When you share something on your social media sites it typically represents something you believe in and want others to know about you, or maybe you found it funny, or it was an emotional story or uplifting quote that you felt would be beneficial to others. The point is we share things we care about, that reflect our beliefs, and that we think others would find useful, meaningful or uplifting.
Unless we have changed people's lives in some way and we think they want to tell the world about it, as business owners we can rarely focus just on promoting our brand and services alone and then expect it will be shared. We need to offer our audience more then an advertisement about our brand, they need something that matters to them or reflects something they believe in before they are likely to tell their friends and family about it on social media.
We need to understand the emotive and rational needs of our audience
Use visuals that catch the attention of your followers - colores, pictures and fonts matter. Also, often people will be overwhelmed and lose interest if they come across content that uses lengthy paragraphs. Remember they are often scanning quickly through their social sites.
Share tips from other people that are experts - give your content some authoritative believability with quotes and links that support your content from people that are seen as experts
Touch on emotion and engage your followers- people will share things that are positive, make them laugh or even cry happy tears. It is far more likely to see someone respond to or share positive content than negative.
Offer them something that is helpful not only to them but to others - how-to videos or articles, special offers, events nearby, etc.
Shareable content highlights people's interest and is a representation of who they are and promotes social affirmation - For example, if you host a blog about fitness or nutrition or are promoting your fitness or health food product or brand, share well-researched articles about some aspect of nutrition or fitness that affirms their interest. Not only will they enjoy reading something they are interested in but they will want to tell others.
The key is to really know who your audience is, what they need and how they feel about it, then give them something of interest and something to talk about. Also, remember not everything you post will gain traction with your audience, but if you consistently try to think of who your followers are and share with them valuable content that will make their lives better or promote a conversation, you will grow an audience that is interested in listening and telling others.
#hashtagme if you need help with creative content that engages your audience.