How To Encourage Facebook Fans To Share Your Content

It seems a lot of brands these days are approaching the Facebook game with one goal in mind: to get as many “likes” as possible. But while “likes” are all well and good, they do very little to generate word of mouth. To truly get the word out about your brand, you don’t just want someone to like the content you post. You want them to share it. When someone shares your brands content, they are straight up telling their friends that they NEED to read this. They are becoming your advocate. So how does your brand go about getting this special breed of organic promotion? And where should you engage them? Here are a few tips known to get results.

Generate Great Visual Content

When done right, visuals have a very viral nature about them. Social networks such as Facebook act as a sort of curated representation of an individual’s ideal identity, and the content that one shares contributes to that identity. Therefore, producing quality video/image content that people identify themselves with can provide great incentive for them to share it. Meme’s, infographics, videos, and even creative pictures can spread virally. Consider networks like Pinterest, Instagram, Vimeo, as well as the common Facebook and Twitter networks.

Be Current

Providing content that is pertinent to the moment is a must if you want people to share it. Like I said before, people share things that they identify themselves with. While not everyone has the desire to be especially fashionable, nobody wants to be so 2000 and late (I’m aware of the irony). If the content you share is dated, its doubtful anybody will feel the to share it themselves. Provide content that contributes in someway to a current conversation, and people are much more likely to vouch for it themselves. This could be breaking news, or a piece of content that taps into an ongoing trend. Just make sure it’s cool with the young folk, if you get my drift.

Personalize The Brand

Every business is made up of human beings. Human beings that have different experiences, quirks, and opinions. Those are the things that make us interesting, that make us unique, that make us stand out from the rest. A business shouldn’t be any different. When people share content, they are making an emotional investment in its value. In order to get a person to make an emotional investment, you have to connect with them on some level. The only way to really connect with somebody is to allow him or her to find something about you that they can relate to on some level. So when you are writing a blog post, or posting a status, try to infuse a bit of yourself in to it. Write the way you talk. Have a sense of humor. Stay personable.

And since we’re on the social note, what tactics do you feel work? Please share in the comments.

Brendan Sevack is a social enthusiast and a blogger for Wazala.com specializing in ecommerce solutions and social media marketing. Studied audio engineering, but soon after realized he prefers to share with words rather than sound.