Twitter is great for ‘seeding’ quality content. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I’d like to take a moment to explain exactly what content seeding is.
In a nutshell, the goal of seeding is to distribute content across the web by using blogs, online communities and social media channels. The more visible your content is, the more likely it is to be shared with a wider audience, thus helping to establish your brand as an authority online and driving traffic back to your website.
Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has said that ‘people have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people’. Sharing online content has now become an important part of modern life. To further back up this claim, did you know that someone tweets a link to a New York Times story once every four seconds? Imagine if they were doing that with your businesses content!! OK, so I know that’s an unobtainable goal for most, but if you managed to enjoy even just a thousandth of the success of the NYT then your business is likely to be substantially more visible on line than it is today.
But what makes content likeable and shareable?
Well, there’s no secret formula if that’s what you were hoping for. If you frequent social media sites regularly then you’ll know that all sorts of things go viral, from cute kittens to angry adolescents.
However, while there’s no one recipe for producing shareable content, there are a few ways that you can edge the viral bets in your favour:
Get trendy:
One of the best ways to get your content shared socially is by commenting on real-time industry news.
If you hear about a breaking story then your business can ride on its popularity by offering commentary and a unique perspective. If the story trends socially on platforms like Twitter this can lead to increased views, traffic and enhanced search engine optimisation (SEO) for your business and website.
Get Visual:
It’s important to note that not all content needs to be textual. Infographics have recently taken the social media sphere by storm and are shared left right and centre.
Visually stimulating infographics provide a great way for businesses to communicate weighty data and complex processes in a way that’s easily digestible (& shareable). They can be used to explain a plethora of topics so long as you have the data to back them up.
If your business has recently undertaken some research, why not display your findings via an attractive infographic?
Get Creative:
Most people click on links shared via social because of the title. Sometimes, people even retweet a link and share it with their entire network without even reading the post, basing their decision solely on the fact that the title engaged, humoured or interested them.
Whatever the type of content you choose to create ensure that you take the time to craft an eye catching title. Don’t be afraid to be controversial or daring with your titles. Regardless of the topic of the post, make the reader wonder what the content is about. And then bobs your uncle, their eyes are on your content.
To sum up, it’s every marketer’s Holy Grail to create a piece of content that is liked, shared and forwarded globally.
Although there are no guarantees when it comes to creating viral content, with a little thought and preparation you can certainly improve the chances of your content getting shared across the web.
By Lyndon Wood, Creator and CEO of SunZu.
This article first appeared in the Fresh Business Thinking Guide to Digital which has been produced in association with Microsoft and the www.digitalmarketingshow.co.uk and examines some of the key issues that every business is facing in the world of digital. Download your copy or view the magazine online here.
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