Content That Triggers Massive Reach on Social Media

Want to use organic content to grow your reach? Wondering what types of content create engagement the algorithm values? 

In this article, we’ll explore the type of content that triggers massive reach on social media.

Why Is Social Content Important in 2024?

In the ever-evolving world of digital marketing, creating content that captures attention and drives engagement on social media platforms is crucial for success. Andy Crestodina, co-founder and strategic director of Orbit Media and author of Content Chemistry, shares his insights on crafting content that sparks conversation and achieves massive reach on social media.

Content plays a vital role at every stage of the marketing funnel. At the top of the funnel, content optimized for search engines and social media can grow your audience and increase brand awareness. In the middle of the funnel, content encouraging followers and subscribers keeps your brand top-of-mind during decision-making. At the bottom of the funnel, you can use content to directly support sales by nurturing leads and prospects.

Moreover, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools, content is becoming even more important. AI systems are trained on the internet, so creating content that stands out can help your brand get recommended by these tools when social media users ask relevant questions.  

Regarding social media algorithms, the key thing to understand is that platforms want engagement. They want people to stay on the platform longer and interact with content. The algorithms prioritize content that gets people to slow down, watch videos, tap, comment, like, and share. You can monetize this increased engagement, which is why social media algorithms push engaging content.

As a marketer, the apparent response is to create highly engaging content that triggers the algorithm. Andy recently experienced this on YouTube. While his typical video gets around 1,000 views, one piece of content suddenly got 190,000 views. The algorithm liked this post because it got high engagement and greater visibility.  

How to Create Content That Drives Social Media Engagement   

#1: The Key to Triggering Engagement: Counter-Narrative Opinions

To create content that sparks conversation and drives engagement on social media, Andy recommends focusing on counter-narrative opinions. By taking a stand on a topic you believe to be true and expressing a strong point of view, you’re more likely to capture your audience’s attention and encourage them to share their own perspectives.

However, this doesn’t mean you need to be controversial or polarizing. Even mundane topics can generate strong opinions and engagement if you present a unique or unexpected viewpoint. 

For example, Andy’s YouTube video was about “13 Things to Remove From Your Website Immediately.” It covered simple things like using HTML instead of PDFs, removing dates from blog posts, and removing colorful social icons in the header.

These are basic points, but they sparked hundreds of comments, with people agreeing and disagreeing. It’s surprising how something as minor as the Oxford comma can get people fired up.

The lesson here is that you don’t always need to discuss controversial or high-stakes topics to get engagement. Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm are great examples of how mundane topics can be entertaining and thought-provoking.

Content that uses strong opinions drives engagement and elevates your social media presence because it’s different. Taking a strong perspective on mundane topics is not a typical content strategy. It stands out in people’s feeds, especially compared to the growing amount of AI-generated content—AI has no point of view. 

Content that uses counter-narrative opinions also has a unique tone. Content that uses strong opinions doesn’t use qualifying language. Instead of saying, “In some cases, you might want to consider,” directly state your point of view. For example, “Removing dates from blog posts increases your GA4 engagement rate.” This directness makes the content more memorable—you’re more likely to stick in the visitor’s mind. 

The goal is to create conversation and engagement around your content. When you present a strong opinion on a topic that people can debate, it encourages rich, deep discussions in the comments and shares. Remember, the algorithms prioritize content that sparks engagement. Taking a stand on topics with multiple viewpoints allows you to create content that stands out and triggers algorithms to increase visibility.

#2: Generate Content Ideas With AI

It can be challenging to come up with topics that elicit different opinions. One way to identify potential topics for opinion-based content is to use AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude. Start by creating a persona for your target audience, including their hopes, dreams, fears, concerns, emotional triggers, and decision-making criteria. This will help the AI understand who you’re trying to reach.

For example, you could prompt AI to “Build a persona for a marketer who works for a small business and is responsible for generating more sales, leads, and exposure for the company. Their goal is to get a promotion, and their ultimate dream is to be the Director of Marketing. Their biggest fears and concerns are being left behind in the industry and not staying up-to-date with the latest marketing trends and techniques. Their emotional triggers are not having answers to important marketing questions and feeling unprepared or unknowledgeable in their field.”

Next, review the AI-generated persona and make necessary corrections based on your knowledge of the audience. Then, ask the AI to generate a list of relatively mundane or trivial topics your target audience strongly believes in. For example, you could ask, “What are some relatively mundane or trivial topics that marketers have different opinions about?”

The AI will generate many ideas, but most will be irrelevant. Ignore the majority and focus on the few that resonate with you and your audience. Take the selected ideas and brainstorm ways to create engaging content around them. Consider various formats like research, surveys, social media posts, collaborations, video content, guidebooks, or opinion pieces. The AI might come back with topics like video vs the written word, short-form vs long-form video, audio vs video, or Instagram vs TikTok.

Remember, AI is just a tool to help spark creativity and generate ideas quickly. The real value comes from your ability to refine and develop those ideas into compelling content that resonates with your audience.

#3: Craft Content With Strong Opinions

Once you’ve identified a topic, it’s time to create content that expresses your opinion clearly and directly. Avoid using qualifying language or trying to be 100% accurate. Instead, state your point of view confidently and let your personality shine through. 

Don’t be afraid to be transparent with your views, even if it initially feels uncomfortable.

For example, Andy’s video, “13 Things to Remove From Your Website Immediately,” uses direct rather than soft language. He wants you to do it now—you’re making a mistake if you don’t. 

It’s okay to feel awkward sharing strong opinions, especially if you’re not used to it. The key is to remember that you’re not necessarily trying to change everyone’s mind—you’re just starting a conversation.

One way to make this easier is to include dissenting opinions in your content. For example, if you write an article stating a strong view, seek out people who disagree with you and include their perspectives. This shows that you acknowledge other viewpoints and create a conversation within the piece.

As author and entrepreneur Seth Godin says, content aims to start a conversation or give your audience something to discuss. You can invite discussion and engagement around your content by clearly stating your view and including other perspectives.

#4: Collaborate With Others to Enhance Your Content

Collaborating with others in your industry is another effective social media marketing strategy for creating engaging content. Collaborative content marketing, or organic influencer marketing, allows you to access different perspectives and ideas you might not have thought of. This can be roundup posts, contributor quotes, or interviews. 

Journalists rarely write articles without sources, so content marketers should consider including contributor quotes in almost everything they write. In fact, 99% of the 580 articles Andy has written in his career include contributor quotes.

There are several benefits to this approach:

• When you share the content on social media channels, you have a reason to mention and reach out to influencers or even potential clients, which can increase reach.
• You grow your network by collaborating with others and meeting new people in your industry.
• You learn from others’ perspectives and provide your audience with diverse insights. 

Adding visuals, names, job titles, and links to your contributors gives readers a reason to keep scrolling and engaging with your content. This “ego bait” gives people a reason to share and promote your content. When you include influencers in your posts, they’re more likely to share them with their audience.

When you ask someone to share their opinion on a topic they care about, you’re essentially becoming a media outlet. This can be a great way to build relationships and learn new things.

For example, when I started Social Media Examiner, I was a contributing writer for a few media outlets like MarketingProfs and Copyblogger. Around 2010, I wrote a piece called The Dark Side of Twitter. I contacted people in my network for their opinions and stories, acting as a journalist even though I had no formal training. I incorporated these diverse perspectives into my article, making a case for both the dangers and benefits of the social media platform.

Despite the extra effort required to gather these different viewpoints, the content performed exceptionally well. Editors told me that the article was among the top-performing content of the entire year. 

In today’s content landscape, we’re in a “post single point of view era.” While well-established experts can still write successful content independently, those earlier in their journey can benefit significantly from including multiple perspectives in their posts. Think of it like programming a panel at an event. You create a more dynamic and engaging experience for your audience by including diverse viewpoints.

To collaborate with others, begin reaching out to people in your existing network. Start a week or two before your deadline. Let them know you’re working on a piece and would appreciate their perspective. Then, provide them with the specifics, such as the topic, the content format (e.g., a blog post, a video, a podcast), the desired word count, and the deadline. Make it as easy as possible for them to say yes, and give them ample time to respond and contribute to your piece. You can also reach out to people you don’t know yet, like industry experts or thought leaders.

Established influencers may be quicker to respond as they have a public relations mindset and understand the benefit of being featured in your content. Even if someone is too busy or doesn’t reply, you can still benefit from the networking aspect by sending them the published article once it’s live. This gives you a reason to reconnect and share your work with them.

Once you have your collaborators lined up, include their opinions in your content. Include direct quotes from them in your blog post or article, interview them on your podcast or video series, or have them contribute a paragraph or section to your content.

Collaborating with others doesn’t require you to be an expert. You can expand your network and create more engaging content by simply adopting a collaborative philosophy and including other formats like guest blogging.  

#5: Publish Opinion-Based Content on Social Media

While you can publish opinion-based content on your website or blog, sharing it on your social media channels where conversations happen is essential. Respond to comments, ask follow-up questions, and keep the conversation going. This will show that you’re invested in the topic and willing to engage with your audience.

LinkedIn, Facebook, and X support long-form content, making them ideal for sparking discussion and driving engagement. 

When publishing on social platforms, consider using native social media content formats like LinkedIn articles or newsletters. This “syndication strategy” allows you to keep the conversation on the platform while linking to your website for those who want to learn more. 

Additionally, mention any contributors or influencers featured in your content to increase its reach and encourage further engagement. For example, add contributor profiles and faces within your LinkedIn articles. You can also promote other content within your LinkedIn articles. Once they gain traction, advertise upcoming webinars or other engaging social media content. 

Remember, social platforms are where exposure and conversations happen today. By publishing native content and engaging with your audience on these platforms, you can create a unique and engaging experience for your followers.

Other Notes From This Episode

• Connect with Michael Stelzner @Stelzner on Instagram and @Mike_Stelzner on Twitter.
• Watch this interview and other exclusive content from Social Media Examiner on YouTube.

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