Social Media Psychology: How To Create Content People Share

As I’ve learned more and more about marketing, I quickly noted that the quickest way to scale your marketing plan is through your existing users/customers. What if you could bring 1 person to the site who would then bring 3 of his/her friends?

That would increase the power of your marketing campaign by 3 because you now have the ability to bring 3x as much traffic as you did before. I quickly learned that pouring more money into online marketing wasn’t the answer to getting more traffic.

Sure you can get more traffic that way, but you pay way more than you should. I learned that you need to create content and material that will prompt others to share, talk about with their friends and eventually refer to their social circles.

In this article, I’m going to discuss the 5 reasons why people share content so you can learn how to create content people share:

1. Boost My Ego 

Social media has turned into a game these last few years. Your reputation can thrive or die on social media solely based on the things you post on your feed. Thus, more and more people are becoming careful on the types of things they do post.

If you can help people feel special or gain the respect of their peers by posting something, they will be glad to do it. Not only that, but they will tell all their friends and boast about it to get more of a reputation boost.

What can you do to your content or material that will promote your brand while simultaneously giving others a boost in their authority? This is one of the best ways to get people to share your content because they get a huge benefit out of it.

2. Boost My Humor

People absolutely love to share things they find funny. Not only that, but they love to share humorous content through social media channels because they hope that their friends will find it funny as well.

Some of the most popular videos on Vine or images on Instagram have received millions of hits. Why? They were simply so funny that people had to share it with others and it had people talking about them afterwards.

If you can find a way to create content that is humorous to your audience, they will inevitably share it with others. Give people a laugh and create entertaining content that they will be itching to share.

3. Boost My Intelligence

Another reason why people share is to show others how intelligent they really are. If you can make me feel intelligent, interesting or both, I’m more likely to share your content.

If you have a stunning fact or some thought provoking material that allows me to provide some insight on, I would love to share that through social media. It will not only make me look intelligent for starting a discussion on this topic, but it will get people talking about your content.

When the government shut down the other night, there were posts all over my social media feeds about it. Everyone thought that they were the first one to post about it and each person was trying to post unique remarks about it.

4. Boost My Sweetness

Another reason why people share is when they feel like they are a better person for sharing something through social media. A while ago, there was a campaign (where there were many reports of it being fake) known as KONY 2012.

Millions of people shared this campaign simply because they wanted to feel sweet and that they were making a difference. The campaign went viral in just a few nights and people found out weeks later that it was possibly fake.

If you can do something with your content or material to make people feel like they’re doing something meaningful, people will share it. You have to make sure that somehow through someone else sharing your content, they will look like they are a better person.

5. Boost My Wallet

The only other proven reason why people are willing to share content through their social media channels is if they are directly rewarded for their effort. Often times, businesses have run sweepstakes, giveaways and other contests to promote sharing.

If you really want to make your content and materials go viral, you can try incentivizing your audience to share. Give them an entry into a big sweepstakes or give them a small reward for taking the time to share it.

One of the most successful social media campaigns I ran for a client of mine a few years ago involved incentivizing users. Each time a user shared his products, they received a FREE bottle of cologne with their next purchase on his site. This campaign generated over 1,950 shares in 30 days and quadrupled his sales for the month.

Conclusion

Forcing people to share your content or material will never work. You must understand the social media psychology or the mindset behind the user that prompts them to share. If you can make people feel one of the five benefits mentioned above, you will instantly create content that people will want to share. 

photo credit: kdonovangaddy via photopin cc