10 Ways to Create Viral Content

Not every piece of content goes viral, but many pieces do simply because they fascinate, intrigue, inspire or stir up controversy among readers. Content marketers are often unsure of where to draw the line when it comes to being creative and original yet unbiased. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways that you can create content that goes viral while keeping your brand front and center.

Let’s dig right in.

1. Go Long. Longer articles get almost double the amount of shares. They give you more room to share ideas, crack a few jokes and add in appealing graphics. Save these longer posts (1,000+ words) for topics you want to expand on.
2. Post on the Right Days. Your content will get more shares if you simply post at the right times. Aim for earlier in the week (Mondays and Tuesdays) on popular social networks.
3. Love Lists. List articles get far more shares than other articles. Readers like how they’re broken down and easy to digest. The most popular articles are ones that list 10 items, but you can also get a lot of shares by listing 16, 23 or 24 items.
4. Add Images. Don’t skimp on the visuals. Posts with images get twice the amount of shares as ones without. You can also use more than one image to drive home more engagement.
5. Be Cute. It’s true - people love content that is cute, funny and entertaining. We need some of this in our lives. Some industries tend to have drier content, but don’t let this stand in  your way of delivering some cutesy stuff.
6. Send Out Quizzes. Readers love quizzes as they feed egos and make people feel important. Quizzes are actually some of the most shared pieces of content, so use existing quizzes as inspiration for your own.
7. Inspire with Infographics. Infographics are widely shared because they are visual and easy to absorb. Infographics are the second most shared pieces of content, so look for important information you can share in this format.
8. Repost Content. You create the content, so you can repost it as much as you’d like! You can double your shares by posting content about a week later. Or, repurpose old content by updating facts and figures and sharing it with your audience.
9. Influence Your Influencers. Your influencers are your biggest supporters, so encourage them to share your content to get more shares. Just one influencer can get 32% more shares.
10. Be Transparent. Creativity is important, but you don’t want to veer away from the original message. Be obvious in what your content is about, what value readers can learn and who the author behind the content is.