Sticking Around: Making Memorable Content for Positive Change
It’s not surprising to say that people are bombarded by information constantly. Commercials, social media posts, and articles all want attention, so how can one thing stand out?
It all comes down to the idea of stickiness. Stickiness, as it sounds, is how well information “sticks” in people’s minds and gets them to “stick” around. The brain has to filter out useless or unnecessary information all the time, so making content memorable is crucial.
This is especially true when trying to promote an important cause. Individuals or organizations need to get people to care about their message and care enough to do something.
There are some key aspects of stickiness that play a role in today’s social media environment.
What Makes Things Sticky?
Neil Patel’s article, How to Craft Sticky Content That Your Audience Drools Over, lists components for writing sticky content.
Things that make information “sticky” include keeping things simple, using emotions and storytelling, having data and sources, and finally, having a unique angle on a familiar topic.
Simplicity
Keep things clear and simple. If it takes too long for people to understand a message, they’ll move on. Save more complicated details for later, when they’re more invested.
As Patel says, “Don’t expect that your audience will put in the effort to decipher meaning from complex prose. Rather, aim to express your ideas in the simplest form” (Patel).
Emotions
Evoking emotions is a prime way to get people invested in a story. Making them happy, sad, hopeful, angry, or any other strong feeling compels them to stay longer and remember what they saw.
Patel says, “If your article doesn’t emote, then your creative ideas will fall flat. So: Your content has to integrate emotional triggers that connect with the audience. Upping the emotions in your content has repeatedly been found to increase social shares” (Patel).
Storytelling
Stories are a fundamental part of being human. Framing a subject as a story with a beginning, middle, and end is a simple way to keep people engaged. Moreso, narratives should be descriptive and use “all of your 5 senses – touch, taste, hear, look and feel” (Patel) to create a fuller sensory experience.
Data and Sources
If a message is supported by data from reliable sources, people will trust and remember it better. It also establishes the poster as a trustworthy creator who backs up what they put out into the world.
Unique Angle
How do you get people to care about something they’ve heard talked about many times already? By framing the topic in a new and engaging way. Presenting a unique perspective on a familiar idea can make people view it differently and reach new understanding.
Social Media Stickiness
Social media platforms provide a good place for all of these sticky characteristics.
- Small amounts of space because of character limits and image captions means simplicity is core to social posts. Users have to get straight to the point with their messages.
- The personal nature of social media means telling stories and eliciting emotions are easy ways to get people interested. Strong, expressive words that appeal to the senses make posts eye-catching and memorable.
- The online connectedness of social media allows creators to link to sources and guide users to information.
- Lastly, the “unique angle” ties into the first point about simplicity. With limited room to grab attention, it is important to make content immediately engaging. It should surprise people and make them want to stay to learn more.
Limits and Concerns
One potential limit is that if everyone is applying these ideas, then things won’t stand out. In other words, if everything is sticky, then nothing will be. However, if all posts use these components differently and truly provide unique angles, then this probably just means a more diverse range of content for users to pick from.
An increasing concern with social media and all media today is the spread of misinformation. Not all things that “stick” are going to be positive or helpful. It is important for individuals, groups, and organizations to make sure the information they want to stick isn’t intended to harm.
With the overwhelming amount of content on social media today, it is crucial to understand how to create sticky work that people remember and that keeps them coming back. Used right, these principles of stickiness can give creators the power to compel people to make positive change in the world around them.
