The social media websites we use from year to year or decade to decade can change. However, social media is here to stay.
Social media websites aren’t only for seeing what your ex is up to or posting pictures of your pets. Using these platforms can also help skyrocket a company’s popularity. But first, it’s important to know how to boost social media shares.
Let someone who has spent nearly a decade helping companies reach their audiences, especially on social media. Before you learn how to increase social media shares, I’ll quickly break down what social media sharing is and why it’s beneficial.
Why Is Social Sharing So Important?
Before I show you the list of tips below, you might wonder if working to gain social media shares is worth it. I understand. Fortunately, social sharing is so worth your time and effort. Here’s why:
Building Your Brand:
One of the major benefits of social sharing is growing your business. A single share might not seem like much. But, over time, these shares can easily transform into more sales and customers.
Gaining More Followers:
With social media being so prevalent, your brand’s followers can help with social and website SEO. In turn, your company shows up in more social conversations and continues gathering momentum in the form of likes and follows.
Creating Trust:
If you’re like most people, you see a popular business as being more trustworthy than a brand-new one. When a potential customer sees your shared content everywhere, they view you as an authority.
Learning More About Your Audience: From popular TikTokers to business posting on social media, certain pieces of content will do better than others. Sometimes, the content you obsess over gains no traction while a throwaway post becomes incredibly popular.
Boost Social Media Shares With These Tips
1. Ask
I’ll start this list with a simple and effective tip: Ask for shares from your audience. It sounds almost too simple to be effective.
I get it—asking people for a favor that involves sharing content might feel awkward. But, the worst thing that will happen is getting a “no” in response. Trust me – people are used to getting asked to like, share, and subscribe, as you’ll know from spending a minute watching any YouTube video.
You can also use this step by including a quick request to share at the bottom of your social media posts. Maximize your likelihood of positive responses and shares by seeking out and communicating with your brand’s most passionate fans and followers.
2. Create Content That Resonates With Your Audience
You’ll often see the phrase “create high-quality content” thrown around on many marketing lists. While writing high-quality is great, this term can sound a little vague to most people.
If your goal is to gain more social media shares, you need content your audience wants to see and read about. Typically, the average person isn’t going to share something without at least reading what they’re posting with others.
3. Post at the “Right” Times
According to HubSpot, a company should publish between two to five weekly posts on Facebook. But when should you publish these posts on Facebook or any other social media platform?
That depends on your audience. However, after researching the answer to this question, at least for American audiences, the best time to post social media content is between 9 am to 1 pm. That doesn’t mean your posts won’t reach anyone in the late afternoon or night. The previously mentioned time range is just when most social media users will be online.
4. Jump on Trending Topics
The Harlem Shake. The Ice Bucket Challenge. ASMR. All these subjects became massively popular due to social media sharing.
Even if you barely use social media, you only need to sign in to these platforms once to see posts about trending topics. Because of that, many companies now jump on the bandwagon of trending topics – and it’s easy to see why.
Covering trending topics puts your brand in the middle of a popular conversation. I would suggest avoiding business posts concerning controversial trending topics.
But if your business can add to a trending topic or conversation, go for it!! Drop a hashtag or two about this topic into your post and watch engagement (and potential shares) increase.
Don’t only make this something your business does on rare occasions—trending topics happen every day.
5. Match Format to Platform
Social media stays popular because it gives people plenty of options.
Want to post a full-length video? You can do that using YouTube.
Have an idea for a short (under one minute) video? TikTok or Instagram are the perfect platforms.
I’m sure you get the idea. While most social platforms offer different posting options, most social media websites cater to one or two posting formats. Here’s a helpful list to help you understand how to match the platform your brand uses with its popular content formats.
Facebook: Videos and image-based posts
Twitter: Short (under 250 characters) messages and updates
TikTok: Short-length videos
Snapchat: Images
YouTube: Short and long videos
Instagram: Images and videos
LinkedIn: Text and image-based posts
Pinterest: Images
Thank you for checking out my tips on how to increase social media shares. These easy-to-use ideas can soon help your brand’s share count rise. Just remember to keep at it, and watch the shares roll in.
6. Make Your Audience Laugh
Who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh? When in doubt about how to ramp up social shares, inject a little humor into your posts. Chances are, you or your social media team can find a meme in image or video form that has to do with your company, its industry, or its customers.
The next time you’re making a social media post, take a moment to inject a little (tasteful) humor into your content. You might be amazed at how many shares it receives.
Sometimes, getting shares on social media can feel like pushing a heavy boulder up a steep hill. Fortunately, you don’t have to bang your head against the nearest desk when it’s time to post on social media. Instead, follow the tips above while the shares start rolling in.
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