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Ever shared an article that you posted or a video that you uploaded on social media and had no attention paid to it? It happens every minute of every day. You can create the greatest content ever made on any given topic in the universe and no one will see it.
So, it would seem only natural to just share it again, right?
There are actually "experts" out there who say that you shouldn't post the same thing more than twice to social media. But if something doesn't perform well, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. Just as with anything else, you don't just share something once, have it do badly, and say "oh, well." The trick is, when you do reshare the same piece of content, how do you do it, and do it well?
Truth is, resharing old content that's still relevant is probably the most important thing you can do. After all, you can't write a killer article or create a killer video, picture, or meme every day. OK, maybe you can. But the point is, there's no point in wasting what you've already done, especially if you're sharing something that's done well in the past.
Sharing Your Content Right the First Time
Of course, there's nothing like first impressions. Sharing a piece of content for the first time should be done as well as possible, of course. You'll want to have a great catchy heading for your content share, plus relevant hashtags, and of course, the link to your amazing content! Then, you share it on as many networks as possible, taking into account the audience on each platform.
The hope in sharing one piece of content so broadly is to help ensure that you give that content the best chance to succeed. Hashtags, for the platforms that have them, allow your content to have "trending" potential. That's because hashtags are frequented by social media users all the time. Popular and niche hashtags are very powerful ways to get new eyes on your content or the same eyes that always want to see that sort of content.
Then, of course, the message on each platform is going to be somewhat different. On Facebook, you talk about the content like you're telling a friend about it. On Twitter, you're giving a short and sweet hook to your content. On LinkedIn, you're telling how this post can add value to its viewers' lives. On Google Plus, it seems like trying to start a conversation about your content with an unknown amount of strangers is the best way to go. You could go on forever with all of the other niche networks, but you get the general idea.
But, Who Actually Sees Your Social Media Share?
Fact: most things that are shared on social media go completely unnoticed. Sure, you can choose to post whenever traffic is high on certain networks. However, impressions aren't everything. In fact, most social media shares get – gasp – scrolled past! Yet, as long as they appear on someone's feed, they count as an impression.
Truthfully, during high traffic times on certain social networks, there's so much noise that your post can simply be missed. During low traffic times, posts to your content may be seen, but still ignored if they're not your target audience. Unless a good number of your target audience gets your notifications or something, there are going to be posts that are shouting into the wind.
Impressions are NOT what they seem! This is why analytics can be so frustrating. How can my post on social media be seen 2000 times and yet my post has 10 views? Without diving into the exact nuances of why that is, the short answer is that your share got attention, but not the right attention.
So, How Do I Reshare My Content on Social Media Effectively?
If you really think a piece of content is valuable, it's perfectly OK to reshare it again, even a week or two after the initial posting. It could even be posted a year from now if it's still valuable and relevant. But, you want to do it right.
The obviously wrong way to reshare content is spamming it. Despite all of the advice to the contrary, people will reshare the same piece of content once every hour. This includes people that you would think should know better, even marketers. While that may not technically be considered "spam" by social networks themselves, it is considered as much for users.
Basically, if something didn't do well the first time, there's no need to force the issue. Sure, the right people probably didn't see it. Saying ICYMI – In Case You Missed It – is fine if you do it later in the day or sometime during the same week. But beyond that, if your share got missed the first time or two, it's because it didn't get the right attention.
With all of the algorithms that define what social media users see in their feeds now, there's all this talk of "beating" the algorithms. Truthfully, there's no need to try and cheat. Believe it or not, what you need to do is actually rather simple. It takes a little extra work, but the payoff can be doubling, if not more, the amount of traffic to any given content you promote.
Add Variety to Your Social Shares!
It never hurts to add variety. Even if you're sharing the same exact post or content, you can find different ways to promote it. Sounds like common sense, doesn't it? It's actually not common.
We've all done it. You fall in love with a post and you just want to shout it from the rooftops. While it seems like shouting is necessary to be heard on social media, it's actually not. Like in real life, you just have to switch things up every so often.
Let's use Twitter as an example. You want each of your tweets to be unique, right? This isn't true of most people. But it's quite a good idea. Even if you're promoting the same post several times in a day, you actually can do it correctly and effectively. One of the best ways of doing this is to alternate between create varying headlines for your posts and discussion questions about it.
Here's the "meta" aspect to doing this. If people come across your Twitter feed and just see a bunch of the same links shared over and over again, this isn't going to inspire them. In fact, you may just look like a desperate fool who's shamelessly self-promoting. Worse, you may even appear arrogant. You don't want that, for sure.
People like seeing you try something new all the time. Even if you are sharing the same thing, at least try to provide value. That's very important, and can actually encourage a healthy level of engagement with your tweets. You definitely want that.
Examples of Adding Variety to Your Social Shares
There are countless ways of redressing and re-framing the same piece of content on social media. But whenever you're feeling sad about a post's lack of traction on social media, you'll want some simple examples to turn to. Here are five simple ways to share the same content more than once while still making the share unique.
The great thing about these five simple strategies is that they let you experiment with your audience. You don't have to be the most organized person to tell which sorts of shares perform the best. Just watch how many clicks, replies/comments, likes, and shares you get on each share. That will tell you what sorts of shares work best for your particular audience. It also shows you what doesn't work.
Take note of shares that work particularly well,. Then, you can make variations on what's worked in the past later. When you're constantly experimenting like this, it makes your social media feeds fresh and engaging. No one wants to see the same thing over and over and originality freshens up even the dustiest of content.
What link sharing and content sharing strategies have worked best for you?
So, it would seem only natural to just share it again, right?
There are actually "experts" out there who say that you shouldn't post the same thing more than twice to social media. But if something doesn't perform well, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. Just as with anything else, you don't just share something once, have it do badly, and say "oh, well." The trick is, when you do reshare the same piece of content, how do you do it, and do it well?
Truth is, resharing old content that's still relevant is probably the most important thing you can do. After all, you can't write a killer article or create a killer video, picture, or meme every day. OK, maybe you can. But the point is, there's no point in wasting what you've already done, especially if you're sharing something that's done well in the past.
Sharing Your Content Right the First Time
Of course, there's nothing like first impressions. Sharing a piece of content for the first time should be done as well as possible, of course. You'll want to have a great catchy heading for your content share, plus relevant hashtags, and of course, the link to your amazing content! Then, you share it on as many networks as possible, taking into account the audience on each platform.
The hope in sharing one piece of content so broadly is to help ensure that you give that content the best chance to succeed. Hashtags, for the platforms that have them, allow your content to have "trending" potential. That's because hashtags are frequented by social media users all the time. Popular and niche hashtags are very powerful ways to get new eyes on your content or the same eyes that always want to see that sort of content.
Then, of course, the message on each platform is going to be somewhat different. On Facebook, you talk about the content like you're telling a friend about it. On Twitter, you're giving a short and sweet hook to your content. On LinkedIn, you're telling how this post can add value to its viewers' lives. On Google Plus, it seems like trying to start a conversation about your content with an unknown amount of strangers is the best way to go. You could go on forever with all of the other niche networks, but you get the general idea.
But, Who Actually Sees Your Social Media Share?
Fact: most things that are shared on social media go completely unnoticed. Sure, you can choose to post whenever traffic is high on certain networks. However, impressions aren't everything. In fact, most social media shares get – gasp – scrolled past! Yet, as long as they appear on someone's feed, they count as an impression.
Truthfully, during high traffic times on certain social networks, there's so much noise that your post can simply be missed. During low traffic times, posts to your content may be seen, but still ignored if they're not your target audience. Unless a good number of your target audience gets your notifications or something, there are going to be posts that are shouting into the wind.
Impressions are NOT what they seem! This is why analytics can be so frustrating. How can my post on social media be seen 2000 times and yet my post has 10 views? Without diving into the exact nuances of why that is, the short answer is that your share got attention, but not the right attention.
So, How Do I Reshare My Content on Social Media Effectively?
If you really think a piece of content is valuable, it's perfectly OK to reshare it again, even a week or two after the initial posting. It could even be posted a year from now if it's still valuable and relevant. But, you want to do it right.
The obviously wrong way to reshare content is spamming it. Despite all of the advice to the contrary, people will reshare the same piece of content once every hour. This includes people that you would think should know better, even marketers. While that may not technically be considered "spam" by social networks themselves, it is considered as much for users.
Basically, if something didn't do well the first time, there's no need to force the issue. Sure, the right people probably didn't see it. Saying ICYMI – In Case You Missed It – is fine if you do it later in the day or sometime during the same week. But beyond that, if your share got missed the first time or two, it's because it didn't get the right attention.
With all of the algorithms that define what social media users see in their feeds now, there's all this talk of "beating" the algorithms. Truthfully, there's no need to try and cheat. Believe it or not, what you need to do is actually rather simple. It takes a little extra work, but the payoff can be doubling, if not more, the amount of traffic to any given content you promote.
Add Variety to Your Social Shares!
It never hurts to add variety. Even if you're sharing the same exact post or content, you can find different ways to promote it. Sounds like common sense, doesn't it? It's actually not common.
We've all done it. You fall in love with a post and you just want to shout it from the rooftops. While it seems like shouting is necessary to be heard on social media, it's actually not. Like in real life, you just have to switch things up every so often.
Let's use Twitter as an example. You want each of your tweets to be unique, right? This isn't true of most people. But it's quite a good idea. Even if you're promoting the same post several times in a day, you actually can do it correctly and effectively. One of the best ways of doing this is to alternate between create varying headlines for your posts and discussion questions about it.
Here's the "meta" aspect to doing this. If people come across your Twitter feed and just see a bunch of the same links shared over and over again, this isn't going to inspire them. In fact, you may just look like a desperate fool who's shamelessly self-promoting. Worse, you may even appear arrogant. You don't want that, for sure.
People like seeing you try something new all the time. Even if you are sharing the same thing, at least try to provide value. That's very important, and can actually encourage a healthy level of engagement with your tweets. You definitely want that.
Examples of Adding Variety to Your Social Shares
There are countless ways of redressing and re-framing the same piece of content on social media. But whenever you're feeling sad about a post's lack of traction on social media, you'll want some simple examples to turn to. Here are five simple ways to share the same content more than once while still making the share unique.
- The Direct and Easy Method – Sometimes, just posting the Title, Link, and Hashtags for the content you're promoting really works. If you haven't shared a particular piece of content in more than a week, it's OK to do this again. Still, you may want to tweak the hashtags a bit to try to find a new audience for it.
- Ask a Question – Ask your audience an engaging question to hopefully spark conversation. If you can get some replies going, it can help keep your content relevant and interesting to people. It greatly extends the life of your share.
- State a Fact or Figure or Two - Share a fact or two along with some figures in your post, which adds value to the share.
- Share a Quote – Take a quote from your article that would make a good social media message. This is a popular method, and you can take many different quotes from the same piece.
- Add Intrigue – If you're good at writing teasers, this is a great place to practice your art. Attention-grabbing headlines can be hard to use when optimizing content for SEO. But on social media, while using keywords is important, you can do a good old fashioned teaser without worrying about that. You just want those who see it in their feed to be attracted to clicking on it.
The great thing about these five simple strategies is that they let you experiment with your audience. You don't have to be the most organized person to tell which sorts of shares perform the best. Just watch how many clicks, replies/comments, likes, and shares you get on each share. That will tell you what sorts of shares work best for your particular audience. It also shows you what doesn't work.
Take note of shares that work particularly well,. Then, you can make variations on what's worked in the past later. When you're constantly experimenting like this, it makes your social media feeds fresh and engaging. No one wants to see the same thing over and over and originality freshens up even the dustiest of content.
What link sharing and content sharing strategies have worked best for you?
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