Even if your online marketing efforts aren’t focused on social media you should still write any online content you produce with social media in mind. When people share online content such as web pages, blogs or articles through social media channels this can increase brand awareness and website traffic. Better yet, as long as your content remains online, more and more people can read and share it so a piece of copywriting you produced weeks ago can continue to entertain new readers.

Online marketing and SEO campaigns used to be about getting as much content online as possible and hiring teams of website copywriters to produce hundreds of pieces of low quality content. It’s no longer enough to just create content though, instead, the key to effective online content is to create something worth sharing. The content people want to share is usually high quality, entertaining, well researched and cleverly optimised.

When you think about it, it takes a lot for someone to share a piece of online content. Firstly they have to find your content (which is why optimisation is so important), next they have to read and understand your content and finally they have to find it inspiring enough to want to share it with others. People who share your content use it as an opportunity to show their readers that they value and understand the points you’re making and that their readers will also find the article interesting. In a way, when people share your content they are recommending you for your knowledge and your copywriting ability.

The great thing about social media is that content can go viral in minutes and if you produce a particularly good piece of copywriting then you could see your AddThis counter or equivalent ticking away into the hundreds.

How do you create content that goes viral? The key is to connect with readers and provoke an emotion. Content which inspires, uplifts, angers, entertains, educates or just makes people laugh is ideal for encouraging sharing. Content doesn’t actually have to be useful to go viral (e.g. pictures of dogs in cute costumes or celebrity news scandals) but for business purposes it’s best to focus on giving away your knowledge and providing practical advice and insights about your industry.