If you’re a content marketer, then you already know how to write reports, eBooks, articles and blog posts. But do you know how to turn ordinary content into viral content? That’s what I want to share with you today.
Generally, a viral report is one that sweeps across your niche because readers share it with one another. I do this with rebranded reports, such as this one you can download right now.
In order to be “share worthy,” the report needs to have most of the following characteristics:
Unique content.
Your report may include:
- Unusual or even controversial ideas or information. If your report includes something that no one else is talking about, people will share it.
- Entertaining/engaging content. If your writing style is as exciting as burnt toast, then get a ghostwriter to write it for you, or use rebranded reports. Even if you share unusual content, it won’t be share-worthy if it’s boring to read.
Tip: You can liven up your writing by including humor (where applicable), stories, analogies, metaphors and colorful language.
For example, instead of saying, “he left the party quickly,” you might say, “he left quicker than a cat exiting a hot oven.”
See the difference? The second line is simply more colorful and fun to read because it creates a strong visual impression.
- Extraordinarily useful content. Tip: Give away what others are charging big bucks for. Go to Clickbank.com to find out the top sellers in your niche.
- Funny content. This doesn’t work in every niche, but it’s effective if you can pull it off. Think of your email – I bet most of your email forwards are jokes.
In other words, ordinary content doesn’t cut it.
Tip: If you want an idea of what kind of content to create, just look at the types of content that arrives in your email every day, forwarded from friends. Think about the content you share with others.
For example, if someone is giving away a report that most others charge for, you’re going to tell your friends.
Or, if someone has a report that’s highly controversial – such as one that seems truthful but goes against what the niche experts are saying – you can bet people are going to pass it around.
Or, if someone creates a report that crosses over from controversial to even a tiny bit offensive, people on BOTH sides of the issue will share it. Just look to politics as an example of taking a hot button issue and creating content that offends certain parties.
Easy to access.
If you want a report to go viral, don’t put a lot of hoops and obstacles between you and your audience. Ideally, it should be freely available (no subscription required), with the goal of the report being to get people on your list.
Alternatively, you can offer your report to anyone who gives you a valid email address. This works best if you’re paying affiliates per lead (or if you’re paying commissions on a backend offer).
Which brings us to our next point…
There’s an incentive to share it.
Content that has the above characteristics (e.g., it’s funny or controversial) naturally get passed around the niche. However, you can give people an incentive to share it by allowing readers to change the links in the report to their affiliate links before sharing it.
Tip: You can create rebrandible reports. That way anyone who shares your report has an opportunity to make money on the backend via affiliate commissions.
Summary: What’s Next?
You just discovered what kind of content you need to create in order to turn regular content into viral content. But now that you have your viral report, what do you do with it? Answer: distribute it as widely as possible. This includes:
- Blogging about it.
- Giving it to your affiliates and JV partners to share.
- Telling your list about it.
- Creating and posting a YouTube video about it.
- Telling your social media networks about it.
- Including it in your forum signature files.
The more people who see your report initially, the more likely it is your report will “go viral” in a big way!
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