Part I: Understanding Popcorn Content

Writing popcorn content isn’t like writing a website or an email. It’s a whole new skill.
You have to communicate faster. You need to hook your readers immediately. You need to read as well as write. You have to be more empathetic, available and responsive.

We’ll be getting into the specific approaches that work best in this new form of writing in Part II. But first, let’s get absolutely clear about what popcorn content is, how it differs from other forms of content, and how to make it work for you. And we can do that best by looking at some of the attributes of popcorn itself.

Popcorn is social.

For most of us, eating popcorn is a social thing. We eat it and share it in the movie theatre, or during family movie nights at home. We share it with friends and neighbors while watching the big game. We have a bowl of it on a sideboard to snack on during parties.

Imagine for a moment you are invited to one of those parties or gatherings, but you don’t know a soul. They look like your kind of people, and their conversations seem lively and interesting, but you just don’t know a single person in the crowd.

If you are a total extrovert, you can stride into the room and start talking. But most of us don’t have that amount of confidence. So to make things easier, you grab a bowl of popcorn and start walking around.
At some point someone meets your eyes, turns away from the group, says, “Hey, thanks!” and grabs a handful of popcorn. Others in the group do the same. They have no idea who you are, other than the person who came around with a bowl of popcorn. But that’s OK.

They huddle back into their group and conversation, so you wander over to another group of people. Same thing. They grab some popcorn and say thanks. This time they are a little more welcoming, and you find yourself part of the circle, joining in the conversation. You introduce yourself, learn the names of everyone
there, and listen to what they are saying. Maybe you join in a little. But it’s clear they all know each other pretty well, so you try not to make a nuisance of yourself.

Then you wander off at some point and meet people in other groups, having other conversations. Some invite you to take part, others don’t. And that’s just fine. Nobody there is under any obligation to talk to you, or listen to you.
By the end of the evening, you are fitting in well with one particular group, and someone invites you to a BBQ he’s having next weekend. You like the guy and say yes.

This is social media.

The popcorn is the snack, the nibble, the introduction. It gives you an entry into conversations being held by strangers. It’s your door-opener. The more parties you go to, and the greater the number of people who reach out and grab a few kernels from your bowl of popcorn, the larger your social network becomes.
You might be thinking, “Duh, all that is kind of obvious.”
I agree. It is obvious. But this isn’t how most people approach social media. They don’t have any popcorn to offer, and they don’t slowly ease their way into conversations with groups of strangers.
What most people do is stride into the room and, in as loud a voice as possible, say, “Hey everyone! Stop what you’re doing and listen to me! Check me out! I’m awesome! Be my friend! Buy my stuff!”
That approach wouldn’t go down well at a party. Everyone would conclude you were some kind of moron, and a rude one too. Nor does it work well with social media.
Don’t start by making a big noise. Begin by holding up your bowl of popcorn.
Popcorn is irresistible.
Who doesn’t like popcorn? Well, I suppose some people don’t. But most of us do, if only occasionally.
Does it taste great? Not really. It’s the butter that adds the flavor. Or the cheese. Or the caramel. But even without flavorings, we’ll still reach for the bowl.
How come? Because it’s popcorn. It is associated with fun times, fun events. It’s about being with other people. We grab a handful to get a feeling for all the good things we associate with it.
When someone holds out a bowl of popcorn it’s tempting, almost irresistible. And, because the setting is social, we don’t want to dismiss the bowl-holder. We want to be polite.
And that’s exactly what we strive to achieve when writing popcorn content. We want our social media content to be tempting…or better still, irresistible.
Popcorn is fleeting.
Grab a handful of popcorn, and it’s gone in a minute. You don’t feel like you have eaten a meal, and you may forget you even had any. (Except for the bits that get caught between your teeth.)
And as the popcorn bowl-carrier, if you say just one thing as part of a broader conversation, your contribution will soon be forgotten. It’s just part of the flow, as the whole group keeps talking. When you stop at saying just one thing, the rest of the group will soon forget you.
You have a choice now. Say something else, contribute in some way, or take your bowl elsewhere, to another group, and try your luck there.
It’s the same with social media. It’s fleeting. You tweeted something, and that tweet stays in view for a few minutes, or even seconds, and then the flow of new tweets pushes it down below the fold, and it’s pretty much lost forever.
It’s the same with Facebook, Google+ or YouTube.
Everything you do through social media is fleeting. You’re part of a crowd. And some of those crowds are huge. So if you want to build a relationship through Twitter with someone who has 20,000 followers, it won’t happen overnight.
Popcorn makes you smile.
Popcorn is associated with fun times. And the same should be true with writing popcorn content. I’m not suggesting that every tweet or update should include a smiley face, but there has been
plenty of research done to show that upbeat tweets, updates and posts are more likely to be shared.
In fact, anything that makes you smile is more likely to be shared. Cute or funny videos on YouTube are shared more often than sad or neutral videos. Cute or funny images are liked and repinned more often on Pinterest boards.
If cute or funny doesn’t work for your topic or business, think in terms of being upbeat or optimistic.
Popcorn has a massive profit margin.
Like me, you probably grind your teeth when you see how much they charge for popcorn in the movie theatres.
There is money in them there kernels.
It’s the same with popcorn content. While the heart of social media success lies in engagement and conversation, there is a payday for people who understand the environment and its rules, or etiquette.
When you start out writing your social media messages, you would do well to stick with engaging others in conversation. But there’ll come a time, once you are trusted, when you can use social media to link to sales pages for your products, services, events and so on.
It’s at this point that popcorn content can give you the same kinds of return as popcorn in a movie theatre. If you do it right, your time spent with social media can be very profitable.
Popcorn is just the beginning.
Let’s break the analogy a little.
The first time you enter the room you are offering popcorn. But if you keep circling the same group, and simply keep offering the same bowl of popcorn, people will soon tire of you.
So on the second time around you offer cheese on crackers, or maybe shrimp and a dipping sauce. You mix it up. So each time you approach a group, they take a moment to turn around and give you a little attention. “I wonder what’s he’s got to share with us this time.”
Whether it’s popcorn or some other snack, the idea is to grab some attention, achieve recognition and, when you are lucky, secure some genuine interest.
Once you have some interest from someone, you need to do more to grow that relationship.
Whether at the party, or with social media, any relationship starts with conversation. This means engaging, one-on-one. It means retweeting through Twitter, adding comments or sharing on Facebook. Ditto for Google+. Or repinning on Pinterest.
Through engagement, you get a deeper connection. People start clicking through from your profile to your website. They learn more about who you are and what you do. This is true whether you are a solopreneur or a top 100 brand.
First you get people’s attention. Then you interest them enough to enter into a conversation. Then they seek ways to secure a deeper connection with you or your brand.
Building relationships through social media is pretty much the same as building relationships in real life. You start with the popcorn, and build from there.