One of the discussions I often have with my social media content writer is how to create social content that is sticky (which basically means creating content that is memorable) and contagious (which means more shareable). Is there any set way to produce interesting content, is there any process through which we could churn out stuff that people will absolutely read, is there any secret recipe of creating successful content on a constant basis. Well no straight formula there, but the good news is – you do not have to be a creative genius to write great stuff on social media. What you need is to know first is what people on the other side of the screen want toreador share; and what is that will make your content stick. What makes People Share According to research, people share because they want to entertain others, and be useful. In the book Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect, author Matthew D. Lieberman, who is a professor of psychology, psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, explains this: To be more precise, The New York Times Insights Group published a study that delved into the reasons of why people share content. According to the study, the main reasons why people shared content was to – To share valuable content to others and be useful To define ourselves To nurture and grow the relationships we have in the community To support a cause or a brand For content writers and marketers, these are important points to understand before they start getting down to content creation. So what sort of content should we create? Now that you know what people like to share, you should probably know what will make your content stick. One of the most useful pieces of literature that I have found on this was the book Made to Stick by educators Chip and Dan Heath who explore why certain ideas and things stick to our mind, while others fade away. So if I was to apply their research on what makes ideas stick to written content, it would be simply THIS – What every you do with your content, don’t forget to tell a story. Keep your message simple and uncomplicated. Make your content detail oriented and compelling. Create a sense of urgency through what you write. Build trust by relying on good sources. Try to build an emotional connect through your content. Finally, what I have discovered through the years is that it all starts with one simple fact – producing quality content and not marketing content. Content that is high in quality mostly tends to market itself in the long run, albeit with a little social media push here and there. From science to content writing hacks According to a recent statistics shared by the Content Marketing Institute, while 70% B2B marketers are creating more content than a year ago, over 50% find it difficult to produce engaging content. When you are a content creator or marketer whose job is to serve up great content everyday, the hacks matter more than the science of it. And that is what this blog post is really about – killer content marketing ideas about how to create successful social media content. Most social media ideas here are structured around specific goals and you’ll need to use a mix of them in any given month. The best part is that when you start using them all, you won’t have a dearth of ideas on what to post next. In fact, you’ll also have insights on what works best for your audience and schedule more of such post types. Here you go – 1. Court the Quote One of the easiest non-confirmative tasks to do on social media is to give a ‘like’ or a ‘favourite’ to something that catches the eye. It doesn’t involve a transaction, an in-depth thought process or a strenuous physical activity. It requires a simple ‘click’ that says that you agree with something that totally makes sense or something just hit the cord and you reciprocate with a ‘like’ that allows your friends and family to know about it. Inspirational, funny, sad or thought-provoking, quotes are an easy magnet for this action. The stats do the talking: One search on Buzzsumo for ‘inspirational quotes’ and you’ll see the statistics of a huge amount of engagement. Most brands would love to have that level of engagement, especially now that it is getting more difficult by the day for brands to reach their own followers organically. Needless to say, funny quotes work really well on social media. Quotes can be momentous – shared on an occasion, event or even birth or death anniversary of a well-known personality all tend to trigger the crowd mentality. There is also a lot of debate on the point of generating this ‘type’ of engagement and if the effort is really worth it since you aren’t targeting a captive audience. With each quote, let’s say that you manage to reach 100 of your fans and 150 new people. You have an excellent opportunity here to educate these new people about your brand. Here’s how: Don’t post a random quote: Always try to create content that resonates with your brand’s mission and values as closely as possible. If you are selling a photo book, quotes about memories and moments can resonate well with your brand. If you sell funky tees, you can easily do a market test by sharing slogans and maybe even print and sell the ones that seem to draw attention. Use your own image: Most marketers tend to give this step a miss fully knowing how powerful an image is because of the technicalities involved. Images can enhance brand recall. Use a simple tool like Canva to do a text overlay over your own image. Don’t overdo it: Just because your audience likes it doesn’t mean you can do 10 quotes a week. One good quote in a couple of days should
