There are millions of websites, blogs, and brands all over the internet, but only a select few ever really make a big splash and fulfil their potential. Why is this?
Simply put, it is because a lot of brands are really somewhat dry and bland. How many times have you seen articles on ‘How to Lose Weight’, or ‘How to Make Money Online’, that don’t have anything exciting or new to say? The question these marketers should ask themselves is, why anyone would be interested in subscribing to that kind of content!
The posts that do well on social media, and in the blogger sphere are the ones that are highly unique, that are very niche, exciting and specific. Or content that is even quite controversial.
The articles that try to please everyone will end up not making much of an impact. While those that have something very clear to say to a very specific type of person will do well. And there is a very good reason for that…
The Psychology of Sharing
A post will do well on social media when it goes viral. If you can create an article, or a blog post that gets shared by all your followers and all their followers, then you will have a chance of going viral, which potentially could mean breaking one-million readers, and exploding all over the internet as a result.
So why do we share? It is useful to remember that social media is fundamentally a communication tool, which means that people use it either to express themselves, or to communicate something with someone else.
People tend to share content for one of two reasons:
A) It says something about themselves. They “like” it so that other people will see it on their wall, and know how they feel.
B) It says something about a friend. They share it with others to show they are thinking of them, or perhaps just as a joke.
Here is an Example
If you write a post on ‘How Working From Home Turns Your Brain to Mush’, then this will instantly appeal to people who work from home, and who want to learn more about what impact that might have on them.
If they agree with your post, and find it interesting, or if they find it funny, then they may share it on their wall. In doing so, they are showing their friends that they like working from home, and in the process help them understand more about who they are, even if it is not done intentionally.
Meanwhile though, your post might also get shared by people who have friends that work from home. These people will share your content because they will want to demonstrate that they understand their friends’ situation, as a way of poking fun, or just as a way to show that they are thinking of them.
In closing let’s remember that this only works because your content appeals to a specific type of person. Don’t be afraid to narrow down, and be specific. In doing so you potentially will exclude others as a result, but that is quite OK. That is how you become a brand that will be known as someone with something useful to say. In the process you will build an audience, who are eager to hear more from you.
