Is your content attracting high rates of website traffic and lead generation? If not, you are failing to produce highly contagious content. Contagious content is the key to enhancing SEO and greatly amplifying website traffic and new business generation. Contagious content is fresh, exciting, relevant, engaging, actionable and high-impact, and it achieves high rates of social content curation-or social sharing. Such content is valuable, because it compels your audience to share it on social media.
Attaining contagious content curation requires creativity, innovation, real-time industry knowledge, a fresh perspective and excellent writing skills. If all this seems overwhelming, do not worry. There are strategic practices and certain types of content, which are inherently more contagious and more likely to be shared on social media-increasing website traffic, lead generation and conversion, and your online influence.
4 Best Practices for Contagious Content Creation
1. Cultivate Real-Time Industry Knowledge
Stay current about what is trending on social media. Utilize Topsy to discover the most popular online content according to topic; Klout can help you discover what top industry influencers and thought leaders are publishing. You do not want to waste time writing about something that will fail to generate significant interest. Use your research and real-time knowledge to generate content topics, while conveying fresh ideas and a unique perspective in your own original content.
2. Employ Newsjacking
Newsjacking entails riding the popularity wave of a hot news story and casting some of its bright spotlight on your own content. Capitalizing on a breaking news story allows you access to a larger-than-normal captive audience. When a big story pops, take quick and decision action, and be the first to publish and syndicate original, newsjacked content related to the story. Being a first responder could help you be recognized as a "must-follow" informational resource. Oreo winningly newsjacked the Super Bowl blackout. Newsjacking is contagious-greatly amplifying social engagement and boosting brand recognition, website traffic and lead generation.
3. Create Content That Resonates With Your Audience
Content must be fresh and original in order to attract a larger captive audience. Employ active storytelling to increase engagement, and be forthright with your opinions. A strong viewpoint is compelling, so stand by your convictions and back them up with solid research. Tap into the emotions of your audience. Trigger high-impact responses of happiness, awe, anger or anxiety-all of which multiply the likelihood of social content curation.
4. Select Highly Clickable Titles
Choosing unenticing titles for your content can have serious consequences, including low visibility and social content curation. Your titles should appear highly clickable-advertising must-read content. While trends and keyword research are critical, resist the urge to jam-pack your titles with keywords, if it would make them overly long and unappealing. Excellent titles are attention-grabbing, clear, concise, actionable, authoritative, highly relevant, intriguing and sometimes slightly mysterious. Employ humor, intrigue or even provocation. The more clickable your titles, the more social engagement you will create.
5 Highly Contagious Content Types
1. Statistical Content
People love numbers and concrete facts. Find industry research reports with heavy data and statistics, and use them to give your content heft and supporting evidence. Statistics can make your content appear more credible. However, do not merely provide lists of statistics. Weave them seamlessly into the fabric of your content, and do not fail to provide insightful commentary.
2. Case Studies
Research reports are popular. However, sometimes readers desire more context and a real-life illustration of data, which is where case studies really excel. Case studies can infuse your data with life. Make the extra effort to present research data in a relatable and contextually rich fashion.
3. Video Content
Video marketing content is becoming more and more popular, because video allows you to inform and entertain viewers simultaneously. Also, it takes less focus to watch a short video than read a lengthy blog post, so viewers may be more likely to watch an entire video. Do not get left behind. Capitalize on the appeal of video content to convert your audience.
4. SlideShare Presentations
If your company already has engaging presentations, you can easily turn them in to SlideShare presentations for display on your website. SlideShare is also a great way of sharing any speaking presentations you have delivered at industry conferences or events. Create an account for your company on the website, upload your slides, and share them with your social networks and on your website.
5. Infographics
Infographics illustrate heavy data and complex processes in a visually appealing and accessible way. They are usually colorful and can add flair to websites and blog content. Infographics are often shared on social media, especially on visual sites like Pinterest. A high-impact, engaging and relevant infographic can even go viral-earning you lots of inbound links back to your website.
Hybrid content, which mixes mediums, such as written content, infographics and video, is another intriguing option for contagious content creation. Create content that compels high rates of social sharing, and your highly contagious content could even go viral-exponentially increasing your reach, brand recognition, website traffic, lead generation and business development.