Getting likes and shares on social content is a great way to see your business having an impact on clients. While you’re working on getting those likes and shares, you should take a look at why people like posts and why they end up sharing your content: the science behind social sharing.
Here’s a direct look at these reasons with some great tips on how to create excellent content that your customers will not only read but also like or share.
The Science Behind Social Sharing: Just Why Do We Like & Share Posts on Social Media?
Posting to social media has many aims, including getting likes and shares from your clients. You’ve read how to create excellent, shareable content, but just why do people like posts or share on social media? There are many reasons for this and I am going to look at different reasons from the latest post from QuickSprout, investigating just why people do what they do on social media.
3 Reasons Why We Like Posts on Social Media
Let’s take a look at a few reasons why your clients and even yourself, like to “like” things when it comes to Facebook and other social posts.
1. We Can Affirm What the Person Says. According to the QuickSprout post, one of the main reasons we like posts is we get the chance to affirm what the other person is saying. This doesn’t always mean we technically like something, but that we want to encourage the person. A like on our posts shows that our readers, friends, and families found something interesting or moving about our post. It also shows us that people are, in fact, listening to what we say. This is great when it comes to your business because that means that there are truly people reading your posts, even if you sometimes feel you are speaking into the social media void.
2. We Can Feel “Involved” With Something. As humans, we all have a need to feel involved in something. This is one reason why we look for groups to work with whether in the community or online. In the QuickSprout article mentioned earlier, one way we all work to feel involved is by liking something on Facebook. This goes for sharing, as well because it gets more people to see a post from a group or business you’re involved in. Remember this when you post social media content by posting things that will help your customers feel even more involved in your business.
3. We Can Express a Form of Empathy. A simple but deeply emotional reason in the science of social sharing. Have you ever noticed when someone says a family member or friend passes away, people update their Facebook and within minutes someone else likes it? Does that person really like that their friend’s loved one died? Are they really that callous? Actually, they aren’t. “Liking” doesn’t always mean you like a post, as I mentioned earlier. It can be a way to affirm, but it can also be a form of empathy. Many of us are separated from our friends, so a like on a sad update helps us feel like we are making them food or giving them a hug. Likes can be the emotional Heimlich of the Internet world, and help people feel a strong sense of community no matter what is happening.
Three Top Reasons Why We Share Social Media Posts
Now that I’ve looked at why people like posts, let’s take a look at why they share. Just what is the psychology behind a social share and what should your business do to get them? Take a look!
1. We Want to Share Interesting Things. Interesting things are important to us, and when it comes to our social media channels, we want to share interesting things. No one wants to share something that makes them look like a boring fuddy-duddy to their friend group. No matter how boring the topic is, if it is written in an interesting, unique way, people are more likely to share it because they found it, well, interesting. This is why you should share “how to” articles, lists, and other types of easy-to-read content because they can help you make some pretty interesting content no matter what.
2. We Want to Support Things We Care About. In addition to sharing interesting things, we also want to share posts to support things we care about, according to Shea Bennett from Ad Week. In fact, according to Shea, about 68 percent of people do this because it helps to show who we are while highlighting different areas we care for. This could be dumping a bucket of icy water over oneself to raise awareness and support for ALS or sharing a blog post from To Write Love on Her Arms. Whatever a person cares about, they will share. You can research your audience to learn what it is they care for, which can help you craft great content they will be willing to share with others.
3. To Develop and Nourish Our Online Relationships. Another reason people share, according to Garrett Moon from CoSchedule, is to help develop and nourish their online relationships. About 78 percent of users polled said this was the reason, and it is quite apparent by the way we all use our social channels and work to grow various relationships. These relationships can be with friends, family members, or even businesses, which is why your business should create content that focuses on the user, not your company.
4 Perfect Things You Can Share on Your Business’s Social Media Pages
Now that you can see a few of the reasons behind why your clients will be liking and sharing content, you are probably wondering how you can create it. I am going to look at a few ways to create content your clients will definitely want to share and like, helping you promote and grow engagement and relationships. Once you focus on that, you will begin to see an awesome boost to organic traffic, as well as to your revenue.
1. Share Your Blogs for More Engagement. Blogging is a fantastic way to get likes and shares from clients. There are many ways to write great, engaging blog copy that helps improve your social and site traffic. Some of these include writing on great, trendy content topics, writing news stories from within your industry and researching your audience to know what they want to read. Always make sure you are writing blogs on a wide variety of topics to help draw in more readers and reach different people in different places.
2. Share Great Visual Content. Visual marketing is a great way to create social content that receives likes and shares. It can help to grab the attention of your audience, which means they will read things such as an infographic. Always consider sharing your infographics on your blog, but also as individual photos on social media. This will help give your clients quick access to it without having to wait for your page to load. If they find it useful and interesting, then they will click on your link and check out more of your content.
Other visual content ideas are to share regular images that are high quality (you can create some great social share images by using things like Canva), as well as uploading videos. You can condense your written content down into a video, making it easier for your customers to consume the content quicker.
3. Share Related Industry Content. You also don’t always want to focus on your content and your content only. Give your clients more content from places within your industry, such as industry leaders, as well as content from related industries. For example, if you run a used bookstore, you can share content from websites like Abe Books, but you can also share things like grammar memes, posts from Grammarly, or anything else that could be related to reading, writing, and books. The sky really is the limit when it comes to related industry content – broaden your mind and you can broaden your social engagement.
4. Share User-Generated Content. As I mentioned earlier, people enjoy feeling involved in a company, which is often why they like or share. But, you don’t just need to sit around and wait for them to do that; you can encourage involvement through user-generated content. Have your clients upload images of your product or create something with your services. If you sell something like cleaning supplies, ask users to send in images or videos of how they used them. No matter the type of product you have, you can always find ways to encourage user-generated content to help make your clients feel even more involved. This can help you get more likes and shares, too.
Get Social and Receive All the Likes and Shares!
The science of social sharing is something that can help you grow your social following. Getting likes and shares isn’t something that will happen overnight, but if you work at it and encourage involvement, people are more likely to start engaging. Start by following a few of the tips listed above and see just how much engagement you receive.
If you are looking for excellent social media content to get you started, then look no further that Express Writers. Our social media team is well-trained in creating excellent social content for a multitude of clients. Check out our services to see how we can help you!