9 types of social media posts guaranteed to attract readers

  1. A list post is where you are listing items one after each other. 7 types of social media posts. People are attracted to list posts. They are easy to read and skim through. List posts generate twice as many shares as normal posts.
  2. When readers see a how to post, they want to read the rest to find out if this is relevant to them. They know it’s going to teach them something, so it appeals to them.
  3. Negative headlines also capture the reader’s attention. Instead of writing a “How to article”, try writing a “How not to” article. For example: 7 posts to avoid if you want to get their attention or 10 things your web designer will not tell you about your website.
  4. Add proactive headlines with questions to spark their curiosity and entice them to read your post. For example: Do you know what the King’s Highway 20 was called before 1930? But, be careful. Sometimes readers see a yes or no question and answer “no” and move on.
  5. Readers love a case study and want to know how they can achieve the same results. For example, Earn $100,000 a year as a desktop publisher. Do you want to know more? How Barbara Fanson earned $80,000 in the first five months with her home-based desktop publishing business. That headline appeared in Profit magazine in the 1980s.
  6. A news headline will work for some businesses that provide news or information, but it doesn’t work for all stories. Fanson launches new historical fiction book is a news announcement.
  7. The why headline, such as Why you should stop smoking today may provoke curiosity or discussion.
  8. A command tells readers what they will get, for example: Learn 5 new tips for getting attention that we have never shared before.
  9. Others prefer to be direct and specific, such as 39 ways to get noticed on Facebook is a blog I wrote that tells you exactly what you’re going to get. It’s a list post, but it’s also a reference guide. http://fanson.net/blog/

Adapted from the book Producing a First-Class Newsletter by Barbara A. Fanson, published by Self-Counsel Press.