What is every marketer dying to know? How to craft content and headlines that generate tons of shares and go completely viral. But even with A/B testing it can seem like a fruitless guessing game. It's time we stop guessing. In this on-demand webinar, content sharability expert BuzzSumo Director Steve Rayson dives into how to 10x shares with proven examples from the most shared content in 2015. We reviewed the top content and headlines from a range of industries and will reveal the strategies, content and headlines that went viral in 2015.

1. December 3, 2015
How to Go Viral: Lessons from
the Most Shared Content in 2015

2. THE HOST★
★
Byron White
CEO & Founder, WriterAccess
Chair, Content Marketing Conference
Author of The Content Marketing Roadmap and 103
Content Marketing Tools
@byronwhite | @writeraccess

3. THE EXPERT★
★
Steve Rayson
Director, BuzzSumo
Director, Anders Pink B2B Marketing
Expert at waking up at 3am to do a webinar (spends
January – February in New Zealand so webinars are
in the middle of the night!)
@steverayson | @buzzsumo

4. How
To
Go
Viral
Insights
from
the
Most
Shared
Content
of
2015

5. Viral
Posts
Are
Outliers
#WriteOn

6. #WriteOn

7. InsighCul
Outliers
• We
can
learn
from
viral
posts
and
examine
the
elements
that
helped
them
go
viral
• Gain
insights
into
what
we
can
do
to
make
our
content
more
shareable
#WriteOn

8. Not
Looking
at
Celebrity
Content

9. How
To
Go
Viral
2015
Examples
#WriteOn

10. 1.
Surprising
Champagne
Prevents
Alzheimer’s
Disease
(938,000
shares)

11. 1.
Surprising
The
Cause
of
AddicXon
Is
Not
What
You
Think
(2m
shares)

12. 2.
Leverage
A
Trend
Zombie-­‐Themed
Cruise
(1.5m
shares
&
400,000
comments)

14. 3)
Inspire
people
51
BeauXful
Sentences
in
Literature
(1.4m
shares)

15. 4)
Create
Stunning
Picture
List
Posts
52
Places
To
Go
In
2015
(522,000
shares)

16. The
Guardian:
OverpopulaXon,
OverconsumpXon
in
Pictures
(700,000
shares)

17. 5)
Exploit
Cute
Animals
&
Babies
This
Site
Will
Make
A
Stuffed
Animal
Clone
Of
Your
Pet
(683,000
shares)

19. 6)
Be
Amusing
Earth
Endangered
By
New
Strain
Of
Fact-­‐Resistant
Humans
(1.4m
Shares)

21. When
You
Realise,
You’ve
Had
One
Too
Many
(827,000
shares)

22. 7)
Be
Controversial

23. InteracXons
(likes/shares)
of
Donald
Trump’s
FB
Posts

24. 8)
Quiz
People
What
Is
Your
Most
Dominant
Character
Trait?
(3.9m
shares)

25. 8)
Quiz
People
The
Color
Quiz
(5m
Shares)

26. Baby
Name
Popularity
InteracXon
(781,000
shares)

28. 9)
Provide
Warnings

29. 10)
Tell
Them
The
Secrets
Of
Success
How
Successful
People
Stay
Calm
(127,000
shares)

30. 10)
Tell
Them
The
Secrets
Of
Success

31. 11)
Health,
Diet
&
Fitness
Tips

32. The
Only
12
Exercises
You
Need
(968,000
shares)

33. 12)
Secrets
of
Love
&
DaXng

34. To
Fall
In
Love
With
Anyone,
Do
This.
(885,000
shares)

35. This
Is
How
We
Date
Now
(1.6m
shares)

36. 13)
Secret
To
A
Long
Life
109-­‐Year
Old
Woman
Says
Secret
To
Long
Life
Is
Avoiding
Men
(1.9m
shares)

37. 14)
Share
A
Heart
Warming
Story
Husband
108,
Wife
105,
Celebrate
82
Years
Married
(580,000
shares)

38. What
Can
We
Learn?
• Viral
posts
are
outliers
• Not
just
about
content
but
igniXon
and
amplificaXon
• Are
there
common
elements
to
viral
posts
that
make
them
shareable?
• Combined
elements
eg
quiz
on
a
popular
topic,
picture
list
posts

39. Shareable
Elements?
EmoXonal
element
Content
Element
Topic
Element
Format
Element
Amusing
Surprising
Heart
Warming
BeauXful
Inspiring
Warning
Shocking
Images
Facts
Charts
Quotes
Video
InteracXon
Trending
topic
(e.g.
Zombies)
Health
&
fitness
Cats
&
Dogs
Babies
Long
Life
Love
List
Post
Quiz
Story
CuraXon
Research
Insights
PracXcal
Tips

40. Content
CreaXon
QuesXons
• Does
the
content
have
an
emoXonal
element?
• Does
the
post
include
shareable
content
types,
such
as
facts,
images
and
quotes?
• Is
the
topic
one
that
resonates
with
your
audience?
Is
it
trending?
• Is
the
format
one
that
works
well
with
your
audience,
such
as
pracXcal
Xps
or
a
quiz?

41. Headlines
• Great
headlines
maker
• Can
you
use
the
shareable
elements?
1. EmoXonal
words
e.g.
Surprising
2. Topic
e.g.
Zombies
3. Type
e.g.
Facts
4. Format
e.g.
List
post
“10
surprising
facts
about
Zombies”

42. Quiz
Results
To
Fall
In
Love
With
Anyone,
Do
This
109-­‐Year
Old
Woman
Says
Secret
To
Long
Life
Is
Avoiding
Men
What
Is
Your
Most
Dominant
Character
Trait?
The
Cause
of
AddicXon
Is
Not
What
You
Think
The
Only
12
Exercises
You
Need
0.89m
1.9m
3.9m
2m
0.97m
#WriteOn

43. Thank
You
@Buzzsumo
@steverayson

44. JOIN US IN VEGAS!★
★
CONTENT MARKETING CONFERENCE 2016
MAY 17-19, 2016 | LAS VEGAS, NV | THE RIO ALL-SUITE HOTEL
3 Days
30+ Expert Speakers
300 Engaged Attendees
3,000+ Tips, Tricks, Hacks, and Tactics

45. THANK YOU!★
★
Let’s stay in touch:
@SteveRayson
@WriterAccess
617-227-8800
byronwhite@writeraccess.com
Join us each month at www.writeraccess.com/webinar