Want people to share that video ad you just posted on social media?
Of course you do.
But trying to create viral content is a bit like trying to nail jelly to a wall.
It’s difficult. Messy. And some would argue, a complete waste of time.
But what if you knew in advance why some content gets shared more than others?
That would be good to know, right?
Well, research by Jonah Berger and Daniel McDuff might be just the thing you’re looking for.
They looked at facial expressions to determine what made people likely to share video ads.
Here’s a link to the research, but here’s the tldr:
If you want people to share your content, check to make sure it puts a smile on their faces.
Smiles ‘were positively and most strongly associated with sharing.’
In fact, the authors found ‘A 30 percent increase in smiling is associated with a 10 percent increase in willingness to share.’
Not a bad result for making people feel good, is it?