5 Tips to Help Promote Social Media Shares

One of the many new concepts that the Internet has brought to the world of marketing and branding is social sharing. While people in the pre-Internet age have proudly proclaimed their affinity for particular brands via things like clothing or tattoos, social media has made it easier than ever for them to endorse a product or brand, simply by clicking the “Share” button to send branded content to their followers’ feeds. Getting people to click that button and share information about their company is a task at the forefront of marketers’ minds, explaining in part why so many companies are opting to create content that stands out as interesting on its own, with entertainment or educational value as well as branding messages. The sharing system takes different forms on different platforms—on Twitter it’s the retweet, on Tumblr the reblog—but for social-savvy marketers, it’s always a target of their efforts. Here are five things you can do to increase your social media shares and boost your engagement.

1. Make Sharing Simple and Fast

Many people navigate the web at light-speed, and the most influential social media users, the ones with the largest followings who will generate the most engagement by sharing your content, are Internet speed freaks. They (along with many other web users) will be much more likely to share your content if it’s easy, quick, and requires few clicks. This means you need to make the steps for sharing your content as simple and rapidly accessible as possible. Add social media buttons and widgets to your content, so that each page can be shared with a few clicks without navigating away from the content. This makes users far more likely to share content than if they have to go through a time-consuming process to do so.

2. Respond to Trends

One way to score big amounts of shares is to hitch your wagon to a trending topic. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all have ways to keep track of what people are talking about, and they prominently feature these trends on the home page of their sites, meaning curious web users frequently click them to find out what the big deal is. If you can find a clever way to tie your brand in with a trending topic, you could can generate a lot of shares just from being associated with the topic.

3. Improve Your Headlines

People are more likely to share content with attention-grabbing headlines. Your headline should be something that accurately describes the content in question without giving away the punchline—a hook, of sorts. Social media experts have found that shorter headlines, under 100 characters, get the most shares, as do those that promise photos. This brings us to another tip:

4. Lead with Visual Content

The rapid ascent of Instagram and Snapchat tells us what most social media users already know: people love pictures and videos. If you want to increase your sharing numbers, one easy way is to include an eye-catching thumbnail image alongside your headline, and make sure it’s formatted correctly when embedded on a social platform. You can also specifically create content that highlights visual media, like slideshows featuring your product-even one good image can be enough to make someone hit share.

5. Pay Attention to When You Post

People’s use of social media varies throughout the day in observable and predictable patterns. Posting great content at a time when no one’s online is like airing a fantastic commercial in the middle of the night. It’s a waste of valuable content and won’t generate the chain reaction of shares you’re looking to start. There are a ton of tools that let you schedule your posts, so you’re prepared to push content at peak hours well ahead of time instead of rushing to get it out. Figure out when is the best time to release your content and plan accordingly.