If you want to create content that gets widely shared through social media (and you do), humor is often thought to be your best bet. But humor can be risky, as those of us who do any public speaking can attest. As an attorney, you certainly don’t want to appear frivolous or unprofessional. If humor isn’t your schtick, go for anger.

According to a study on the virality of New York Times articles, mentioned in this post, “content that evokes emotion is more viral, even if the emotion is negative, like anxiety or anger.”

If you want to get people talking and sharing, make them feel something. One of the best things you can do in your social media content and your marketing copy is to get people fired up.

Tell them how they are being ripped off. Show them the missed opportunities. Find a bad guy or a cadre of evil-doers and call them out. It’s one thing to get people to understand the issues. If you want people to pick up the phone and call you, or share your content with others, you need to make them feel something.

People in pain usually do something about it. In fact, there is no stronger motivation to act. Yes, you can get people to act by appealing to their desire for gain, but you’ll get a much bigger response when you show them how to stop their pain.

What if they aren’t in pain? They may have a problem but not know it. Your job is to tell them. What’s the problem? What will happen if they ignore it? What might they lose and how will they feel when this occurs?

Dramatize the problem and get them to feel the pain. Only then will they pick up the phone.

Do you think this is manipulative? Is this taking advantage of your prospects’ misfortune? Not at all. If your services are truly in your clients’ best interests, you have a moral and ethical duty to say or do whatever you can to get them act. Anything less is irresponsible.

Does my saying so make you angry? I sure hope so.