10 Tips for Creating Shareable Content that Drives Engagement
Discover essential strategies for creating content that captivates and converts, with exclusive insights from industry leaders. This article distills expert knowledge into actionable tips for making your content more shareable and engaging. Gain a competitive edge by learning from those who have mastered the art of audience connection.
- Simplify Content to Solve Problems
- Connect Emotionally with Your Audience
- Offer Step-by-Step Solutions
- Focus on Value-Driven Content
- Tell a Story
- Resonate Emotionally and Stay Relevant
- Understand Your Audience's Needs
- Incorporate Humor and Irreverence
- Use the Inverted Pyramid of Value
- Combine Value and Emotion
Simplify Content to Solve Problems
The best shareable content is simple, clear, and solves a problem people care about. I've seen that posts with quick tips or "aha" moments in my field get shared more. For example, breaking down complex ideas into visual formats, like an infographic or a step-by-step image carousel, grabs attention and is easy for others to repost. People like things they can act on right away.
Another key is tapping into emotions. Whether it's humor, surprise, or even concern, content that makes people feel something has a better shot at being shared. I often test ideas by asking myself, "Would I send this to a friend or colleague?" If the answer's no, it needs work. Always think about what your audience finds exciting, useful, or inspiring—then speak directly to that.
Connect Emotionally with Your Audience
As the Founder of Zapiy.com, I've found that the key to creating shareable content lies in connecting with your audience on an emotional and practical level. People share content because it either resonates deeply, solves a problem, or makes them look insightful when they pass it along. Here's my top tip: Focus on Value and Authenticity Create content that is genuinely useful, entertaining, or inspiring. Whether it's a how-to guide, a success story, or a surprising insight, the content should leave the reader feeling that they've gained something valuable. At Zapiy.com, for example, we shared a behind-the-scenes story of how we overcame a major business hurdle. It was raw, real, and relatable—and it took off because people connected with our authenticity. What Makes Content More Likely to Be Shared? Relevance: Content that aligns with current trends or topics your audience cares about is far more likely to gain traction. We stay on top of trends and tailor posts to address timely issues or industry shifts. Emotion: Tap into emotions like humor, awe, or even a bit of nostalgia. People share content that makes them feel something deeply. For instance, one of our most-shared pieces was a light-hearted take on common workplace challenges—it was funny but also hit home for many. Visual Appeal: Eye-catching visuals or infographics can dramatically increase shareability. People process images faster than text, so pairing strong visuals with your message is a winning combo. Call to Action: Sometimes, people just need a nudge to share. Adding a simple call to action like "Tag a colleague who needs this tip" has worked wonders for us. Ultimately, when you focus on delivering genuine value and making it easy for your audience to share—through simplicity, relatability, and visuals—you increase your chances of creating content that gets shared organically. It's not about going viral; it's about connecting with people.
Offer Step-by-Step Solutions
In my opinion, shareable content should address real obstacles with step-by-step solutions. If these solutions are written for a broader audience, the content is more likely to be widely shared. For example, take a problem like improving email open rates and getting maximum responses during bulk email campaigns in email marketing. Providing actionable solutions to such problems increases the likelihood of the content being shared widely. Additionally, incorporating real facts and survey data into the content makes it appear more authentic and trustworthy.
Focus on Value-Driven Content
My top tip for creating shareable content is to focus on value-driven, highly relevant content that resonates emotionally with your audience. People are more likely to share content that either educates, entertains, or inspires them in some way.
Key elements that make content more likely to be shared include:
Compelling visuals: High-quality images, infographics, and videos grab attention and make content more digestible. They're more likely to be shared across social media platforms, where visual content performs better.
Actionable insights or tips: Content that provides real value—such as helpful guides, quick tips, or data-driven results—gives people something to use or learn from, encouraging them to pass it along.
Emotional appeal: Whether it's humor, inspiration, or empathy, content that triggers an emotional response tends to perform well. People love sharing content that makes them feel something, whether it's joy, surprise, or even a deep connection.
Easy sharing options: Make sharing as simple as possible by including social sharing buttons and call-to-actions like "Share this with someone who needs to see it."
Tell a Story
What's your top tip for creating shareable content that people will want to distribute? What elements make content more likely to be shared?
My top tip for creating shareable content is simple - tell a story. If you think back to when you were young, stories allowed you to explore exciting and sometimes scary new worlds without you ever having to leave your safe space. That magic doesn't disappear as we get older - we just look for different kinds of stories. The most shareable content taps into this basic human need for narrative and connection.
Now, what are the elements that will make your story shareable? It's usually content that makes you feel something that gets you wanting to share. If we hear about an injustice, or something that makes us angry or sad, there's a need to have other people share it with you - like you feel an immediate desire to amplify that emotion you felt.
While I'll always start with the story, how you wrap it up for consumption matters too. Faces are endlessly fascinating to us humans, so stories accompanied by faces (real faces obviously, not stock) are a winning combination. Judging the length is important, too - if it's too long, people may bookmark it and then forget it. Better to offer a taster as a hook, and a link to the full story.
Resonate Emotionally and Stay Relevant
My top tip for creating shareable content is to focus on emotional resonance and relevance. People share content when it strikes a chord-whether it makes them laugh, inspires them, educates them, or aligns with their values. Think about what your audience cares about most and how your content can evoke a strong response.
To make it shareable, keep these elements in mind: clarity, relatability, and visual appeal. A clear, concise message ensures people understand it at a glance. Relatability connects your content to something people can see themselves in, whether it's a personal story, a trending topic, or a universal truth. Add visuals (images, videos, or infographics) that grab attention as people scroll. Bonus points if your content offers something useful, like a tip, solution, or fresh perspective.
The key is to think about why you share things. If your content feels like something people would send to a friend, you're on the right track.
Understand Your Audience's Needs
Creating shareable content starts with understanding your audience and crafting material that resonates deeply with them. A top tip is to tap into your audience's emotions and sense of relevance. For us, as a company serving the security industry, content like security news or safety tips often evokes a strong emotional response, making it much more likely to be shared. For example, a security-focused audience might share a checklist on 'Top Safety Tips for High-Profile Events' because it's practical and valuable to their peers. Additionally, sharing the latest security incidents or industry news helps your audience stay informed, which is always of high interest to them. However, it's crucial to share accurate information, avoid fake news, and steer clear of misleading or clickbait titles that can harm your credibility. The most shareable content also incorporates a few key elements: visual appeal, simplicity, and credibility. High-quality visuals like infographics, images, or videos grab attention, while clear and concise messaging ensures your audience understands the value immediately. Adding credible data or expert insights builds trust, making the content more authoritative and share-worthy. By prioritizing accuracy and transparency, you can create content that not only engages your audience but also strengthens your brand's reputation as a reliable source of information.
Incorporate Humor and Irreverence
One of the most effective ways to create shareable content is by incorporating humor and a touch of irreverence. People are drawn to content that makes them laugh or feels refreshingly different from the usual polished, corporate tone. In the B2B and B2C worlds alike, humor humanizes brands and makes them more relatable, increasing the likelihood of shares.
The key is to lean into playful, unexpected angles that surprise your audience. Whether it's a tongue-in-cheek explainer video, a behind-the-scenes blooper reel, or a lighthearted take on industry trends, irreverent content breaks through the noise and grabs attention. This approach works especially well for video, where personality can shine through in a way that static content often can't.
We've found that when you make content people genuinely enjoy consuming, they naturally want to pass it along to others. The best part? Humor doesn't just drive engagement, it makes your brand more memorable long after the scroll.
Use the Inverted Pyramid of Value
Use the inverted pyramid of value. Start your article with your most important content, and explain this in progressively finer detail in each succeeding paragraph. And apply the same rule in each paragraph - headline followed by progressively finer details.
Many people do the opposite. For example, I recently came across an article about installing a new faucet, which the author began by explaining what a faucet is. Readers don't need to know this, they just want to know how to replace one. If they don't see this info right away, they'll likely move on.
Of course, your article also needs to be about something of value - answering a topical question, explaining how to do something useful, presenting interesting or funny content etc.
In my experience, presentation also matters a lot. Photos, illustrations, infographics, videos, appropriate fonts and formatting etc. It may well be worth paying for professional photos, but Pixabay and Unsplash offer lots of great free photos that don't require any attribution.
And when composing your article, don't forget to keep a sense of humor, and express your personality. (Unless it's an academic article, when you should pretend to be all grown up and objective...)
Combine Value and Emotion
When it comes to creating content that people actually want to share, the key is to focus on two things: value and emotion. If your content either solves a problem or makes people feel something, it's infinitely more likely to be shared.
Here's my top tip: Make your content hyper-relevant to your audience's needs or desires, and package it in a way that's easy to digest.
For example, in my business, I create content aimed at parents planning birthday parties or family events. I focus on answering the specific questions they're Googling as they're planning their party-questions like, "Should I hire a balloon twister or a face painter?" The content is practical, actionable, and directly solves their problem. When parents read it, they see its immediate value and often share it with other parents or event planners in their circles.
But there's another layer: emotion. People don't just share information-they share things that connect with them personally. In one piece of content, I shared a story about how a small tweak to our service made a kid's birthday party unforgettable. That story struck an emotional chord with readers, leading to more shares than any purely informational post.
To make your content more shareable, keep these elements in mind:
-Be Useful: Solve a problem or answer a pressing question.
-Evoke Emotion: Whether it's joy, inspiration, or even nostalgia, make people feel something.
-Keep It Snackable: Use clear headlines, bullet points, and visuals to make your content easy to skim.
-Encourage Sharing: Add a simple call-to-action, like, "Share this with someone who's planning a party!"
The combination of utility and emotion is what makes content irresistible. When people see value in your content and feel something while engaging with it, they're far more likely to hit that share button.
