Saturday, April 18, 2015

Five Tips to Take Content Viral

 

Photo Credit: Stuart Miles via freedigitalphotos.net

Going viral is a huge goal for many brands. It is the dream result every time we hit the ‘post’ button on our social media status updates. With billions of users online each day, the possibility is always there. Yet so many entrepreneurs never see more than a few hundred likes on their content. What is the key to getting your content to reach a larger number of people and ‘go viral?’

There are hundreds of thousands of different brands online, each one trying to be seen and heard by a large audience. The competition for followers is a heavy one. A single piece of viral content can take an unknown person or business and place them in the spotlight.

The result would be a flood of new followers and, among them, new customers.

Many people are searching for the right formula to instantly produce a piece of viral content. There are plenty of blogs and websites that claim to have the answer. But the truth is that getting content to go viral is not an exact science.

A lot of it is pure chance. But there are things that you can do in order to give your content the best chance to be shared across a larger, more widespread audience.

Be more personal
Even though you want to reach a large number of people, you should post as though you are trying to speak to a single person. Focus on the conversation that you want to have with that one individual.
Do not be broad and general with the content you are posting. That is the kind of content that is quickly passed over in a news feed.

Do the split test
Not everyone in your audience is going to respond to the same headlines. This is why doing a split test is helpful.

Come up with a few different wordings for a headline. Do a poll to see which of the headlines is the most enticing. When you know what is going to draw the reader in, then you will know how to post it in a way that is more likely to be shared.

Give them something they can use
Do not use your posts as a place to ramble on about yourself. People want to gain something valuable from your content. This could be something as simple as having a good laugh. Maybe they are hoping to learn something important from what you post. Do not disappoint your audience by making them read content that gives them nothing at the end. This will keep them from reading and sharing anything else you post in the future.

Trim the fat
Are you guilty of going a little overboard? Maybe your Facebook posts are more like blog posts. Or you upload YouTube videos that last about an hour. Do your Twitter followers have to click a link in order to read your entire thought?

People are busy. They do not want to cut through a lot of fat just to get to the meat of your content. Get rid of any unnecessary parts in your posts. Give them what they need and don’t worry about surrounding it in fluff.

Cross your mediums
This is what going viral really means. You surpass one platform and reach across many.
If you have some solid blog content and a large readership, try to write a piece for an authority website. This gets your name out there as an authority and you reach a new audience.
Share your posts on more than one social network. Tweet your links, share your videos on Facebook. Get your fans involved in sharing.

Good content does not go viral on its own. It needs to be cultivated into something worth sharing. You need headlines that will spark an interest and produce a reaction.


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