Ok, you’ve drunk the Kool Aid – you read our last post about how important optimizing your share content is. You even know the basics – how much space you have for Facebook previews, what key elements you need to include in your tweet, etc. Now you’re ready to start drafting powerful copy that encourages your supporters to share and compels their networks to act. You’ll be in good shape if you keep these 6 tips in mind…

1. Start strong. It is important to capture people’s attention right from the get-go. For Facebook, this means concentrating on the Title that pulls through. Some good things to start with are the call to action, questions, exclamations, shocking facts, or words like VIDEO, INFOGRAPHIC, URGENT, or BREAKING.

2. Convey urgency. You already know this, but social media moves fast – Facebook posts and tweets don’t stay at the top of people’s feeds for long before getting pushed down. Make sure you use urgent language that tells users why they should click/act/donate right now. Just remember that the time you create your page isn’t necessarily the time people will share it, or read about it on social media. So make your urgency as evergreen as possible.

3. Make the share personal. Turn your supporters’ shares into a testimony for your page. If your sharing options are on a landing page for an action, donation, or quiz, have the share content reflect that they just completed some activity. For example, “I just donated” or “I just signed.” When technically-feasible, have the share content pull in personal information like “I’m the nth person to sign” or “I just scored x out of y.”

4. Be concise. Most social sharing options come with a character limit. Even when they don’t, people just don’t want to read much – they want to get the point right away. More than anything, use short, clear, punchy calls to action. For example, “Tell Congress: Stop selling out the middle class!” is better than “Write a letter to Congress about unfair taxation on middle class Americans.”

The next two tactics are a bit more difficult, but they could really kick up the effectiveness of your posts, so give them a try when the opportunity arises.

5. Remember storytelling? Try that! Yes, this can be hard to fit in a 140 character tweet or the 300 character link description for Facebook. But we suggest using it in emails for a reason – it works! You won’t be able to flesh out your story, of course, but do what you can. Remember this link from MoveOn.org? It’s a perfect example of a storytelling approach (that went viral!).

6. Be mysterious. Not giving the whole story in your social share might actually increase your click-through rates. This might not be the best idea for a simple advocacy or donation form (you want to tell them why taking action is important), but it could be great for a quiz, infographic, or blog post.

Are there any other tactics you’re using? Tell us about them via comments.