Promoting Content on Social Media? Here’s How to Get People to Read It

Content marketing on social media platforms isn’t as simple as it looks. Posting at optimal times means more people will see your posts, but only the quality of your content has the power to generate a response.

When promoting content on social media, your page title and first paragraph matter most. The description you write about your link carries some weight, but people don’t always stop scrolling to read full sentences – they often judge a link by its title.

If you want your engagement rates to rise, here are some tips for crafting content and titles that appeal to social media users:

 

1. Understand what makes people stop reading

In order to get social media users to read your content, it’s important to understand why people skip – and stop – reading content.

People stop reading when:

• They lose interest in the content. It’s not always your fault when a visitor loses interest in your content. Sometimes they’re looking for specific answers and your content is great but it doesn’t answer their questions. Other visitors are distracted and aren’t committed to reading in the first place. Oftentimes, links get clicked but the content isn’t written in an engaging manner and interest wanes after about 15 seconds. Social media gives you a narrow window to capture attention. It’s okay to use your best paragraph to grab attention and get clicks, but try to keep the whole of your content at the same level.
• They get disappointed. Nothing makes a visitor click that “X” faster than content that starts off promising and falls flat. It’s worse than content that was boring from the start.
• They realize the content doesn’t match the title. This situation is officially known as ‘clickbait,’ but it’s not always sinister. Depending on how you craft your content, it’s possible to start with a title and then develop content that veers off-track.To prevent visitors from feeling misled, read your content objectively while asking yourself if the content matches the title. As suggested by UberFlip.com in their guide to eradicating clickbait, make sure whatever is in your title is supported by your content.
• They read words they don’t understand. Comprehension is lost when a reader comes across a word they don’t fully understand. Even when your target audience is a group of people with master’s degrees, that doesn’t mean their comprehension won’t be slowed down by the use of fancy adjectives.You don’t need to avoid using meaningful adjectives, but unless your content is a poetry project, write for the average reader.

Three things that will help prevent your content from disappointing your visitors: sum up your main idea first, create a table of contents for lengthy information, and edit out anything unnecessary.

When you’ve got mounds of information, making your subheadings available as a clickable table of contents is a smart idea. A table of contents gives visitors a heads up and gives them certainty around what to expect from your page.

With just six headings on the list, visitors can immediately see what’s on the page without having to scroll. Being able to click is just icing on the cake for a visitor.

 

2. Get to the point quickly

When posting links to content on social media, get to the point quickly, both in your social media post as well as the full piece of content.

Be willing to cut and chop your content over and over again. For instance, to capture attention with Twitter’s 140-character limit, you’ve got to be clever. Write and rewrite your main point until it fits within that space. With this limitation, your ideas will quickly turn to short statements or questions directed at your followers.

Use this technique to cut down your web content as well.

People read your content when it’s relevant, interesting, and easy to read. In a social media space, that requires planning and diligence. The good news is, once you develop a reputation with your existing fans, you won’t need to work so hard.

By understanding these tips, your content will be a lot more appealing to social media users.