make people feel good.
Unexpected Twists: Surprising your readers with an unexpected angle or plot twist can delight and intrigue them. It gets them thinking and makes your content stand out from the crowd.
Personalization: Tailoring your content to the individual reader's interests, location, or behavior shows you understand them on a deeper level.
Shareworthy Incentives: Offering valuable freebies, contests, or exclusive access can give your readers an extra push to engage with and share your content.
8. Create Checklists and Resource Lists
One effective way to provide practical value for your audience is by creating checklists and resource lists. These easy-to-consume content formats are inherently useful. They break down complex topics into bite-sized, actionable steps.
Or they curate the best tools, tips, and strategies on a given subject in one convenient place.
This practical value is exactly what makes this content so shareable. When your readers find something that genuinely helps them, they're eager to pass it along to their networks.
And these types of content perform extremely well. Checklists are shared more often than other types of content. And resource lists get more backlinks on average.
So how can you craft checklists and resource lists that your audience will love? Here are some tips:
Keep it Concise: Stick to the essentials and avoid jargon. Your readers will appreciate a focused, straightforward list they can quickly reference.
Organize Logically: Structure your list in a way that flows naturally and makes it easy to scan and digest. Group related items together and consider using numbered or bulleted formatting.
Add Visuals: Break up the text with relevant images, icons, or graphics. This makes the content more engaging and scannable.
Highlight Key Takeaways: Use formatting like bold, italics, or callout boxes to emphasize the most important points or resources.
Link to Authoritative Sources: For resource lists, link out to reputable, high-quality websites and tools. This boosts the credibility of your recommendations.
9. Conduct Original Research
To position your brand as an expert that people can trust, conduct and share your own original research. When you uncover new information that can't be found anywhere else, people sit up and take notice.
By producing your own research, you establish yourself as a credible source that your audience wants to learn from.
So how can you turn your original research into highly shareable content? Here are some effective strategies to try:
Publish Comprehensive Industry Reports:
Conduct in-depth surveys, interviews, and data analysis to create authoritative reports on the state of your industry. These long-form pieces make fantastic "cornerstone" content that establishes your brand as a thought leader.
Highlight Key Findings in Visual Formats:
Don't just publish raw data - break down the most compelling insights from your research into eye-catching infographics, charts, and other visual assets. These visual snippets are perfect for sharing on social media, where they're more likely to grab attention and get engagement.
Repurpose Findings Across Multiple Formats
Take your research and turn it into a multi-part blog series, an informative webinar, or a thought-leadership op-ed. This helps you maximize the reach and impact of your work by presenting it in different formats for different audiences.
10. Include Influencers and Experts
When it comes to creating content that your audience will love, collaborating with influential voices in your space can make all the difference. People are much more likely to engage with and share content that features individuals they already know, like, and trust.
By partnering with influencers and subject matter experts, you can:
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Expand Your Reach
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Boost Credibility
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Elevate the quality and uniqueness of your content - making it more valuable and shareable for your audience.
So how can you effectively collaborate with influencers and experts on content that captivates and converts? Here are some best practices to follow:
Identify Relevant Influencers
Look for individuals who have strong followings and solid reputations within your target market. Make sure their brand, values, and audience align with your own.
Offer Meaningful Incentives
Approach collaborations as a mutually beneficial partnership. Offer them something of real value in exchange for their time and participation like monetary compensation.
Integrate with Other Marketing Channels
Don't just publish the influencer-driven content on your website or social media and call it a day. Promote it across your entire marketing ecosystem - email newsletters, paid ads, Sales outreach, etc. This maximizes its visibility and impact.
Measure and Iterate
Track the performance of your influencer-driven content so you can identify what works best. Then apply those learnings to future collaborations.
Identify Micro-Influencers, Not Just Celebs
While partnering with big-name industry celebrities can be enticing, don't overlook the power of micro-influencers. These content creators tend to have much higher trust and influence over their followers, making them incredibly effective at driving real results.
Final Thoughts
Alright, we've covered a lot of ground in this post, showing you 10 proven strategies for developing content that gets shared like crazy.
The big question is: how do you actually put all of this into practice? The answer is consistency.
Now, I know putting all of this into practice can feel overwhelming, especially if content creation isn't your team's core expertise. That's where we come in.
At Interconnect, we take the guesswork out of creating high-performing content for growing businesses like yours. Your customers are out there, ready to discover your brand - let's make sure you're giving them something worth sharing.
https://interconnecthq.com/contact-ushttps://interconnecthq.com/contact-us today, and let's get started on taking your content to the next level.