Social media is one of the most powerful platforms in digital marketing today. We take a look into what makes a successful social campaign and offer five easy ways to increase the number of shares that you get from your posts.
Social media is one of the most powerful platforms in digital marketing today, so much so that a recent study revealed that 72% of all internet users are now active on social media (Jeff Bullas). But as brands flock to the networks, another study by Mckinsey found that word-of-mouth generates 50% more sales than paid advertising, which puts social sharing on an even higher platform.
By analysing leading studies and successful campaigns, we take a deeper look into what makes a successful social campaign and offer five easy ways to increase the number of shares that you get from your posts.
1. Make An Emotional Connection
According to a study by Buffer which asked around 800 participants what they felt when they looked at 23 viral images, it was found that content which inspires emotions such as joy, interest, anticipation and trust is more likely to be shared. However as Paddy Power’s FIFA World Cup Campaign found, negative emotions can be just as powerful:
By pretending to bulldoze a message into the Amazonian rainforest, Paddy Power managed to cause widespread controversy with mass media coverage following shortly after. Although it was a hoax, for a brief moment it managed to hi-jack the World Cup trending news and cause widespread awareness.
2. Provide Valuable Content
The New York Times recently found that 94% of Facebook users consider how useful a link will be to their followers before posting it. This suggests that when creating content we should consider whether or not the audience will see it as valuable, rather than just trying to grab attention.
Valuable content is a pillar which many businesses base their digital campaigns on, with white papers, research studies and guides being very popular. For example Adobe recently released a white paper which found that 88% of surveyed marketers didn’t feel they could accurately measure the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. This was then cited by a variety of sources whilst generating good quality shares across social media.
3. Add A Call To Action
Asking people to retweet increases your chances of a social share by 160% on Twitter according to a study by Crazy Egg, which suggests that clearly stating what you want your audience to do can have a positive effect. This could explain why the ALS Bucket Challenge managed to create such momentum:
By creating something fun to do with friends and integrating the ‘nomination’ process, there was simply no confusion as to what they wanted the audience to do. Although this sounds obvious it was clearly effective, which is also shown by the success of the #FeelingNuts and #NoMakeUpSelfie campaigns.
4. Adopt Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is the act of paying a popular social account or celebrity to share your message to their following. Although it can be classed as paid advertising, paying for a social share taps into the ‘natural’ benefits of word-of-mouth whilst capturing a wide audience.
The power that word-of-mouth and influencer marketing have is often underrated, but there are many examples of where this can make or break a company. Take Superdry for example, which based its growth strategy on word of mouth. By taking a unique approach it managed to attract fans such as Nicole Scherzinger and David Beckham which spearheaded their brand awareness.
5. Visualise Your Message
According to both eMarketer and a Dan Zarella study, visual content performs best on Facebook for social sharing. Therefore on the news feed where words are often ignored, images are grabbing the majority of the attention. This is a trend that has been sweeping through the content marketing industry, with ‘memes’ and ‘Vines’ surging in popularity. But what seems to be most popular of all are ‘socialgraphics’ or ‘Micrographics, which can be seen in Visually’s post:
These small infographics are a great way to catch the user’s eye on a news feed and make your message stand out from the crowd, whilst providing content that your audience will want to share.
There’s no longer any doubt whether or not it’s a good idea for businesses to be on social media, as the visibility and connectivity offered is too good to pass up. But as many debate, how much time and effort we should invest, marketers should aim to post and share for a reason and not just for the sake of posting. Read more here
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