In order to get noticed online and become viral these, good content is a MUST! You should aim for compelling and even viral content to make sure you communicate your desired message to your target audience therefore not allowing them to go out of the window and just wasted their time. Not just that, becoming viral will also allow you to widen your horizons simply because you open more of yourself to the world through your content that connects with anyone.
But of course, it takes hard work and effort to be able to come up with content that is both compelling and shareable. And of course, it also pay to understand what you actually need to incorporate with your content to make them more powerful online.
Now here is the infographic of the anatomy of a compelling and shareable content:
1. An Intriguing Headline
The headline sells the copy in the same way as the movie title entices people to watch the film itself. In short, it gives a certain promise and sets expectations in the mind of your audience. No wonder, the headline alone is already a crucial factor in every content. Since it provides a sneak peak of the entire content, it should be intriguing enough to capture attention and intrigue readers to ensure they would click on it and go on reading.
According to a conductor study, 36% of people nowadays like headlines with numbers like “30 Ways to Make Drinking Tea More Delightful.” Unlike other kinds of headlines, this one is more specific and in terms of promises, it appears to offer more. Also, it does not give any room for ambiguity as it gives a specific number of ways instead of leaving readers with uncertain ideas.
Therefore, the number headline is a champion in terms of clarity. It is straightforward and it is certain about the promises it is going to keep as the content progresses.
Speaking of promises, 29% of readers now also prefer headlines with superlatives, an indicator that they really do not mind taking risks when it comes to headlines that give stronger promises that their stories are really worth the read.
2. The right amount of characters or words
Looking at and understanding social media are good steps to take in order to understand what’s tolerable for people nowadays in terms of content. Just look at your feeds, observe your friends and followers and their behaviors online and you can pretty much get a glimpse of what they are into. The attention span is one of these things that you can have a glimpse of by doing so.
On Twitter for instance, you can already get an idea of how long your content or your sentences, at least, should be. And since it shows that tweets with just right number of characters (71-100) appear more attractive to people online and are retweeted more often, then it is safe to assume that when it comes to creating compelling and shareable content, you also have to consider keeping your sentences with just the right amount of words of characters. This makes a lot of sense, sure. Seldom do we meet people who are willing to take seas of words cluttered into one sentence.
Apart from that, a study also shows that generally, posts that are longer than the usual do not perform well online.
Now if you’re wondering about the number of words in terms of blog posts, here’s the answer: The ideal post should be equivalent to a seven-minute read or 1,600 words. That’s not so short, right? That is not so long, either.
3. At least one good image
For sure, you are already aware of how visual people are nowadays. In fact, it is one of the biggest reasons why people are so hooked with photo sharing sites these days—these sites allow them to consume and tell stories through photographs and sure, they are creating meaning even in the absence of words.
No wonder, photos have now become a crucial part of content. In truth, posts with at least one photograph is shared 64.3 times in average, way higher than the 28 average shares of those which do not have images in them.
Apart from that, it also shows that thumbnails are also important in posts. In fact, it has been found out that posts with thumbnails are shared more often on Facebook. They are shared in an average of 56 times, still higher than the 17.7 average number of shares of posts without thumbnails.
So, never underestimate the power of images. Knowing that people are now easily attached to anything that’s visual, it should always be your goal to produce content with really powerful images. Let those pictures paint thousands of words.
4. The right emotions
Let’s admit it. People are still emotional online. No matter how objective you want to be in your posts, you cannot get away with the fact that people still favor certain posts that are charged with emotions simply because they are easy to connect to. Don’t worry, though, they do not have to be really cluttered with so many feelings in order to be appealing.
In fact, among the emotions commonly contained by posts online, awe dominates. Defined as “a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder,” awe is present in 25% of the 10,000 most shared articles online. Next to it are laughter (17%) and amusement (15%).
5. The right format
Format is also another crucial factor in any content. No matter how substancial your post is, if it does not come with the right packaging, there is always the huge possibility of it getting lost along millions of other contents online. So, before you create a content that you wish to be compelling and even shareable, decide on its format first.
Apart from the usual multiple-paragraphed or all content article, you can take advantage of other formats as well. There is the video format, the why and the what post, and the how to article. Yet, what seem to dominate online these days are the infographic and the list.
Both lists and infographics get shared more than 10,000 times, apparently because it is easier to read them. Instead of having intimidating paragraphs with long and winding sentences, lists appear to be less intimidating. Infographics, on the other hand, make lots of information less fightening by providing visuals.
There are lots of things you should consider in order to produce content that is both compelling and shareable. While these things seem intimidating and even scary at first, always keep in mind that things should be more manageable later on.
Jomer B. Gregorio is a well-rounded expert when it comes digital marketing. Jomer is also known as a semantic SEO evangelist and practitioner. Check out our Digital Marketing Services today and let us help you in achieving positive and profitable results for your business.