6 Ways to Make your Content Sticky

It was a sparkling sunny day on the harbour and I was attending a cocktail party hosted by a global supplier for the end of year celebrations.

The sales manager for the company and I started having a chat about web hosting. After about three sentences I realized that every second phrase was unintelligible. I was only on my first glass of wine so my intelligence at that stage was still above water, so it wasn’t the drink.

I understood terms such as “multiple redundancy” , “mission critical” and “virtual private server” but I was drowning in acronyms and industry “speak”.

What was happening was  the often experienced but rarely mentioned ”Curse of Knowledge“. This concept was first coined in the book “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die” which stated,

“The better we get at generating great ideas—new insights and novel solutions—in our field of expertise, the more unnatural it becomes for us to communicate those ideas clearly. That’s why knowledge is a curse.”

What was happening to me on the harbour cruise was a conversation from someone who was both very intelligent and knowledgeable in his field, but his ability to communicate clearly had become submerged and lost in a sea of jargon and acronyms.

It was a lesson that I didn’t forget.

“Sticky” Content is Memorable

When it comes to creating content there are many ways to communicate on the web. You can tweet, you can write an article on your blog or you can use multimedia. This could be a video or an image.

Infographics are popular and allow you to communicate using the best of the worlds of text and visual media.

Communicating ideas whether it is simple text on Twitter or rich multimedia on YouTube is powerful and sticky if you achieve two things.

1. Make ideas sticky (memorable)
2. Make content contagious (shareable)

The book “Made to Stick” provides 6 principles that explores the strategies and tactics to  make sure that your ideas are not forgotten in a global web of froth, fluff and noise.

So how can you communicate ideas that are memorable and shareable on a social web that has 550 million competing websites?

What are the 6 Principles of Sticky Ideas?

Not many ideas can manage to tick all the six boxes, If you can manage two 0r three of these principles then you are well on your way to succeeding as a communicator.

Principle 1: Simplicity

I remember my older cousin telling me that I used words that were too complicated. He was right. I now  try to use words and phrases that are simple but memorable. That is my goal

A quote from  ”Making it Stick”

“Saying something short is not the mission—sound bites are not the ideal. Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound. The Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you) is the ultimate model of simplicity: a one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning to follow it.”

Keeping it simple is achievable for all of us, we just need to keep reminding ourselves that not everyone knows what you do.

Principle 2: Unexpectedness

We often slip into the communicating the same way day and day out. Creating impact is often achieved through the unexpected and surprise.

A quote from  ”Making it Stick”

“How do we get our audience to pay attention to our ideas, and how do we maintain their interest when we need time to get the ideas across? We need to violate people’s expectations.

The best way to get people’s attention is to break their existing thought patterns directly.

Principle 3: Concreteness

When we communicate it is often abstract but life is not abstract. Newspaper editors know this “If it bleeds it leads“. They know they need to keep it real.

A quote from  ”Making it Stick”

“Naturally sticky ideas are full of concrete images—ice-filled bathtubs, apples with razors—because our brains are wired to remember concrete data. In proverbs, abstract truths are often encoded in concrete language: “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”

Principle 4: Credibility

We all know that an expert provides credibility. That is why they keep turning up in criminal trials, because they are believable. The other class of authorities are celebrities. This is why you see advertising with actors promoting products.

Another way to add credibility is through statistics. Credibility is often carried by some one who has experienced it for themselves and is prepared to state it publicly. Try before you but is a powerful message. This is also know as testable credentials.

A quote from  ”Making it Stick”

“Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need ways to help people test our ideas for themselves—a “try before you buy” philosophy for the world of ideas“.

 Principle 5: Emotions

Mother Teresa said “If I look at the mass I will never act , If I look at one I will” Charities have long since figured out the Mother Teresa effect. They know that donors respond better to individual causes than abstract causes supported by statistics. That is why a compelling story about an individual will produce a greater effect and emotional response.

A quote from  ”Making it Stick”

“How do we get people to care about our ideas? We make them feel something“.

Principle 6: Stories

The power of stories is two dimensional. Firstly it  provides simulation (knowledge how to act) and secondly it empowers people through inspiration (motivation to act). This generates action. This is the final chapter in making a difference in people’s lives and communicating an idea. A strong story will have longevity. Inspirational stories take a life on of their own, especially when you have a social web multiplying their effectiveness.

A quote from  ”Making it Stick”

 What About You?

Have you been using any of these six principles in your communication and content?

How do you communicate your ideas? Do you tell stories or tap into emotions?

Have you forgotten to keep it simple and been dragged into the morass of the “curse of knowledge”

I look forward to hearing your stories

More Reading

• 5 Lessons from Coca Cola’s New Content Marketing Strategy
• Why Telling Stories Can Make You Famous and Wealthy
• Keys to Writing Worth Stealing
• How A Great Twitter Headline Can Increase Your Blog Traffic
• Have You Been Making This Huge Mistake On Your Blog?
• 12 Important Steps some Bloggers Forget 
• 12 Keys to Success on Twitter
• What is Social Reading?
• Is This the Future of Books?

Image By Emily Barney