Learning to Share: Tips to Increase Your Content Shares

An integral part of any robust PR program should most certainly include content development. Content like bylines, visuals, video and blog posts help build credibility for your band and creates an industry voice. But as well all know, producing the content is just the first step; distributing it and getting other people to share your ideas through their personal sites or blogs, or on their social media pages like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn is the ultimate goal. After all, when people share your content, it increases the number of eyeballs on your messaging as shown by data from AddThis, a media web-tracking technology company, which saw a over four million global shares every day across devices. 

But what if no one shares your published content? Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more common as the volume of online content continues to rise. New research from BuzzSumo which analyzed one million articles found that 50 percent of articles get eight shares or less. 

The good news is that there are some key ways to increase your content’s shares:

1. Before you begin writing, do your research. Creating quality content is always the most important step in getting your content shared across platforms. Take a look at the type of content that is trending in your industry, is it in the form of a list, does it focus on technical data or are graphics going to best portray your point of view? By researching relevant topics that resonate with your intended audience is a sure-fire way to increase your sharing odds. In addition, there are several tools that can used to research the industry conversation. For instance, Brandwatch is a social media monitoring and analytics tool that can help you keep a pulse on what is happening in your industry.

2. While you research, be sure to monitor. For the most part, social sharing takes place right after the content has published, but it then trickles out after a very short period of time. When there is a new report or trend within your industry, it is best to act quickly to use the momentum of the news in your favor. If you react to news too late, your point of view will most likely be lost among those that have already published content and viewers will be less inclined to share your perspective. 

3. After your content is published, you must amplify. In addition to your content creation strategy, you need to implement an amplification strategy. This step will help the reach of your content go farther as organic reach is no longer cutting it. It is important to research paid distribution as this has proved to dramatically increase the number of people your content will be in front of – no matter the network.

The content marketing landscape is ever evolving as new practices are always being developed to increase the number of views and shares published content receives. So it is critical to understand what you need to do to ensure your great content gets the shares it deserves.