5 Things You Should Be Doing to Make Your Content Stickier (Part III)

By Sarina Priya, Writer @ Magic Media

In today’s brutally competitive social media climate, it’s become increasingly difficult to set yourself apart and command attention. Entrepreneurs and executives alike have struggled to create a presence that truly captivates their audience, and they’re leaving tons of potential business on the table.

To bring clarity to your content strategy and presence to your brand, we’ve created a three-part series — 5 Things You Should Be Doing to Make Your Content Stickier (Part I, Part II) — jam-packed with helpful tips for industry leaders to create content that speaks to their audience.

Now, let’s conclude with 5 things you should be doing to make your content stickier, part III!

1. Expand on what’s trending

So, you’ve created a killer piece of content that’s performing well, and you’re proud! You should be… well done!

The excitement has built, and you’re using that feeling to propel yourself to write something new… but let me stop you there!

New is not always better: if a piece of your work is trending, keep the momentum going by creating additional posts on the same subject matter.

The goal is to produce content that engages your readers, and if you’ve already put the work in to researching a topic that’s been performing well for you, you should be doubling down on your success.

For example, if you’ve written an article about 5 ways to make your content stickier and it’s doing well, create a follow-up article with 5 additional tips! By creating a series, you’re connecting one article to the next, creating a content rabbit hole that enables your readers/viewers to seamlessly navigate between content.

The same rule applies with content that isn’t yours. Keep a pulse on trending topics — the more timely and relevant your content is, the more it will surface and the quick you’ll grow your following.

2. Make sure it reads well

Ideally, your content isn’t just informative but also easy to digest. When views come to your page, they should be able to discern information immediately. Vary the formatting of your content to emphasize the most important parts and keep your viewer’s attention.

On medium, rather than creating large blocks of text, spice it up with:

1. numbers

• bullet points

bolding

italics

“quotes”

The examples above will likely be more memorable to you than the rest of the text, because your eyes are naturally drawn to what stands out. Whitespace gives the brain a break to process the information it just received while mentally preparing for whats to come.

Let’s face it, people skim — make sure your point gets across, even if its at a glance.

3. Optimize for Shareability

It’s not enough to produce great content, you also have to make it easily shareable.

Lead with strong headlines that your readers will share. Controversial opinions without explanations tend to have more pull, so long as you back it up with the body of your work! Also aim to incorporate popular search terms, and if you’re using an image, consider that it will likely get shared as well — choose your visuals and vernacular wisely.

Another tip: people are social creatures, and tagging them in your posts will compel them to engage with it. Isn’t that right Ido?

Lastly — let’s not forget the importance of social sharing buttons! Make sure these are on all blog posts, articles, etc. Don’t forget that on social media, the buttons will already be there, but if you leave Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. the share button will not automatically pop up.

A solid content strategy revolves not only around creation, but distribution. There’s countless ways to increase visibility, but the process to arrive at them is the same: think about all the ways people get to your content and work backwards from there.

4. Use a Call-to-Action

A call-to-action — or CTA for short — is a way to ask your readers to take a specific action, and it can be used in various ways. Ultimately, they are a way to steer viewer behavior, which is one of the end goals of any content strategy.

If the audience found your content insightful or otherwise valuable, they are more likely click a link you’ve provided. Some examples include a subscribe, donate, learn more, try it free, and apply now links.

We recommend custom-tailoring your CTA’s in the following ways:

• provoke an emotional response. If you sound enthusiastic, ending the action to be followed with an exclamation point, you’ll receive a more enthusiastic response in turn!
• provide a ‘USP’ (unique selling point) that will explain what’s in it for them. Don’t: keep it generic. Do: explain that you can sign up ‘to get you the best sleep of your life.’
• Use FOMO (fear of missing out) to your advantage by mentioning time sensitive resources, ie: “while supplies last,” “Sale ends tonight,” etc…

5. Help people buy into your ideas

Everyone interacting on social media knows their communication is at a distance, which is why its crucial to be personable and use language that makes your reader feel like you’re speaking directly to them. Try to use “you” more than “me” or “I”, and craft your content around what you think will add the most value to your readers or viewers.

The best way to get people to believe in you is to help them get to know you. Moved past your fears of posting on social media, and actively engage with your current follower base.

Get known for ‘the thing(s)’ that are the hallmark of your professional success, and offer insights into their future.

There’s a philosophy that’s been surfacing recently that the most important thing with content is to post consistently… While that’s true, posting things that people don’t care about won’t increase your traction, and it may even be damaging to your reputation. Find the balance between quantity vs quality!

When you put it that way, being thoughtful is a no-brainer ;)

Stickier Content Leads to Better Business

Social media is an invaluable business tool, and the name of the game is content. Using these five tips to create stickier content, individuals and brands alike can strengthen their image to leverage the opportunities that come from building an online presence.

Magic Media helps founders and executives take their online presence to the next level with custom thought leadership content. Click here to begin building a stronger personal brand right now!