Has a piece of content become very popular just by chance? Not. A good content marketer understands what they have to do in the manufacturing process so that each of their content becomes popular.
How?
Namely by adding 6 elements that trigger popularity that I will teach you today.
Therefore, after reading this guide you will understand how to make popular content for your website.
What triggers content popularity?
Jonah Berger in his book Contagious: Why Things Catch On discusses the 6 basic principles that make things popular.
These six principles are like triggers that will make other people want to talk about and share your content with others.
Plus a guide on how you can create content that has every trigger for popularity.
By including these six elements, your content will potentially:
- Get lots of shares from readers
- Get lots of backlinks from other websites
This is why these 6 elements driving popularity are very useful for you content creators.
Not only the popularity of social media, but your content will also get good rankings in search engines.
The following are the six elements and how to create content that has each element.
# 1 PrideWhat is the main reason someone shares a content?
Because they want to get pride.
This pride can be in the form of 2 things:
- Like, share, retweet, amaze comments, etc. from their friends or followers
- Positive image related to the contents of shared content
For example like this.
Suppose that A is a high school kid who has started a business, one day he read an article about "successful people who have been in business since high school" on the internet.
Then A will share this article so that his friends will be impressed with A.
Makes sense right?The following are topics that can make someone proud after sharing your content.
Something that has not been realized by most people
The key to the first element is to create content whose contents are unknown to many people.
By creating content like this, many people will share with their friends.
This is because they want to be regarded as the first to know about new things.
New methods to simplify work or solve problems
Humans are happy with content that solves their problems.
But if you create content about solving problems that have been found too often resolved, then the content will not be popular.
It doesn't need to be 100% new.
You can also create content that combines more than one different method. Or with the same method but with a few extra steps.
Show that with your method, the results obtained are more perfect.
Comparison between 2 or more things
For example the comparison between 'white rice' and 'brown rice'.
If your article concludes brown rice is superior to white rice, then people who regularly eat brown rice will tell your friends their articles.
Discussion about specific individuals or organizations
Negative and positive, we as humans will be interested if something we follow is discussed exclusively.
Suppose you discuss organization C.
Members of organization C will be interested in your content and share this content with others who are inside the organization and outside the organization.
Positive discussion about something
Discussing positively about a certain thing will make people who are enthusiastic about it spread your content.
More about this is in element number 4.
# 2 Easy to rememberHumans will only recommend content that they remember.
Interestingly, we will repeatedly recommend your content each time the topic is discussed if your content is easy to remember.
So memorable content will stay popular in the long run.
Then how to make content that is easy to remember?
Use new terms / namesHow do I find the length of AB?
Use the Pitagorean formula.
Why do we remember the name "Pitagoras formula" to find the longest side in a triangle?
Because this formula has a name / term.
Sounds trivial but this is true. Something that has a specific term is easier to remember than one that doesn't.
The use of the term also makes it easier for them to explain to others.
If you make a method and name it, other people will find it easier to remember your content as a solution to their problem.
So by creating new terms people will tend to remember your content each time the topic is raised.
Use pictures to explain
"A picture is worth a thousand words".
Images will make it easier for humans to digest the contents of the content.
Not only that, the picture will also make them remember your content.
Therefore, include at least one unique image in your content. And for content in the form of a tutorial, include images for each stage.
Writing format that is easy to read
Consider the following picture:This is an image produced from an eye movement tracking device when reading.
We will not read articles verbatim.
As you go down, the fewer words you read.
If the paragraphs in your article contain many words, the reader will not understand what they are. Something like this is not good to read.
Explain in detail step by step
What happens if the food recipe article doesn't list the steps in detail?
We will have difficulty in applying.
Just like the 2 points above, our main goal is to make content that is easily understood.
The easier it is to digest, the easier it is to remember.
# 3 The topic is popular People will often share content about popular topics.
In the period leading up to the election, almost all articles that appeared on our Twitter timeline contained content about the election.
So you can steal the popularity of a topic to make your content popular too.
There are also topics that are always popular without knowing time.
For example in the SEO industry, the topic of link building is always sought after by people who are just learning about SEO. Therefore this topic is always busy with demand.
In all industries there are always topics that are always popular.Here are some indications of popular topics:
- Always a popular topic in a circle
- There are events, events, or new events
- A big problem for which there is no solution yet
To be able to meet with topics like this, there are several ways:
- Always keep abreast of news about your main topic
- Join a community site whose topic is appropriate, see the problems experienced by community members
- Learn about keyword research to find out the number of searches for a topic
# 4 Evoke feelingsWe as humans will spread content that evokes emotions or feelings.
This is because we show that we care about the content.
Let's look at Wikipedia.
Wikipedia has very informative content. But have articles on Wikipedia ever been the subject of much discussion?
Never.
This is because the content on Wikipedia is only in the form of information that does not arouse the feelings of readers.The picture above is an analysis from BuzzSumo related to what emotions are most popular.
It turns out that the results are 4 emotions that most often arise:
Creating content that invites laughter is difficult if you don't have the talent for joking (just like me).
But fortunately the highest percentage is awe (awe).Creating content that triggers feelings of awe is easier than creating funny content.
This is the way.
A very complete / long article
The purpose of us spending time reading is to increase knowledge. Even better if in 1 article we can get a lot of knowledge at once.
The more complete our discussion in one article, the more amazed also the readers.
This has been proven through research conducted by BuzzSumo. From their analysis, articles with more than 3000 words were also shared at the most.
The more contents, the more is shared.
This is why you should always try to make content that is heavy and long. The longer the visitor reads, the more "bound" they are to the content.
Personal or other success stories
The reader's feelings will arise if the content being read also implies the author's feelings.
Content in the form of a success story combines more than one emotion, which is a feeling of awe and happiness.
Results of analysis of a topic
If you look at the 2 diagrams above, both of them are the results of BuzzSumo's analysis of 1 million popular articles.
There is no one who is not impressed by their efforts to analyze the many articles.
Analysis can not be done by just anyone because it requires more effort than ordinary content. But this also makes your content very valuable.
# 5 Storytelling Rather than just a series of information, content that contains stories will make readers care.
Telling stories here does not mean making stories or short stories.
You can add story elements to any content. Tutorial and informational.
The easiest way is to write articles from a first-person perspective. It's as if you are giving a presentation in public.
By giving "me" and "you", your content will become more personal and readers will be more concerned.
Here are some forms of content in the form of stories.
Case study
Instead of creating content about "how to lose weight in a week", try changing the perspective to "how do I lose weight 5kg in a week".
Case studies are one of the most popular forms of content.
The reason is because the case study has been proven by the author himself.
So whatever you write in the case study content, readers will believe and care.
Interview from the experts
If you don't have your own story to share, take advantage of stories from other people who have experience.
When he died, the book about Steve Jobs became immediately popular. Even though the writer isn't Steve himself.
It shows how stories from other people can also make your content popular.
Use trusted references
Pay attention to some of the content on the GuideIM site, including this article, I use references from trusted sites.
I am nobody. If I ramble on about this and that without real evidence, there will be people who think my writing is nonsense.
That's why I always use references.
And indeed it is proven, the more references used, the more popular the content.
References make people confident in the content of our content.
# 6 Can be practicedIf you visit university sites in Indonesia, they have a digital library containing contents of research journals from their students.
There are thousands of journals that appear every 6 months and all of them contain very valuable information.
But why are student journals never popular?
Because it can't be practiced.
We cannot directly apply their research. So as if valuable knowledge was of no use to ordinary people.
Instead the article contains "recipes to make meatballs" can be popular, because we can directly use as a guide.
So if you create content, create content that is ready for practice.
This is how you do it.
Choose a topic that can be directly implemented
Not all topics can be directly applied by the reader.
For example "how to get 1 billion in cash". This amount is too large, you will not be able to make step by step in 1 content.
So the content is only an information.
But there is a way to change the topic of information so it's ready to use.
One of the articles on this website I focus on is the content that can be used right now.
The result?
This article immediately became one of the most popular even though it is still relatively new.
Give the steps in detail
The key to ready-to-use articles lies in the steps.
The more clearly you explain each step, the better. Don't miss the slightest details.
Often in making the article steps we feel a part is too easy so it does not need to be included.
We think that way because we ourselves have mastered the topic. When in fact other people may not understand.
Use images for each stage
Don't anti include pictures, don't be lazy to use pictures.
Most readers will have difficulty if your content only contains writing. Especially in content in the form of steps.
When readers get confused, they will immediately leave your article.
Factors inhibiting content popularity
At this point, you already know the 6 elements that you must include to create popular content.
But that is not enough.
There are factors that cause your content to not be popular even if it includes all six elements.
The contents are lousy, ordinary, boring
Our main enemy is making content that is mediocre.
But unfortunately content creators don't realize that the content isn't special. Naturally indeed, because as humans we are already blindly in love with our own creation.
What are the characteristics of "ordinary"?
Compare with other content that has the same topic. If the contents are not MUCH better, then you have failed.
Try now you search on Google with the keyword "how to get rid of foot odor".
90% of articles on pages 1-3 are the same and too ordinary.
You have to make something new, something that other people don't know, something that will make everyone amazed (elements no. 1 & 4)
If not, then you failed.
Learn some of these guidelines:
- How to write good articles
- Create content titles
- Use the KTP method to create quality content
Not promoted
There are 3 core of content marketing:
- Content planning
- Content creation
- Content promotion
Without the first and second we will not be able to create quality content.
But without promotion, no matter how good your content will not be popular.
We are nobody.
Then no one will read our content unless you are already an artist or famous person.
Content promotion means that we build our own reputation while promoting what we have created.
Many say the most important thing is the creation of content, even though the content marketers actually spend more time promoting content.
Therefore, you must know how the right content promotion techniques .