10 Tips to creating popular, social media friendly content for your blog

So, what is Social Media friendly content ? Well, I just made that up. It just means anything people would be forced to share with others on the social media. Now, no matter how intelligent and clever your article is people wouldn’t share anything and everything right ? There are only a few stories/articles that people would prefer to share, but if you observe carefully, these stories share some common characteristics. Let’s see if we can find out what they are.

Why Social Media friendly content ?

And why not just another great article ? Well, this is really interesting. You know, people like you and me are clever..very clever and shrewd…but we don’t necessarily accept it all the time. When reading articles on the web, we do a filtering process with or without our knowledge. Its a fact.

Its like this. When you read an article, obviously you either like or dislike the article at the end of it but irrespective of the result, you do some homework to decide whether this article is “like-able” or not. And most of the time this is done unknowingly and it happens with every small snippet of text you read on the web.

When you do this “scanning process”, there are a lot of variables that come to your mind which helps you decide the result. And irrespective of the result, these variables also tell you whether to share the story with others or not.

Now, you may ask the question – So, what’s the complication here, its obvious right ? If you like an article – you share, otherwise you don’t !

Not necessarily, even though technically it sounds correct. If an article is incredibly good, sometimes or some people don’t prefer to share it.

I call them “Information Brokers”. When these people finds an interesting piece of information, they wouldn’t share it with others, rather keep it to themselves for their benefit.

Not all the people are like them, however we all selectively become “Information Brokers” at one point or the other.

Okay, so the point here is that your content on the blog/website has to pass through all these tests, it has to give right signals when one is reading through, make him believe it, urge him to share and not let him keep the article to himself. Only then, would the content be shared and become popular on social media or otherwise.

So, what are the characteristics of popular, social media friendly content on the web ?

1. Has to have an “Above average Value Count “

To make a sure shot discussed/shared article, it has to carry an above average value. This can be achieved by reading a lot of articles from the niche, so you know what the general thoughts are and what an average article would be. To compel someone to share or suggest an article, it has to have that “extra juice”.
Lets say if you’re writing an article on the top free softwares, see what others have written about it, if the number averages out to 10-15, you might want to increase it to a top 35 or something.

2. Has to be incredibly appealing to all sections alike.

Taking sides is okay, as long as you can substantiate what you’re saying but taking a diplomatic stand is always helpful as it helps cover a more larger chunk of the audience. Let’s say if you are writing an article on Mac v/s Windows, make sure there is enough juice for both parties to cheer and discuss.

3. Has to identify with the reader right from start to the end.

When someone reads your article, he should feel like it was written for him. Its difficult and not all the time can be achieved. But taking special care in the area will show through your article and makes it a popular article with more people.

4. Should be simple and attractive.

Obviously, there’s nothing like reading an authority article that’s clear, simple and straightforward. Though you can use jargons, its always simple articles with a clear thought process that are most discussed and talked about. So, KISS it !

5. Shouldn’t be BS.

This is tricky. What is BS to one may not be to another. However, making sure that your article doesn’t go half read itself is a signal to whether its BS or not. If its half-read, it probably is BS. But you know what, some people are so clever they even make BS sound like a great article, talk about packaging !

6. Should delight the reader.

This is a fav point of mine. You know, for one listener to convey all that you said to him to another guy, you need to win him. And to win him, you should nothing less than delight him. And when I say delight, it doesn’t mean just satisfying him. its about giving him that extra care and joy, that he didn’t expect with a perfect timing. May be a bonus, or an extra something. Its like that bonus snacks you get at a coffee shop. And I’m sure you would’ve heard people say many times “The coffee was okay, but they really took me off the feat with those take away ice creams!”. Sorta similar thing. Give readers that extra something, with your articles.
Lets say you have an article with 10 tips for making web 2.0 icons on Photoshop, and at the end of the post you have those free PSD files ! Sweet.

7. Has to address him (the reader) or his niche.

Every reader belongs to a niche. He’s either a webmaster, or a marketer, or a learner…or anything depending on what your article is. And it is very important that you “try their shoes” while you write. Helps to get a balanced opinion about things you write.

8. Has to have overwhelming volume.

A must have feature of any popular article. Be it a resource list or a tutorial article, popular articles on social media are extra ordinarily huge by its volume (most of the times) and are impressive by its sheer content. A key feature, that’s un avoidable.

9. Has to provoke the reader to share.

Now even if your article has awesome content and exclusivity, there has to be that one factor/factors that will make the readers to share the article with their social circle. It could be a deliberately crafted copy or a “return favour mechanism” like some bloggers do which puts the reader in a closed loop and forces them pleasantly to share the article.

10. Should give him a winning feel, when he shares it.

When one shares an article with his friends, he should not get negative feedback from them. They should either give him good feedback or give nothing at all. When others give him good feedback, he becomes a winner automatically. Though he’s not the author of the article, he becomes the owner, at least for his friends, and that’s a great feeling. Every “sharable” social media article should have this unique quality.

So essentially, social media friendly content is all about getting the masses to love your content. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out what people like, all you got to do is be one of them, follow their preferences and deliver quality articles to delight them.

Hope you enjoyed the article.

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