Seven Ways to Create “Likeable” Content
The goal of social media marketing, and really of any form of marketing for that matter, is to capture the attention of the public. Whether your campaign manages to tap into powerful emotional currents or just get a particularly catchy jingle stuck in everyone’s head, keeping your brand foremost in people’s minds almost always translates to success. In social media, that sort of success is measured in social engagement, the likes and shares that bolster SEO rankings, increase your credibility, and improve your content’s overall visibility. Unfortunately, it all too often seems that whether a particular blog or social media post catches on is more a matter of blind luck than any sort of repeatable strategy. But even though you may not be able to guarantee that a piece of content goes viral, there are a few content marketing formats that have been shown to optimize social media engagement.
Simplify with Lists: Articles that break down points into easy to follow, bulleted lists consistently get the most shares across all social media platforms.
Appeal to the Eyes: A picture is worth a thousand words, and on average roughly twice as many people share posts with at least one image.
Engage with Quizzes: Eight of the ten most shared articles use interactive quizzes to put the focus on the audience and spur engagement.
Educate and Inform: Many people are motivated to learn online because they want to do their job faster and better and “How To” posts are one of the most shared forms of content.
Explain with Detail: Articles that are more than 1,500 words in length get almost twice as many shares as articles with fewer than 1,000 words, and evidence suggests that pages with more content (over 2,000 words) rank consistently higher on Google SERPs.
Mix and Match: Infographics, which combine informative content with the convenience of a list and the visual appeal of graphics, have the second highest number of overall shares.
Tug on the Heartstrings: Cute and happy articles, specifically those designed to elicit the “Aww, how cute” response, account for 25% of all shares.
Understanding what your social media audience likes and, more importantly, what they are likely to interact with in social media is a great first step towards expanding your customer base and maintaining the success of your brand. Paying attention to this interaction on your social media is crucial to building a successful marketing strategy. For more helpful marketing tips, or if you’re interested in learning how to effectively take hold of your marketing, contact McCauley Marketing Services today. Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.