In order to get people to share your content, it needs to be truly worthy of sharing. Most people don’t want to inundate their friends and family with tons of superfluous content.
No one likes to think of their content as superfluous, but unless it’s really interesting, unique, or in some other way valuable, most people will consider it as such.
It’s not particularly difficult to create content that is share worthy, but it takes a little bit of extra thought and effort. There are ten psychological factors you can use to ensure your content is as share worthy as possible. Let’s take a look at these ten factors.
Viral Factor #1: People Share Positive Content
Turn on the news. Most of the time all you see is sadness, pain, death, destruction and other negative things. Our brains are absolutely slammed with horror day after day.
You may think these shocking and horrific stories are the ones that get shared most often, but you’d be wrong. The fact is, people are much more likely to share positive content than they are the bad stuff.
If you really pay attention to the kind of content people share, it’s almost always positive, upbeat, heartwarming stories that really make people feel good. This is the kind of content people want to share with their friends.
They don’t want to shock and horrify their friends. They want to bring them joy! So always remember that positive content is share worthy content!
Viral Factor #2: People Share Emotional Content
Emotion is one of the most powerful motivators imaginable. Any type of emotion makes a difference. Positive emotions, as we saw in factor #1, are more powerful than negative, but all emotions can inspire sharing.
Keep these emotions in mind as you create your content:
- Laughter – Comedy is a powerful thing for viral content!
- Shock – Shocking content is typically very share worthy!
- Embarrassment – Yes, people will share embarrassing content, but especially so if it’s embarrassing to other people!
- Hope – Hope is something everyone needs more of, and they will gladly share content that makes them feel hopeful!
- Warmth – Heartwarming content is definitely share worthy. Stories that warm the heart are shared amazingly often!
- Anger – Anger can definitely inspire people to share. If you can outrage someone, they are quite likely to share.
Viral Factor #3: People Share Useful Content
Useful content is easy to find, but unique useful content is not. You can find a thousand different recipes for a particular dish, perhaps ten thousand or a hundred thousand or more. But finding that same recipe made with leftovers, or made with super cheap ingredients, or made on a grill instead of in an oven, or with any other unique and useful spin… well, that makes it share worthy.
Create content that helps people solve a problem, preferably in a unique way. Think of the biggest problem your target market faces, and then create viral content that helps them solve it. Bingo! Instant share worthiness!
Viral Factor #4: People Share Entertaining Content
People love entertaining their friends. That’s why joke books have been great sellers for years. It’s why jokes are some of the most shared and emailed content. And it’s why class clowns always seem so popular.
Have you seen those funny cat videos that make the rounds? How about those hilarious Superbowl commercials that go viral overnight? If your content is funny… genuinely funny… people will share it.
Just remember that funny content won’t necessarily be appropriate for every situation. If you’re selling burial plots… avoid comedy. Seriously. That would be really tasteless.
Viral Factor #5: People Share Politics & Religion
People love to share content that agrees with their views on politics, religion, etc. Most people don’t even care if they offend their family and friends. They want to share their viewpoint, and hopefully try to change some minds to their side in the process.
Just be careful using this kind of content, because it could backfire. You could really polarize your audience, causing some of them to flock to you and others to flee in a panic.
Viral Factor #6: People Share Content That Makes People Think
Philosophical content – that is content that really makes people stop and ponder – can go viral really quickly simply because it’s not the same old mindless stuff you see online every day.
It’s not easy to come up with unique stuff that makes people think, but if you can accomplish it, you can definitely gain an audience quickly.
Viral Factor #7: People Share Unique Content
Unique content is a rarity these days. The internet is absolutely packed to the rafters with content of all types, so creating something truly unique is a challenge in and of itself.
Of course, if you can pull it off, unique content will be something that will go viral very rapidly, especially if it’s powerful and compelling in some way. Useful? Funny? Emotional? Just be as unique as possible, and you’ll increase your viral factor by leaps and bounds.
Remember, people love to be the first of their friends to share something new and exciting. So the newer and more unique it is, the faster it will spread.
Viral Factor #8: People Share Shocking Content
You’ve probably seen a little risqué content being shared amongst your friends and family, haven’t you? Maybe you’ve even shared some yourself. You know… the kind of content that makes people blush and giggle and maybe even speak in hushed tones, lest someone hear.
It’s a rush for most people to see and share content that might shock their friends. It’s also exciting to view it, especially when we think we shouldn’t.
Just remember that like political and religious content, it could backfire. If your audience is more conservative, you should probably shy away from this type of stuff.
Viral Factor #9: Content Must Reach Critical Mass
In order for content to go viral in the biggest possible way, it must reach critical mass. Unfortunately, viral marketing is really an all-or-nothing game. Unless your content takes off quickly, it probably never will.
There are exceptions to this, of course. There are exceptions to nearly everything. But exceptions to this are few and far between.
If you want your content to go viral in a big way, it’s important for you to push it hard. It must reach critical mass, meaning it must be shared by enough people to push it globally very quickly, or it will just fizzle and never get anywhere.
Viral Factor #10: People Share Incentivized Content
No, you don’t have to pay people cash to share your content, although that certainly could help if you wanted to do it. But you must offer some sort of valid, compelling incentive to get people to share it.
Bribe them, beg them, whatever you have to do. Just get them sharing your content!