A recent research report conducted by Buzzsumo and Moz, found that an astonishing 50% of posts get 8 shares or less, and 75% of these posts achieved a zero referring domain link. The study analysed one million posts, selected at random, revealing some shocking truths about content. So why does content fail?
It’s just not possible that all content is poor. In recent years, great content would work its way to the top of the pile, be found and shared, but the problem now is too much. There’s just so much content out there, that great content no longer stands out. Many popular sites with great content are being affected by content shock – an information density that has seen a steady decline in shares.
There are three mistakes that people make that compound the content shock problem, resulting in very low engagement. These are:
- Lack of research
With a lot of pressure being placed on content teams to produce regular content, there’s often not enough research conducted. If you find out why and what content resonates with your audience, you have a much better chance of increasing engagement. Your odds improve if you can answer a question your audience is asking. Research also includes understanding what your competitors are doing and what content is working for them.
- Lack of amplification
A common problem emerging is good content is not being amplified enough to the point where your audience will find it. You need a strategy to determine who will share it, link it and why. Promoting your content by using social networks is vital. You may need to go the paid route to get your content amplified. There’s speculation that you need to spend as much time on amplification as you do on your content creation.
- Lack of monitoring or tracking trends
Social sharing usually takes place very quickly, with an article exploding but then dying after a limited time. It’s extremely important to keep on top of trends and issues engaging your audience and act quickly.
Paying more attention to these three commonly made mistakes and figuring a way to get round them, will give your content more chance of succeeding. Quality, however is still very important.
If you need some advice on your content creation, or social selling strategy, contact us. Using social media optimisation is a great place to start your strategy and we know just how to do it.