Okay, so you’ve created a killer blog article. You posted a painfully funny image or video. You put so much work into your awesome content that you expect it to go viral as soon as it hits the Internet. And no one cares.

Does this sound familiar? If you’ve dipped your toe in the water of content marketing, you’ve probably experienced this painful phenomenon. Despite all your best efforts, your content doesn’t always take off. Bad timing can also affect whether your content goes viral. For example, weekends are not the best time for sharing content.

“Find the days and times when your content is most in-demand,” suggests WhoIsHostingThis.

Getting frustrated about why the content you’re producing is not getting the amount of attention you think it should receive? According to WhoIsHostingThis, high-quality content should always be your first concern–content that arouses curiosity, amazement, astonishment, uncertainty, humour, and admiration has a greater chance of going viral.

Once you’ve created your amazing content, don’t forget to share it properly. Review the analytics from your accounts on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ to help keep track of when your customers or fans are visiting your site, as well as the times, and content, that draw the most interaction from them.

Going viral doesn’t have to be an impossible dream. To find out more about how you can increase the chances of your content going viral, check out the infographic below.

Why isn’t your content going viral?

Going viral can skyrocket your website to the forefront of everyone’s mind, but it is impossible to predict. Stack the deck in your favour by not making these mistakes.

Lack of Emotional Appeal

Emotion is the key reason why things catch on. Appealing to certain emotions will make content potentially more viral than others. Positive emotional responses tend to do better than negative ones. So focus on curiosity, amazement, interest, astonishment, uncertainty, admiration, and humour.

People share emotionally charged content:

• To make sense of their own experiences
• For a deeper social connection
• So they can reduce dissonance

Emotional factors that affect viral content:

• Speed of emotional activation
• Level of interest
• Content length

To make your content more emotionally charged:

• Get the reader to question themselves. Use your headline to grab their attention and get them thinking.
• Come up with a different angle. Present your own spin on the same old topic that readers see over and over again.
• Write like you speak. This will allow your true emotion to come through.
• And finally, know your audience’s pain points. This will allow you to better tailor your message.

If it isn’t share worthy, it won’t go viral

Content that’s share worthy often strikes a chord with its audience; it can be funny and/or useful. If you choose to make it useful, make it a solution to a relatable problem.

6 steps to contagious content

1. Social Currency: Everyone wants to make themselves look good, not bad, even if it’s by posting a photo of their cat.
2. Triggers: Something that is easily memorable and on the top of your mind.
3. Emotion: The more we care about something, the more likely we’re to share it.
4. Stories: Things we share are things wrapped up in a narrative.
5. Practice Value: Useful news that we can share with others to make them better off.
6. Public: We’re more likely to share if we see others doing the same.

Bad timing

Content timing is crucial to whether or not it goes viral. Find the days and times when your content is most in-demand.

Poor design

Visual appeal matters, but it’s only part of the viral equation. Just because something’s pretty doesn’t mean it will go viral. In fact, bad design can destroy your content’s potential. Guide the eye; pay attention to where you put elements on the page.

• Bold and subtle colours tell the user where to look.
• Bigger items will draw more attention.
• Design elements can guide users to where you want them to go.
• Contrast helps elements stand out.

Use colour to your advantage:

• Green: Nature, money, healing
• Yellow: Happiness, intellect, energy
• Orange: Enthusiasm, fascination, creativity
• Red: Energy, danger, love
• Blue: Stability, trust, loyalty
• Purple: Power, nobility, luxury
• Black: Power, elegance, formality
• White: Light, goodness, innocence

Poor distribution

Distribution can give your piece the nudge it needs to get rolling. Think about your channels. Do you have any influential connections to start with?

If your content is video, go outside the YouTube box and think of other platforms like Yahoo Video, Vimeo, Blip.TV, or Howcast. You can also give an advertising push at launch by buying Facebook promoted posts or Twitter ads.

—

Get more blogging tips with this guide to creating better graphics. Help this post go viral (or not) by liking this post, sharing it on social media, or commenting below.

Source: http://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2014/02/18/five-reasons-your-awesome-content-isnt-going-viral-infographic/