Stephanie Donelson

With social media networks favoring personal connections over business and brand connections, it can feel like quite the uphill battle trying to get attention on social media in a professional capacity these days. 

In fact, 68% of Facebook users don’t pay attention to brands these days so you have to make your content worth it to get engagement on it.

But all hope is not lost! There are ways to make sure people see and share your awesome content on social media. Discover 10 ways you can create content that’s almost guaranteed to be shared by your followers.

Create shareable social media content in 10 ways

1. Competitive research

Not sure if you’re hitting the mark with your social media content? Become a spy and investigate your competition’s channels! This can help you understand if you’re posting on the right channel about the right content.

What do their fans like or engage with? This can inspire new content you may want to produce or share on your social media pages or at least get ideas of questions to ask, hashtags to use, or ways to encourage engagement with each post.

Conversely, if they’re not active it could give you an opportunity to win that audience on that channel, or shows that that network might not be worth the time and resources put into it. Take a deep dive into your analytics and see if that audience has moved to another network or they’re 

2. Industry research

You spend a lot of time producing quality content but why not get your audience in on the action and get them excited to see the results?

Develop an industry report or conduct industry research and share the results in a blog or guide, email links to the results, and share on social media while thanking everyone for participating. Encourage followers to share with a wider audience by using pull quotes from industry influencers or members of your audience, who can then feel like influencers. 

3. Tell a story

Humans have been telling stories for thousands of years and we all love being swept up in a good story with a good cast of characters, especially if your audience feels like they’re the main character of your brand’s story.

With each story you’ll want to follow the three-act structure where each piece has a problem or conflict, a journey, and a resolution. Stories also need to be emotional and give a compelling reason for the audience to want to read your story and connect with your brand or your brand’s heroes. 

You can test motivational, inspirational, or humorous content to see what resonates with your audience best. 

4. Tie content to values

Tie content to your audience’s values and your brand’s values. Perhaps you promote content that shows your product is organic, made in the USA, or that your brand donates to charities or causes your audience believes in. Show that you care about what your audience cares about as people love sharing things on social media that they’re passionate about.

5. Develop relevant and useful content

What are you helping your audience with? If your audience is searching for information about how to use your product or why they should buy from your brand, chances are they know others are too and will share useful and educational content with their following. 

6. Use images in content

BuzzSumo notes that blogs with graphics or images every 75-100 words get twice as many social shares than those that don’t, plus including different graphics gives people options for what image they want to save on Pinterest. 

Images are great ways to break up your text and make your content more scannable. The more scannable it is, the more digestible it seems and it’s more likely people will share easy-to-read content. You can also create infographics or charts to add a graphic element to your content. 

Not sure where to go for free photos? There are a few good options.

Free stock photo sites

• Pixabay
• Unsplash
• Reshot
• Burst
• Pexels

iStock also offers a free photo each week, and a free illustration and video clip each month. 

Infographics and image editors

• Canva
• Piktochart

I also like to use GIFs and videos to add eye-catching movement to my blogs. 

7. Share memes and relatable experiences

Jump on the humor bandwagon and share some memes to get engagement and shares. We all want our experiences to be validated and know that we’re not alone, and it’s even better when it’s a humorous experience we all share. 

Another way to take this is to share content around trends, like best vacation destinations, hot holiday gifts of the year, or most common breed of dog owned in Denver. 

8. Tap into nostalgia 

A few years ago there was a commercial for Internet Explorer that tapped into everyone’s love for the ‘90s. While I didn’t switch from Chrome to IE, I loved their video and reliving my childhood  – and so did all of my friends. Add elements that remind people of things or eras they love and tap into those emotions with your content.  

9. Celebrate the holidays

There seems to be a national day for everything these days, hot dogs, ice cream, dogs, siblings, the list goes on and on. But people love celebrating holidays and getting in on the fun. Develop content around the major holidays as well as smaller holidays that make sense for your brand. 

Don’t be afraid to be humorous and have fun with this kind of content. Think about Google’s Home Alone commercial that went viral last year as it was a two-for-one with going for the holiday angle and nostalgia.  

10. Release teasers

Drive up interest like Netflix or movies studios by releasing teaser trailers for a big piece of content, event, or announcement. Leave an element of mystery, perhaps partner with an influencer or celebrity to drive up reach, and make sure to deliver on what your teaser promises. 

What other types of content do you find is extremely shareable on social media? Tell me in the comments below or over on Twitter!