a single source, nothing corroborates it
Make the share image tease instead of restate
The preview picture is the only part of a link most people see, so repeating the headline inside it wastes the one slot you have. Showing the product mid-use, or the change it produces, and running a punchier title for social than for search gives the card its own reason to be clicked.
The method
- 01
Do not repeat the headline in the share image; use it to tease what is inside instead.
- 02
Show the product being used in the share image rather than a static shot of it.
- 03
Leave the logo out of the share image and show the change the product produces instead.
- 04
Design a custom preview image for every article - readers read the effort as a proxy for quality - and keep the cost down by reusing one template with new copy and colours.
- 05
Run two different titles for the same piece: a keyword-loaded one for search and a punchier one for the social card.
What it returned
His Nike article carried the salesman's full name for search and dropped it in favour of the brand alone when shared socially.
Sources
- My favourite “Meta Images”Harry Dry · Marketing Examples · 1/ Don’t write a title. Tease the content. · undated
- 6 keys to sharing content on TwitterHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · 5) A bespoke meta image signals a higher quality article · undated
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in social
- Concentrate on one platform until it works11 unconnected · contested
- Gather the audience before there is a product6 unconnected · contested
- Fire the launch into the audience you already have6 unconnected · contested
- Post the numbers, not the commentary5 unconnected · contested
- Republish the winners with a new hook5 unconnected
- Cut one long piece into weeks of social posts5 unconnected