Tips to make your content more shareable

As our name suggests, here at Connected Voice, much of what we do is around building networks, connecting people and amplifying voices so we can collectively work towards achieving our shared vision for improving the quality of life for people across our region.

In my role as Marketing and Communications Officer, I have the enjoyable but often challenging task of disseminating information and working out what our readers and members need to know about and what they will find useful or interesting. It’s a continual learning process for me and something I would never claim I always get right. However, there are a few key things that I ask myself when deciding what to share and where, and over the years I have learned some useful tips for making content easily shareable.

 

The checklist

What is it and who is it for? This might sound obvious but effective communications will never make assumptions about a reader’s prior knowledge. You might know who your audience is but do they know that what you’re sharing is for them? Tell them! Be specific. If it’s an event for charities in Newcastle and Gateshead, then say that. If your post is more informative and has a wider reach then highlight the topic or use a relevant social media hashtag to grab attention.

Knowing your audience’s audience is also important. If you want supporters and partner organisations to share your update, then make sure that it’s relevant and appropriate to their audience too. Make your update easy for them to share by writing it in the third person for them. There are a few exceptions to this, for example, if you’re gathering support for a campaign and you want individuals and organisations to express their own support for the cause.

Keep it brief. This is particularly true for email updates. I’m often sent emails where I reach paragraph four or five before I’ve worked out what it is and who it’s for. Then I have to re-read the whole email again to make sure I’ve understood correctly. If there’s further information in attachments, it can take even longer and require multiple re-reads. If I’m struggling to understand your email then the chances are others are too, or they will be simply too pushed for time to sift through the detail.

Include a call to action. This is a marketing term but it applies in so many situations. What do you want the reader or recipient to do? If you would like me to include an update in one of our bulletins then tell me. If you think you have some training that my colleagues would be interested in signing up for then ask me to share an email internally. If you’d like me to share something on social media then ask. This brings me onto my next tip…

Format is key. If you would like your update to be shared on social media then don’t email over a PDF – it’s not compatible. Images are useful for catching attention but avoid captioning a chunk of text in the image unless you intend to repeat it in the body of your post or on a linking web page. Always include an alt tag for accessibility – many social media platforms will now prompt you to do this.

Always include text in the body of an email alongside an image. No one wants to have to type out all the information again because it’s contained within an image, and believe me, it leads to frequent errors like email address typos and incorrect dates. 

Capitalise the first letter of each word in hashtags for example, #AccessibilityMatters

Digital accessibility is hugely important so I’m not going to cover the detail in this short blog. Instead we’ll be sharing a blog series in the coming weeks around digital accessibility so watch this space.

If you’re requesting for something to be shared on social media then give the option of some text for the recipient to copy and paste – a choice of posts is good. If it’s a post for Twitter then make sure you include the Twitter handles and hashtags because researching them takes time. Always ensure the text fits the character limit! Alternatively, you could link to one of your existing social media posts so that the recipient can simply re-share or retweet your post.

Put the information online if possible rather than emailing a Word document. A web page is ideal but if you don’t have a website then you can use a file share service or add the information to social media. Putting the information online not only helps people to share your news but will also drive visitors to your website and boost your online presence.

Lastly…

Make use of your network. This includes partner organisations but also those in your own teams. Here at Connected Voice a lot of our staff regularly check in on their preferred social media platform - Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. I always ask the team to share an update if they feel happy to do so and now most will automatically share without me having to ask. It makes a big difference to our reach.