3 Keys to Successful Social Media Content

Successful social media content is shareable, according to Buzzfeed’s Editorial Director, Jack Shepard

How you measure successful social media content will vary based on your KPIs: Did it reach enough people? Did enough people share it? Did enough people (positively) comment on it? How many times was my brand name mentioned regarding this content? This is not news to us social media marketers. However, one KPI that remains a constant struggle is one with an actual social element: sharing. How do we motivate our audiences to intrinsically want to share our content with their friends who share with their friends and their friends (and so on), so we can call it a success?

The Halo Group’s Social Media Manager, Jillian Engel, attended a fireside chat with an expert in social sharing, Buzzfeed’s Editorial Director Jack Shepard, this month as a part of the Community Manager Meetup. She brought back a list (in true Buzzfeed form) of 3 keys to successful, shareable social media content:

1. Identity and Emotion

They go hand-in-hand, according to Shepard. If one piece of content is really working for you it’s because your audience can both identify and connect to it emotionally. Take an Internet favorite: Cats. They’re everywhere. But did you know that videos of dogs and cats are actually almost equally searched for on YouTube? Cats are shared more often than dogs though because the content has these two essential components: identity (cats appeal to cat lovers) and emotion (usually an element of surprise). More often than not you’ll find that emotion in the cat’s name (Surprise Kitty, Grumpy Cat), when dogs are simply just Mishka. Adding that emotional element to the content helps appeal to cat lovers on a more personal level motivating them to want to share that emotion with their friends (most likely other cat lovers).

2. Write specifically for each platform

Every social medium has a different purpose, and ipso facto your content should too, especially in a world where new social networks are launched just as often as they change or disappear (remember Foursquare?). It’s important to remain nimble, and that should be reflected in your content. It would not be in your best interests to rely only or very heavily on any one social channel. For instance, Buzzfeed uses Pinterest, but they mostly update it for DIY content. They use Twitter, but mostly to release headlines (Buzzfeed editors know that headline writing is basically link-baiting for Twitter, according to Shepard). It’s simple: Following this model, your audience is more likely to share tailored tweets for Twitter, than a tweet cut off by the 140 character limit because you shared it from Facebook.

3. Target segmented groups

Some of Buzzfeed’s best content (Shepard says they measure “best” by weighing the number of shares more heavily than clicks or views) comes from articles like “Top 30 Things Only People Who Went to Smalltown, Arkansas Elementary School Would Understand.” Maybe only a percentage of their readers are interested or even understand these specific “30 Things,” but the motivation to share it is overwhelming. The small, segmented audience identifies as this elementary school’s alumni and their emotions are triggered by nostalgia. Target your community’s specific emotions, and speak to their interests directly. Your community is more likely to share your content with other members of their own community and in turn introduce them to yours.

Bonus! There is no such thing as a “boring” topic

If you think your topic is “boring” try a free association exercise. We gave Shepard some topics that could be potentially be considered “boring,” and he had to come up with ways to make it interesting on the spot. Take mouthwash, for instance. On the spot, Shepard started thinking out loud through free association: mouthwash = bad breath = close talking = dating. Shepard suggested that mouthwash brands could put together lists of things to do and not do on first dates, ask questions about first date nightmares, and maybe even a list of “10 Things Only Close-Talkers Would Understand” for a different spin. That’s three content pieces in just 3 seconds.

How do you keep your social media content compelling enough for your audience to share? Tell us @thehalogroup.