The Art of Crafting Viral Social Media Content: Secret From the Pros
The psychology behind viral content
The entire world is today on social media since there is something for everyone to give and receive. For instance, the recent restaurant you must have visited or planning to visit is most probably because you saw some post that went viral and you couldn’t wait to try it out! Social media thrives on content, and the potential of content getting viral is exactly what makes it so powerful. Using this super tool to one’s advantage is necessary to upscale one’s business and brand, we at Write Ink will take you through it today!
The most basic reason behind social media content getting viral is the amount of users viewing it and the number of times it is shared around, that’s what creates all the buzz. But why content is viewed and becomes share-worthy? Why and what causes that urge within the user to see and share a particular content with others? Unfortunately, not everything goes viral on social media. However, it is not as daunting as it may seem if we focus on the few basic pointers that more or less form the crux of content going viral.
It is the brain of the social media user that ultimately leads to social media content going viral. First and foremost, emotions play a major role when it comes to the absorption and perceiving of any content, social media content is no exception. When you come across a post, if it triggers any of your emotions, you get attracted, you watch it and further share it owing to the relatability factor and emotional appeal.
As humans, we are wired to share what we feel, but often fall short of expressions, however when content that feels relatable and stirs a specific emotion, you feel like sharing the content as you feel your emotion found an expression. Expressing your emotions, be it negative or positive, definitely gives a dopamine rush that your brain absolutely loves. Positive emotions like amusement, joy, and hope and negative emotions like anger, fear, and sadness, garner substantial emotional appeal. Similarly, it is easier to get attracted to and process visually appealing content for our brains as it creates a long-lasting impression.
There is so much content already out there for users to consume. However viral content has a certain novelty and uniqueness. It is the newness, something that takes the user absolutely off guard without any disclaimer that kicks the dopamine rush (a reward centre of the brain). The feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that one receives when one gets to know something new automatically creates an appeal and ensures that your content is consumed more and shared more, as the more they connect with this content, the more dopamine is released.
Consequently, curiosity and the urge to fill the gap between what a user knows and doesn’t know is when filled by a particular social media content, it immediately strikes a chord with the user and is more bound to be shared as the psychology of wanting others to know as well immediately kicks in. Social standing and being one with society, following others or the bandwagon effect is also a major reason for content getting viral.
Understanding your target audience
Social media content’s success depends on perception, and that depends solely on the audience you target. Not everyone will understand or relate to your content, thus it becomes necessary to understand who is interested in what product or service you offer and thereby create content accordingly. Understanding the age, gender, geographical location and other factors can help understand the needs and cater to them accordingly. As discussed above, targeting the emotional triggers and the curiosity of the user is the best way to ensure your content reaches out to many.
Once you figure out the target audience and cater to their requirements when supplying content, you automatically keep your user’s interest glued to your content. The main reason behind creating content for your brand is to ensure better user engagement, where your user feels more connected. When one fills the gap between what the brand offers and what the user wants, successful integration is created in all aspects which benefits the business multifold. Going by market trends, and using social media surveys, polls and interviews are some ways to identify your target audience.
There are various analytics tools and social media content generators available online which help in figuring out content that will best address your target audience. Addressing the pain points of the audience is necessary, and when you successfully identify the target audience, you can more effectively address these pain points, and that makes the content more relatable and potentially more shareable.
Elements of viral content
If dissected, it will be observed that all viral social media content writing has a few elements in common that make it go viral, which makes it appealing and so relatable to the users. A social media content strategist will surely look upon these factors to ensure that the content reaches out to the maximum. Some of them are listed below:
1. Relevance: For social media content to go viral it has to be posted at the right time at the right place, and in the right situation, so that in the rippling effect it gets pushed the maximum. Staying relevant to a specific happening or event is necessary to ensure your content strikes a chord with the audience. Content on social distancing immediately took social media by storm during COVID-19 times, however now the chances of the same happening are quite low. Thus using the events, timings and situations to one’s advantage is necessary to stay relevant.
2. Emotions: The content needs to evoke strong emotions for the audience to relate to it. Positive emotions like joy, hope, and happiness or even negative emotions like sadness, disgust, fear, and anger often stir the user’s emotions and pique their interest.
3. Visual appeal: Your content needs to have a strong visual appeal, to create an impression that stays with the user, making the content more likely to be consumed and shared further. A strong, lively, bold and colourful visual will grab more attention and will make the user look at the content which becomes necessary in today’s time when content is abundant.
4. Story: Story is the best way to grab your user’s attention as one is easily drawn to it. A captivating narrative, addressing some pain points, creating an emotional appeal and resolving a conflict by giving a solution is likely to stay with the audience.
5. Authentic, Novel and Direct: Providing original content which has a certain spin of freshness and is conveyed straightforwardly is surely to connect the audience more. Weaving in two unrelated yet existing concepts together, and conveying it easily can be the best way to go about it! It will stay with the audience and they would like to see more of it.
Crafting compelling headlines and captions
Social media content needs to be crafted keeping in mind the small attention span the users have while consuming content. Within that short span appealing, informing, persuading, compelling to take action and also ensuring a relatability for the content to reach more people, may seem like a daunting task. However, these factors can be taken care of by ensuring a compelling headline and caption. It is the headline of the content that drives the user to delve into what is to be offered, one can’t go wrong here at any cost. The headline should immediately create an emotional appeal, trigger a sense of urgency and promise some solution.
Creating a sense of curiosity, at the same time keeping it very simple, direct and short is necessary so the audience can completely consume the content you offer within their short span of attention. Constant and easy scrolling is inevitable, however with a compelling headline that sparks curiosity, asks relevant questions or stirs an emotion, will make the user either pause or come back which is essentially the main reason behind viral content, it should instantly divert your attention to it. “Looking for a getaway near you?” Well, chances are high that this one headline may make the user stop and look into it, owing to the question it asks.
Utilising visuals and multimedia
Words alone may not always do justice while expressing what you intend to. Ensuring an immersive experience during content consumption, whereby enabling the user to use all their five senses can help create a long-lasting impression, and consequently more likes, comments and shares. Visuals and audio help to give the user a certain expectation, standard or imagination which the user then processes further. While using words does create a powerful impact, it leaves the imagining part to the user itself, which may be different from what you want the user to experience.
Giving a visual and auditory perception makes it further easy for the audience to consume your content, and thereby process and take the action you want the user to take. Visuals are an easy medium to convey the brand value, trigger certain emotions, retain their attention and create a long-lasting impression. Using audio is also on the rise as it makes the experience further enriching and ensures a better reach. The entire reel and shorts culture, one of the social media content types, is on the rise solely because it uses catchy beats that trend at a point in time, eye-catching and swift-moving visuals and short duration, instantly making the user consume, process, share and move ahead.
Leveraging user-generated content
This kind of social media content is on the rise in recent times, whereby brands can directly use the content generated by their consumers in which the brand is specifically used or mentioned. It works as direct recommendations, giving other users a direct insight into first-hand experience of the service or the product endorsed. People usually tend to believe and trust more, when they see others benefitting and using some product or service that they intend to own. Such type of content accentuates the benefits, removes all doubts and hesitations and the user instantly gets a seal of credibility that helps them to build trust over the brand.
It also helps your brand in great user engagement which helps build a stronger connection with your consumer base. It is cost-effective, as it is your user whose content you repost. However, you need to encourage your users to create content for you, which can be done via conducting contests, creating hashtags and dedicating a section only for featuring such content. Also, often user-generated content can give ideas to create your own content, so using users to your benefit is surely a good way to ensure higher visibility and credibility!
The power of storytelling
Humans are instantly drawn to stories. We all prefer to get to know everything in story format as it makes the content more interesting, intriguing, acceptable and easier to understand. All these factors are also necessary for the consumption of social media content. A story weaved in a manner where you provide a situation, a main character who mirrors the user, a conflict which is synonymous with a problem the user might be facing, and finally a resolution that is promised by your product or service.
This entire narrative when weaved with the required emotional triggers, interesting plots and devices, intriguing rising action and a final resolution, will instantly grab the user’s attention mainly because you showcase an interesting plot and also because you represent a slice of their own lives which make it more relatable and appealing. When such content is consumed it makes the user feel satiated as they find expressions of their own, which instantly strikes a chord, and makes them like, comment and further share the content.
Promoting and distributing your viral content
Just creating your content is not enough, distributing and promoting it well is what determines the viral factor. It is essential to ensure that you post your content on all your social media handles, with relevant captions, hashtags and mentions as and when required to ensure maximum reach out. Having an effective social media content distribution strategy in place is necessary, as how, where and when you post your content also determines a lot of the success of the content.
Content having some flavour of cricket will surely perform well when it’s cricket or World Cup season. Also, it is imperative to understand where your target audience is more active- which social media platform are they using more, at what time, and during what season or situation, using all this data and then posting also helps to ensure a post gets more reach. Having influencers who promote your social media content or brand over social media is yet another effective tool. Primarily, having a social media content calendar in place is also necessary for an organised and smooth process when it comes to content creation and distribution.
Analysing and learning from successful viral campaigns
Social media is a place of trial and error, and there is no sure-shot way of assuring success. It is constantly changing and evolving, thus keeping up the pace is necessary but also daunting. There is no one single guidebook or principle that assures perfection or success, but often analysing and learning from the campaigns that go viral at any point, keeping a close eye on them and dissecting them well can help you to create your content which increases the chances of following the same trajectory.
Looking at the demographics of the successful campaign, the leads, the category and genre of content, the emotional triggers used, the technique of content writing employed, and the novelty that the campaign thrives on, all these aspects when analysed well can provide valuable insights. Focusing on what was done differently, what garnered attention and how the campaign stood the test of relevance are also important to note. Delving into the what, how, why, when, and where can answer the crux of such analysis and prove to be a valuable asset in the creation of your content.
Conclusion
Social media is a tricky arena and needs a lot of analysis, experience and observation to ace. We at Write Ink specialise in social media content creation to ensure your business leverages this super weapon in the best way possible! We hope this introduction to viral social media content and its working gives you some valuable insight. Visit our social media handle and website to learn more about social media and much more about content that has the power to change the face of your business!
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