Have you ever scrolled through your social media accounts and see seen something that has quickly caught your attention? Do you know what it was that caught your eye? Was it the picture? Was it the headline? Can you pinpoint exactly what is was?

We depend more on social media now than ever to get our latest fix of news and current affairs. With so much noise on each social media platform, how do you actually grab someone’s attention and ensure they click on your content?

We are sharing with you, four strategies to help you write clickable content that are known to improve web traffic on social media.

Before we dive into these tactics, you have got to know your audience first and foremost. If you do not know what your audience cares about, how can you write content that resonates with them?

By understanding your audiences needs and wants, you can then use any one of these strategies below to craft an angle that commands their attention.

Your Content Is Visual

As the cliché saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Images get noticed quickly. They spark emotion and they compel people to engage with them.

If you want people to click on your content, the image needs to be visually appealing.

Naturally, just uploading any old image will not do the trick. It needs to be the right image that really gets more clicks. How do you know if it’s the right image? Generally, it’s not a stock image. But use a photo of an actual person, and you’re more likely to get that click.

Your Content Has The Right Colour

Psychologically, there is no doubt that colour can have a profound effect on people. But did you know colour can play a role in somebody clicking on your content or not?

So, it is important to find the right colour that converts best – grabs users attention yet aligns with your brand message. Many researches have conducted studies on the psychology of colours and found that blue improves creativity, while red increases memory and attention.

We recommend choosing a colour that grabs people’s attention, stands out and does not conflict with the background, brand or even the colour of your website background.

Attach The Urgency

People are hardwired to appreciate and value things they consider to be in short supply or rare.  There is so much trying to grab our attention online, however it is not so easy to ignore something that is time sensitive.

“Hurry, limited offer, only a few seats left,” does this sound familiar?

But when we believe something is urgent or in limited supply, people are more likely to click on it to get the information right away. They don’t want to miss out on exciting, informative or helpful that they need right now and might be gone tomorrow.

Make Your Audience Feel Something

People feel. This is one of the reasons emotional marketing just works.

Emotion is what really drives the purchasing behaviors. It’s emotion that moves us to act. If you want your audience clicking away, then you will need to stir something within your audience for them to do something.

You can provoke an emotional response through happiness, sadness, humour, surprise, cuteness, compassion, and empathy just to name a few. To weave any of these emotion into your marketing, all you need to do is know your audience and know which emotions would resonate most.

Let’s Talk Ultra Specific

Have you ever noticed that many headlines on social media have numbers in them? It is because they are ultra-specific.

Whether your headline appears in a social media post, newsletter, a popup ad, or a YouTube banner, a number will make it stand out. Numbers work this way because most content online is dominated highly by words and imagery.

So when our eyes spot a number in the midst of words, it sticks out and focuses our attention. Simple, but effective.

Numbers often mean finality, which is soothing to readers. Since they have a definite beginning and ending.

As you can see… these tactics are not a new trend. There are a variety of strategies you can apply to your social marketing that will help get more clicks on posts.

The only way to know what works best for your business and business is to test and then track yourself. Interested in diving deeper into the digital realm and content creation?

Our Digital Tools To Boost Productivity workshop will cover digital literacy 101 – how to create, connect and contribute content online. Learn more here.