Whether you’re a seasoned creator or just stepping into social media, the goal is shareability (among other things). Anytime you look up engagement tips for social media, you’ll see something about creating shareable content. It’s important, you should create it, viewers want it! But no one ever talks about creating shareable content.
In this article, we’ll be covering how to make shareable content. We’ll get into the pillars of shareable content and our own tips for making your content more shareable. By the end of this, you should have all the tools you need to increase the reach of your content and tap into a whole new kind of organic growth.
What is Shareable Content? 🤔
Shareable content refers to content that encourages users to share it with their social media networks. This type of content is often engaging, relatable, insightful, educational, or easily shareable. Shareable content may include a call to action prompting users to pass it along to their friends or followers, but the best examples of shareable content do not. The goal is to create a video or post that is so exciting, informative, or just plain cool that the viewer has to share it!
What Makes Content Shareable? 📱➡️
Usually we say there’s no exact formula or step-by-step guidebook, but in this case there is! Shareable content could be considered it’s own genre of content, meaning there are exact elements to include that make it part of the category.
Concise Content 💡
Content with more brevity tends to be more shareable. Long content still gets shared, but you run the risk of people losing interest or clicking away. Shorter videos are also easier to consume, making it accessible to a broader audience. Viewers are more willing to share content that’s easy to understand and explain. Concise content is more focused, with a key message that’s clear and easier to convey. Since viewers are able to grasp it easily and quickly, they’re more likely to share it.
High-Quality Elements 💡
It’s rare that viewers will share lower-quality videos with their friends. Most often, shareable content is high-quality. That doesn’t mean you need to invest in new equipment or expensive cameras. Just make sure we can clearly see you, your videos aren’t blurry, and that the sound is clear. Try to also have your camera set up before you start filming, and keep it stable.
Engaging Headlines and Captions 💡
To make your content even more shareable, you’ll need a headline! You’ve seen this without even knowing it. Most comedy videos will have a clear headline explaining what the punchline of their video is. You can do this for any kind of content, but comedy videos have really mastered it!
Even if your video can’t be concise, like this one, having a very clear headline will make your content a lot more shareable! It shows creators what you’re doing immediately and makes them more likely to stick around.
Clear CTA 💡
Including a clear call to action or next step for viewers can go a long way! This can be in your caption or in a later part of your video. Again, you’ve seen this a lot. “Share this with a friend that loves coffee as much as you!” “Send to a friend who could use a pick me up.” “If we say your friend’s name, they owe you a drink.” Telling your audience to do something makes them more likely to do it.
Now that you know what makes content shareable, lets get into actually making shareable content.
Tips for Creating Shareable Content 📝
It goes without saying that you need to be aware of what your audience or broader community are more interested in. Keep that in mind as you’re creating your shareable content. Don’t forget what you already understand about your community and their interests. You’ll get a lot more shares if you adjust with your audience instead of for a new one.
Keeping it Snappy ✏️
Not only do we recommend keeping your content short (as mentioned above) but make your content itself snappy. Literally, make it quick! Have multiple clips or shots of you talking and keep the transitions between them snappy. This grabs the audience’s attention and makes your content even more exciting.
If you’re recording several clips, an easy way to make your content feel more snappy is to focus on the length and the beginning and end. Are there pauses before or after you talk? Cut them down and have the clips begin right as you start talking. Go the extra mile by trimming down the clips of you talking and focusing only on the necessary information.
Visual Storytelling ✏️
Just like the snappy elements we mentioned above, using visuals, images, and effective clips add to the shareability. Storytelling will be a longer process, either in editing or in planning, and take a bird’s-eye-view. You’ll have to look at your video, at everything you’ve recorded, and think of how to make it the most enticing video possible. This could include creating some kind of narrative, highlighting an emotional aspect, or developing a clear script before you begin. Storyboarding, which we’ve covered in a recent article, can really help with this!
Visual storytelling also includes eye-catching elements like captions, transitions, and other graphics. This may take a little more editing or skill, so it’s not for everyone! But you can work up to it and slowly expand your editing and creating knowledge. The main thing is to focus on the clips themselves: they have to be high-quality and snappy, otherwise the effects won’t work.
Leverage Trends ✏️
Shareable content is often trending, so keep an eye out for what’s doing well in your communities. Is there a specific topic that everyone’s talking about? Any trends people are pushing or creating around? People are more likely to share fun trends with their friends, and following trends increases your content’s discoverability.
Encouraging User Participation ✏️
Making the post interactive in some way will make it more appealing to your audience. It will make them more likely to sit down and watch your content and, potentially, share it out to their friends.
CTAs and clear directions to send to friends or share with friends are good examples of this encouragement. You can also ask viewers to vote for something by dropping an emoji in the comments. Ask them to make a post using a specific hashtag, or tell them about something they can get involved with. Think on ways to make your content more interactive, so people will stay interested and continue coming back for more.
Incorporating Humor ✏️
Comedy works! If you’ll scroll back through your own shares and DMs with your friends, you’ll probably see a lot of them are funny. It sells! Who doesn’t love to laugh? Most shareable content has some kind of humorous twist. Try (if you can) working some jokes into your content, or just making your short videos more jokey. Usually, this pairs nicely with trending content. Are there any funny sounds you can use? Any templates? Find even small ways to work your comedy into your content.
Utilize Emotions ✏️
Tap into content that triggers emotions like joy, surprise, or nostalgia. Content that evokes strong emotions is more likely to be shared. We recommend sticking to more positive emotions instead of negative ones: they’ll gain traction and be share more.
Teach Us Something ✏️
Shareable content is often educational. Things like cocktail recipes, parenting hacks, writing tips, and easy to grasp lessons get shared a lot. Quick, educational content is easy to share because we all have so many interests – and everyone we know also has a variety of interests. Something framed as fun and educational will have a broader reach naturally.
Timing is Everything ✏️
You’ll need to find the best time to post your content. Sharing is all about who sees it, and a lot of platforms have specific times where their algorithm is more active.
Analyze and Refine 🤓
As you start sharing your shareable content, continue to monitor the performance and metrics. Keep an eye on the likes, comments, shares, and even followers. Do you see a spike with certain styles? Has there been a steady increase, or did one specific video perform amazingly? Try new formats or styles of shareable content, mix in your regular content, and see what performs better. You may find your regular content performs really well with a few targeted posts thrown in!
Also pay attention to what your audience is more drawn to. Are they giving you any feedback in the comments? Are they loving one style of content, offering suggestions for other? While you don’t have to take everything they say to heart, your followers know your content and can provide invaluable insight.
In Conclusion 🎀
No matter what kind of content you create, making it more shareable can help. Whether you implement a storyboarding technique, start adding more headlines and CTAs in your content, or just add more emotions and humor into your content, shareability is just a few steps away.
If you’d like more tips on creating content, check out our Ultimate Creator Guide and our filming tips article!