The Six Insider Secrets of Contagious Content

The Six INSIDER SECRETS CONTAGIOUS CONTENT Of It's no secret that relevant and valuable content can help raise brand awareness and exposure. With today's consumers facing information overload everywhere they turn, far too much great unnoticed. Thanks to research, we now have a better understanding of the content goes psychology behind what drives consumers to share content. Let's take a look. A Brief Lesson in Viral Psychology Anger Sadness Awe NEGATIVE POSITIVE High-energy content drives "social transmission" The more emotion content evokes, the more viral it will become. People may share emotionally charged content to make sense of 20K their experiences, reduce dissonance, or deepen social connections. 167 5K 253K 1- Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami (NYT) 2- What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents (Cnn) 3- No, Your Zodiac Sign Hasn't Changed (Cnn) 929K 9K Research by Jonah Berger and Katherine Milkman has shown that: 533K Google +1 Tweets Facebook Likes 2.9 %3D An additional 2.9 hours on the content one emotion More practically useful, interesting, and surprising content is more viral because it reflects positively on the people sharing it. Digging Deeper: How Content Evokes Emotion Level of interest and speed of interest piqued The speed of emotional activation Content topic Length of content Which emotions to evoke Amount of user engagement Level and speed of interest piqued The speed of emotional activation Length of content Visual, easy-to-understand and consume content is generally the most viral because it communicates its strong On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. emotional impact within the first few seconds of viewing. A New York Times article study found that longer articles tend to be shared far more often Interest and its interaction with Users have time to read at most 28% of the words other emotions influences all other mental processes. That is why titles are so massively important. Researchers suggest this is because the longer articles during an Most clicked articles from The Atlantic average visit. 1- The "Black Swan" Intern Ruling Could Change Unpaid Internships Forever 2- Civil liberties Are Ganging Up on NSA 3- The New York Times Giveth were about more engaging topics. to Anthony Weiner, and The Times Taketh Away 4- The Rape "Joke" at Microsoft's E3 Reveal Is a Bigger Deal Than Another Bad "Joke" .9.9.9.9.9 40 of the top 50 posts of all time on Reddit are either images or videos. Which emotions to evoke Amount of user Content topic engagement In a study conducted by Moz of Because they evoked awe, science articles outperformed all others in the study of New York Times most emailed articles. People love to talk about themselves. what made successful *visual* content go viral: Top 5 Emotions Bottom 5 Evoked Emotions Evoked The most emailed article on NYT 40% of face-to-face 1- The Gift of Siblings 2- The Scientific 7-Minutes communication is about the self, and Amusement Anger Workout over 80% of social 3- Some of My Best Friends Are Germs media shares are 4- Breeding the Nutrition Out of Our Food self-focused. Interest Politeness Surprise 30% of articles on the most emailed list Frustration Happiness Doubt were on science-relat -ed topics. Delight Embarrassment Jonah Berger's 6 Key Drivers That Shape Viral Content (STEPPS) som 1. Social Currency Peer popularity of the idea • People talk about things that make them look good. • Give your audience a way to look good, feel special or like an insider, and they'll tell others -- and spread the word about you along the way. • Many brands that have leveraged the power of social currency have not invested in advertising -- they rely on word of mouth after offering exclusivity to a select group of influencers. 2. Triggers Daily reminders of the idea or product • Triggers have a big impact on human behavior. They shape the choices we make, the things we talk about, and the products we buy. • By linking your product or idea to prevalent triggers you can help your own initiatives succeed. 3. Emotion How much you inspire a deep emotional reaction • The key to evoking emotions with content is about arousal. The degree to which different emotions activate us or fire us up. • People are more likely to share some content over others because the arousal -- whether it be anger, awe, or humor -- evokes us to pass it on. 4. Public (Observability) High visibility of a product essentially sells itself • Using logos, colors, and other design elements to make a product more public facilitates product adoption and increases the chance that more people find out about your product or idea. • The famous Macintosh Apple logo used to face the user when the laptop was closed. Steve Jobs realized that while this helped the user figure out which way to open the laptop, when they did, the logo was upside-down for everyone else to see. 5. Practical Value We want to share useful information The more useful a piece of information is, the more it will be shared on social media. • Discounts, travel recommendations, or articles about the best sunscreen to use all get passed around because they're helpful. • Highlight incredible deals or useful tips and more people will pass it on. 6. Storytelling A narrative surrounding the idea or product provides stickiness • Stories are the way of making sense of things where we don't have facts. • People will talk about a product or brand if it's part of a broader narrative. Contagious wwY THINOS CATCH ON A MASSIVE THANKS TO JONAH BERGER FOR INSPIRING THIS RESOURCE. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT JONAH AT JONAHBERGER.COM. JONAH BERGER Whols HostingThis? Sources: copyblogger.com, inc.com, jonahberger.com, moz.com, nytimes.com, smartplanet.com