The Psychology of Social Media Sharing

When your company produces content for social media, you are certainly hoping for interaction. You want people to click on the content and read it. It’s even better if they ‘like’ that content and boost its popularity. You probably want them to use the content as a way to link back to your main site, which can help you make sales. But, most of all, you want them to share your content. This makes it highly visible to a much wider audience than you’d find otherwise. Even a single share could put it in front of hundreds or even thousands of new potential customers. Content that gets social media sharing repeatedly can dramatically increase your brand’s recognition and public image.

But how do you actually get people to do this? What makes them want to share your content? Understanding some of the reasons why can help you define your content strategy.

Everyone Has a Personal Brand

The first thing to consider is that social media allows everyone to essentially make a brand for themselves. If your company has similar ideals or offers something that the individual connects with — emotionally or intellectually — they will be more likely to share it. This shows to that person’s friends what their own personal brand is, reflected through yours. A person who loves the outdoors may share content about hiking or camping, for instance, and they’ll do it both because they like the content and because it helps to build up their own image to others.

Others Will Find It Entertaining

You also have to consider that social media is entertainment. Content that is entertaining and engaging will be shared because the individual knows that others in their network will also be entertained by it. This is why it’s so important to choose the correct target audience for your content. When you do so, you can tap into their network because they want others to laugh, learn or have some other type of entertaining interaction — depending on the type of content.

For instance, humorous content is often shared at a far higher rate. Why? People enjoy it, they want others to enjoy it, and they get a small amount of social clout when they do so. If someone else then reacts to that shared content, the person who shared it usually finds this fulfilling and even exciting. They’re not claiming that they wrote the content or came up with the idea, of course, but sharing it still influences how they are viewed by their peers.

They Can Influence Others

People will share content that they believe in when they think they can influence others to feel the same way. Maybe they want to help people find excellent products. Maybe they want to share important information that many people have never heard before. Perhaps they want to show others their own values and goals, hoping to increase support. People are likely to share things that they feel passionate about, hoping to drum up that same passion in others.

Creating Excellent Content for Social Media Sharing

You can see that the psychology behind sharing focuses more on the individual and their own motivations and unique personal factors. You need content that connects with people on these levels in order for it to be shared consistently. We can help you with the excellent content you need here at Content Customs, so do not hesitate to get in touch with us.