I was reading The Oatmeal today and I came across a comic of theirs that gives a “colorful” explanation of how to gain likes on Facebook. I wanted to expand a little bit on their take and show that the same principle applies to any social media network.

(For a condensed version of the story, see the infographic below)

Companies often get caught up in the feeling that social media channels can and should be used to sell product and drive traffic to their website.  In doing so, they become a broadcaster and self-promoter, posting articles and links that theoretically say “look how great we are”. After some time, they check back to see their ROI and become frustrated because no one is commenting on, clicking, or sharing their content. Under such frustration, they throw up their hands and claim that social media doesn’t work for them.

What these people are forgetting is that the foundation of why pe0ple social media sharing and how pictures, videos, and stories become viral is that they invoke emotion. If you invoke someone’s emotion with your content, you have a far greater chance of getting the results you want to see.

-Lance Brown