1. How to Make
Your Content More
Shareable on Facebook
May 2012

2. The human brain
When we talk about shareable content,
…we’re
talking about …that people
the type of want to tell
information… others about.
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3. The human brain
The urge to share information has always existed.
Arousal is
Sharing is controlled by
driven, in the reticular
part, by activating
physiological system in the
arousal. brain stem.
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4. The human brain
But now, with the rise of Facebook…
…we have
the power to …like never
share with before.
the world…
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5. The human brain
Why does
this matter?
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6. THE SEARCH ERA (1998-present)
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7. The Search Era
People increasingly use
Google to find news and
information
News By optimizing
organizations content, news
optimize organizations
content to have a better
show up in chance of showing
results up higher in
search results
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8. The Search Era
The Huffington Post creates a content model built
around this idea:
• Produce content people are searching for.
• Optimize content so it has the best chance of
appearing in search results.
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9. The Search Era
Search is still important:
• Google is a top traffic referrer.
• It gives small news organizations visibility it might
not have otherwise.
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10. The Search Era
Search has its downsides:
• Other than optimizing your content appropriately,
you don’t have much control.
• Computers are deciding the fate of your content.
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11. THE SOCIAL ERA BEGINS (Now)
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12. The Social Era
• 2007: Facebook launches Pages, which news
organizations can use to share content with their
“Fans.”
• 2010: Facebook begins rolling out its Like, Share and
Recommend buttons, which can be embedded
directly onto news organization’s stories.
• Suddenly, people have a new way of finding and
spreading news and information: their friends and
social circles.
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13. The Social Era
People discovering news and
information through social more than ever
Some news
organizations
And people are are now
sharing news beginning to
information select, create
more than ever and format
content that
compels people
to share it with
others
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14. The Social Era
“Portals are about impressions, search is about
queries, and social is about sharing. It turns out that
sharing is a richer, more human currency.”
--BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti
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15. The Social Era
“Search results are polluted with SEO gaming sites
and pages that rank high that are more readable to a
robot than a human. Social is avoiding these
problems by directly measuring human actions. That
is a better signal because humans are what
ultimately matter.”
--BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti
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16. The Social Era
“We’re no longer writing to get the attention of
Google algorithms. We’re writing to get you to share
it, to digg it.”
--The Atlantic Digital Editor Bob Cohn
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17. The Social Era
“A great headline is just a great headline. It has to be
clear; it has to be intelligent. We’re not writing for
machines. We’re writing for humans.”
--The Atlantic Digital Editor Bob Cohn
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18. The Social Era
We are right at the beginning of the Social Era:
• Facebook is closing in on one billion active users.
• Referrals from Facebook are surging.
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19. A tale of shareability awesomeness
Feb. 16, 2012:
The New York
Times Magazine
runs a 6,800-
word piece about
how retailers
track their
customers.
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20. A tale of shareability awesomeness
Feb. 16, 2012:
Later that day, Forbes
privacy reporter
Kashmir Hill aggregates
(with lots of links back
to the original story)
the piece in an 1,100-
word post on her blog.
Hill’s story gets 27,442
shares on Facebook
and 1.5 million page
views.
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21. A tale of shareability awesomeness
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22. A tale of shareability awesomeness
So how was the
Forbes version able
to get 1.5 million
page views?
We’ll get to that.
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23. Defining shareable content
 It’s a story, photo, video,
audio or other content type
that is written, headlined and
packaged in a way that
compels people to tell others
about it.
 It’s not just cat photos. News
is shareable.
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24. Top 5 Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page
(During Month of February 2012)
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25. Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)
5. California’s Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Is Unconstitutional, Court Says
2,845 Shares
• Newsy
• Controversial
• Compelling
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26. Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)
4. Vermont Inmates Hide Image Of Pig On Police Decals
3,077 Shares
• Funny
• Quirky
• Intriguing
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27. Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)
3. The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day
3,139 Shares
• Quirky
• Intriguing
• Strange
• Relevant
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28. Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)
2. Six-Legged Giant Finds Secret Hideaway,
Hides for 80 Years
4,393 Shares
• Quirky
• Intriguing
• Strange
• Unbelievable
• Unexpected
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29. Most Shared Stories On NPR’s Facebook Page (Feb. 2012)
1. In Reversal, Komen To
Continue Funding Planned Parenthood
4,711 Shares
• Newsy
• Relevant
• Controversial
• Compelling
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30. HOW DO I MAKE MY
CONTENT MORE SHAREABLE?
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31. What makes content shareable?
GOOD HEADLINES!
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32. What makes content shareable?
GOOD HEADLINES!
• Put a lot of your creative energy into
writing good headlines.
• A good story with a bad headline will
get fewer shares.
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33. What makes content shareable?
ORIGINALITY!
• People share things that are surprising
or different.
• Try to distinguish your content from
most others.
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34. What makes content shareable?
EXCLUSIVITY!
• Focus on strong original reporting.
• “News scoops are inherently social
content. Telling people something NEW
is a great strategy if you want people to
share your content.”
--BuzzFeed CEO Jonah Peretti
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35. What makes content shareable?
LISTS!
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36. What makes content shareable?
LISTS!
1. They help us quickly learn new things.
2. They’re easy to remember.
3. They help answer questions and
explain things.
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37. What makes content shareable?
PHOTOS!
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38. What makes content shareable?
PACKAGING!
• Subheads and block quotes help
people scan through your content.
• Links provide a better user experience.
• Photos and videos and audio give users
something extra to look at, watch or
listen to.
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39. A tale of shareability awesomeness
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40. A tale of shareability awesomeness
“I took a great piece by an
excellent reporter and created
a version of it that was better
for an online audience. This is a
big part of what I do as a ‘new
journalist.’”
--Kashmir Hill, Reporter, Forbes
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41. A tale of shareability awesomeness
“The New York Times article is
a delicious nine-course dinner;
mine is an equally tasty, bite-
sized snack for readers on the
go. Most readers online are
looking for something quick
and easy to digest, so my
version worked better for
them.’”
--Kashmir Hill, Reporter, Forbes
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42. Headlines
• Not a bad headline, but a little vague.
• Probably worked really well in the magazine.
• I don’t necessarily feel compelled to read it.
• I feel like I need to read this.
• I feel compelled to share it with others.
• I have a pretty good idea about what this is about.
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43. Text
• Times piece is excellent longform journalism, written for
the deep reader.
• Forbes piece pulls out the juicy details for the web reader.
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44. Packaging
• Forbes piece has lots
of links, pull-quotes
and is easy to scan
through.
• Times piece is for
deep-diving, not
scanning.
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45. Packaging
• Forbes piece has lots
of links, pull-quotes
and is easy to scan
through.
• Times piece is for
deep-diving, not
scanning.
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46. What makes content shareable?
FACEBOOK!
• Think of your Facebook page as your
second home page.
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47. Pace
 Find a consistent post pace – once every hour, once every
two hours, once every three hours – and stick to it. Make it
mandatory for your team.
 Posting on a consistent, frequent basic everyday throughout
the week will help grow your community and force you to
find creative ways to share your content.
 NPR posts roughly every hour.
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48. Make it look good
 When you post a link to your content, make sure it
has a good headline and is scannable.
• When you post to Facebook, you
should edit your station name out
of the headline.
• And make sure to delete the URL
from the text box.
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49. Use lead-in box to ask questions, add voice
 Don’t just post the story. Add something -- a
question or a quote -- in the text box. It
encourages engagement and makes your post
more visible.
• Michigan Radio
Facebook.com/michigan
radio
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50. Use lead-in box to ask questions, add voice
 Don’t just post the story. Add something -- a
question or a quote -- in the text box. It
encourages engagement and makes your post
more visible.
• WBUR
Facebook.com/wburne
ws
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51. Use lead-in box to ask questions, add voice
 Don’t just post the story. Add something -- a
question or a quote -- in the text box. It
encourages engagement and makes your post
more visible.
• KPCC
Facebook.com/kpccfm
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52. Respond to comments
 Interacting with your Facebook following will
remind them that there are humans delivering
them information.
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53. Post photos
 Photos are highly
shareable.
 Occasionally post
photos from
stories, but also to
give a behind-the-
scenes look into
your station.
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54. The human brain
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55. The human brain
A recent study published in
the Journal of Marketing
Research set out to figure out
what makes people share
information.
The researchers found that
sharing is evoked by emotion.
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56. The human brain
But then they wondered:
• What types of emotions
compel people to share
content?
• What types of emotions
don’t compel people to
share content?
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57. The human brain
What they found:
• Content that “activates”
arousal is more shareable.
• Content that “deactivates”
arousal is less shareable.
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58. The human brain
What they found:
• Content that evokes anger,
awe, anxiety, surprise,
interest is more shareable.
• Content that evokes
sadness is less shareable.
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59. The human brain
Eric Athas
eathas@npr.org
@ericathas
Questions? 617-622-5433
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