How to Make Your Content More Shareable on Facebook

How to MakeYour Content MoreShareable on FacebookMay 2012

The human brain When we talk about shareable content,…we’retalking about …that peoplethe type of want to tellinformation… others about. 2

The human brain The urge to share information has always existed. Arousal isSharing is controlled bydriven, in the reticularpart, by activatingphysiological system in thearousal. brain stem. 3

The human brain But now, with the rise of Facebook……we havethe power to …like nevershare with before.the world… 4

The human brain Why doesthis matter? 5

THE SEARCH ERA (1998-present) 6

The Search Era People increasingly use Google to find news and information News By optimizingorganizations content, news optimize organizations content to have a better show up in chance of showing results up higher in search results 7

The Search Era The Huffington Post creates a content model built around this idea: • Produce content people are searching for. • Optimize content so it has the best chance of appearing in search results. 8

The Search Era Search is still important: • Google is a top traffic referrer. • It gives small news organizations visibility it might not have otherwise. 9

The Search Era Search has its downsides: • Other than optimizing your content appropriately, you don’t have much control. • Computers are deciding the fate of your content. 10

THE SOCIAL ERA BEGINS (Now) 11

The Social Era• 2007: Facebook launches Pages, which news organizations can use to share content with their “Fans.”• 2010: Facebook begins rolling out its Like, Share and Recommend buttons, which can be embedded directly onto news organization’s stories.• Suddenly, people have a new way of finding and spreading news and information: their friends and social circles. 12

The Social Era People discovering news and information through social more than ever Some news organizationsAnd people are are now sharing news beginning to information select, createmore than ever and format content that compels people to share it with others 13

The Social Era “Portals are about impressions, search is about queries, and social is about sharing. It turns out that sharing is a richer, more human currency.” --BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti 14

The Social Era “Search results are polluted with SEO gaming sites and pages that rank high that are more readable to a robot than a human. Social is avoiding these problems by directly measuring human actions. That is a better signal because humans are what ultimately matter.” --BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti 15

The Social Era “We’re no longer writing to get the attention of Google algorithms. We’re writing to get you to share it, to digg it.” --The Atlantic Digital Editor Bob Cohn 16

The Social Era “A great headline is just a great headline. It has to be clear; it has to be intelligent. We’re not writing for machines. We’re writing for humans.” --The Atlantic Digital Editor Bob Cohn 17

The Social Era We are right at the beginning of the Social Era: • Facebook is closing in on one billion active users. • Referrals from Facebook are surging. 18

A tale of shareability awesomeness Feb. 16, 2012: The New York Times Magazine runs a 6,800- word piece about how retailers track their customers. 19

A tale of shareability awesomeness Feb. 16, 2012: Later that day, Forbes privacy reporter Kashmir Hill aggregates (with lots of links back to the original story) the piece in an 1,100- word post on her blog. Hill’s story gets 27,442 shares on Facebook and 1.5 million page views. 20

A tale of shareability awesomeness 21

A tale of shareability awesomeness So how was the Forbes version able to get 1.5 million page views? We’ll get to that. 22

Defining shareable content It’s a story, photo, video, audio or other content type that is written, headlined and packaged in a way that compels people to tell others about it. It’s not just cat photos. News is shareable. 23

Top 5 Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (During Month of February 2012) 24

Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012) 5. California’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban Is Unconstitutional, Court Says 2,845 Shares • Newsy • Controversial • Compelling 25

Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)4. Vermont Inmates Hide Image Of Pig On Police Decals 3,077 Shares • Funny • Quirky • Intriguing 26

Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012) 3. The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day 3,139 Shares • Quirky • Intriguing • Strange • Relevant 27

Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)2. Six-Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway, Hides for 80 Years 4,393 Shares • Quirky • Intriguing • Strange • Unbelievable • Unexpected 28

Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012) 1. In Reversal, Komen To Continue Funding Planned Parenthood 4,711 Shares • Newsy • Relevant • Controversial • Compelling 29

HOW DO I MAKE MYCONTENT MORE SHAREABLE? 30

What makes content shareable? GOOD HEADLINES! 31

What makes content shareable? GOOD HEADLINES! • Put a lot of your creative energy into writing good headlines. • A good story with a bad headline will get fewer shares. 32

What makes content shareable? ORIGINALITY! • People share things that are surprising or different. • Try to distinguish your content from most others. 33

What makes content shareable? EXCLUSIVITY! • Focus on strong original reporting. • “News scoops are inherently social content. Telling people something NEW is a great strategy if you want people to share your content.” --BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti 34

What makes content shareable? LISTS! 35

What makes content shareable? LISTS! 1. They help us quickly learn new things. 2. They’re easy to remember. 3. They help answer questions and explain things. 36

What makes content shareable? PHOTOS! 37

What makes content shareable? PACKAGING! • Subheads and block quotes help people scan through your content. • Links provide a better user experience. • Photos and videos and audio give users something extra to look at, watch or listen to. 38

A tale of shareability awesomeness 39

A tale of shareability awesomeness “I took a great piece by an excellent reporter and created a version of it that was better for an online audience. This is a big part of what I do as a ‘new journalist.’” --Kashmir Hill, Reporter, Forbes 40

A tale of shareability awesomeness “The New York Times article is a delicious nine-course dinner; mine is an equally tasty, bite- sized snack for readers on the go. Most readers online are looking for something quick and easy to digest, so my version worked better for them.’” --Kashmir Hill, Reporter, Forbes 41

Headlines• Not a bad headline, but a little vague.• Probably worked really well in the magazine.• I don’t necessarily feel compelled to read it.• I feel like I need to read this.• I feel compelled to share it with others.• I have a pretty good idea about what this is about. 42

Text• Times piece is excellent longform journalism, written for the deep reader.• Forbes piece pulls out the juicy details for the web reader. 43

Packaging• Forbes piece has lots of links, pull-quotes and is easy to scan through.• Times piece is for deep-diving, not scanning. 44

Packaging• Forbes piece has lots of links, pull-quotes and is easy to scan through.• Times piece is for deep-diving, not scanning. 45

What makes content shareable? FACEBOOK! • Think of your Facebook page as your second home page. 46

Pace Find a consistent post pace – once every hour, once every two hours, once every three hours – and stick to it. Make it mandatory for your team. Posting on a consistent, frequent basic everyday throughout the week will help grow your community and force you to find creative ways to share your content. NPR posts roughly every hour. 47

Make it look good When you post a link to your content, make sure it has a good headline and is scannable. • When you post to Facebook, you should edit your station name out of the headline. • And make sure to delete the URL from the text box. 48

Use lead-in box to ask questions, add voice Don’t just post the story. Add something -- a question or a quote -- in the text box. It encourages engagement and makes your post more visible. • Michigan Radio Facebook.com/michigan radio 49

Use lead-in box to ask questions, add voice Don’t just post the story. Add something -- a question or a quote -- in the text box. It encourages engagement and makes your post more visible. • WBUR Facebook.com/wburne ws 50

Use lead-in box to ask questions, add voice Don’t just post the story. Add something -- a question or a quote -- in the text box. It encourages engagement and makes your post more visible. • KPCC Facebook.com/kpccfm 51

Respond to comments Interacting with your Facebook following will remind them that there are humans delivering them information. 52

Post photos Photos are highly shareable. Occasionally post photos from stories, but also to give a behind-the- scenes look into your station. 53

The human brain 54

The human brainA recent study published inthe Journal of MarketingResearch set out to figure outwhat makes people shareinformation.The researchers found thatsharing is evoked by emotion. 55

The human brainBut then they wondered:• What types of emotions compel people to share content?• What types of emotions don’t compel people to share content? 56

The human brainWhat they found:• Content that “activates” arousal is more shareable.• Content that “deactivates” arousal is less shareable. 57

The human brainWhat they found:• Content that evokes anger, awe, anxiety, surprise, interest is more shareable.• Content that evokes sadness is less shareable. 58

The human brain Eric Athas eathas@npr.org @ericathasQuestions? 617-622-5433 59

How to Make Your Content More Shareable on Facebook

by nprdigital on Jun 05, 2012

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