Psst, here’s a little secret…

People are a bit lazy. They don’t want to have to “work” to consume your viral content. And that’s why you should put it in a format that makes it easy to understand and easy to consume.

[tweetthis url=”http://goo.gl/12kq5p”]If you want to make your content go viral, make it easy to consume.[/tweetthis]

Here are the best and most popular viral formats:

1. Video. All people have to do is click the play button, and then sit back to watch your video. Easy peasy.
2. Infographics. This format is eye-catchingly attractive, which is a bonus. It’s also easy to consume, since the words tend to be fairly sparse since the graphics tell much of the story. In other words, it’s easy to consume since people can absorb the message in a short amount of time.
3. Other graphics. This might be a funny meme, or it might be an inspirational quote with a photo in the background. Either way, someone can glance it and within seconds be laughing, or be disgusted, or be otherwise moved by the graphical content.

So what about articles?

Oh sure, they go viral all the time. But I’m willing to bet that most the content you’ve seen shared over the years came in a different format, such as photos, videos, or infographics. Those other formats are easy to consume, easy to access, and easy to share – which makes them a great choice for a viral campaign.

Now if you’re absolutely dead-set on sharing content via a text-based format (like a blog post or a report), then keep these tips in mind:

• Make it easy to read. Don’t try to impress anyone with your $100 words. Make the content accessible by making it easy-to-read for your audience.
• Insert plenty of white space. Don’t put up a wall of text, as that will drive users to the “back” button. Instead, use bulleted lists like this one to create more white space. Also, use short sentences and short paragraphs for easy readability.
• Break up text with graphics. These draw the eye back into the content, and make a nice visual aid to reinforce your point.

Pro Tip: If your article relies heavily on graphics, then making an infographic may be the better option.

So here’s the bottom line…

Imagine that your audience members are the absolute laziest people on the planet. They don’t want to work too hard to get your message. What is the best format? If you can create a video, infographic, or other graphic, you’re golden.

I personally like articles. But I try to make my articles interesting and rich with graphics and other media.