The Science of Sharing on Social Media|Infographic| Social Media Coach

Do you share on social media?

Is it working for you?

The web is a crowded place, with millions of articles being shared every day on social media. Wouldn’t it be nice to know the types of content that resonate with readers the most?

What motivates people to share?

MOTIVATIONS FOR SHARING

1. To bring valuable and entertaining content to others.

94% carefully consider how the information they share will be useful to the recipient/
49% say sharing allows them to inform others of products they care about and potentially change opinions or encourage action.

2. To define ourselves to others

68% share to give people a better sense of who they are and what they care about.

3. To grow and nourish our relationships

78% share information online because it lets them stay connected to people they may not otherwise stay in touch with.
73% share information because it helps them connect with others who share their interests.

4. Self-fulfillment

69% share information because it allows them to feel more involved in the world.

5. To get the word out about causes or brands

84% share because it is a way to support causes or issues they care about.

FROM BROADCASTERS TO SHARERS

PERSONAS OF ONLINE SHARERS

We all too often forget, we are sharing to people, not sharing for the sake of sharing. So learning about the seven personas and why they share is part of managing your social media strategy.

Altruists

Helpful
Reliable
Connected
Thoughtful

Careerists

LinkedIn
Network
Valuable
Intelligent

Hipsters

Popular
Young
Identity
Cutting Edge
Creative
Less Likely to e-mail

Boomerangs

Facebook
Reaction
Validation
Twitter
Empowered

Connectors

Creative
Thoughtful
Relaxed
E-Mail
Making Plans
Facebook

Selectives

Careful
Informative
Resourceful
Thoughtful
E-Mail

Lurkers

No sharing here.
Just remember a ton of folks that are important to you are seeing this and not sharing, so don’t let the sharers drive all your social brand decisions.

Which one are you?

WHAT PEOPLE LIKE TO SHARE

Key factors to keep in mind when sharing.

Appeal to consumers’ motivation to connect with each other —not just with your brand.
Keep it simple…
Trust is the cost of entry.
Embrace a sense of urgency.
Appeal to their sense of humor.

TOP 11

43% Pictures
26% Opinions
26% Status Update of what and how they are doing
26% Links to articles
25% Personal recommendations of things they like
22% News items
21% Links to other websites
21% Links to other people’s posts
19% Status update of what they are feeling
17% Video clips
9% Plans for future activities, trips and updates

RESONATING CONTENT FOR LINKEDIN

It’s pretty clear that LinkedIn members love to share articles about self-improvement. A recent study conducted by BuzzSumo analyzed the keywords in the titles of popular articles, these were the most frequently used:

Leader: 443 average LinkedIn shares
Habits: 332 average LinkedIn shares
Mistakes: 216 average LinkedIn shares
Career: 337 average LinkedIn shares
Managers: 275 average LinkedIn shares
Lessons: 272 average LinkedIn shares
Resume: 264 average LinkedIn shares
Employees: 250 average LinkedIn shares
Interview: 229 average LinkedIn shares
Advice: 223 average LinkedIn shares
Trends: 219 average LinkedIn shares

RESONATING CONTENT FOR TWITTER

Here are the ten most popular topics of articles shared on Twitter, ordered by their average number of Twitter shares among the top one million most shared articles on Twitter in the past six months:
1. Sports (1239 average number of Twitter shares)
2. Vegan (971 average number of Twitter shares)
3. Success (935 average number of Twitter shares)
4. Productivity (922 average number of Twitter shares)
5. Entrepreneurship (844 average number of Twitter shares)
6. Psychology (833 average number of Twitter shares)
7. Science (831 average number of Twitter shares)
8. Giveaway (775 average number of Twitter shares)
9. Climate Change (755 average number of Twitter shares)
10. Happiness (738 average number of Twitter shares)

RESONATING CONTENT FOR FACEBOOK

Quizzes are the most engaging type of content on Facebook

BuzzFeed, in particular, seems to have mastered the art of quizzes. These were the five most shared quizzes on Facebook in the past six months:

What Career Should You Actually Have? (over 4.8 million shares)
What State Do You Actually Belong In? (over 3.7 million shares)
What Kind Of Dog Are You? (over 3.7 million shares)
Which Decade Do You Actually Belong In? (over 2.8 million shares)
What City Should You Actually Live In? (over 2.8 million shares)

The optimal number of words for an article on Facebook is 2000-2500.
When comparing the number of Facebook shares to the number of words in an article, we found that articles with 2000-2500 words had the most Facebook shares, at an average of 7846.8 shares. This was 15% greater than articles with 0-500 words and 24% greater than articles with 500-1000 words.

The optimal length of a video on Facebook is 4 minutes to 4 minutes, 20 seconds.

In fact, generally speaking, long videos performed much better than short ones. The worst performing videos were 0-20 seconds long and 40-60 seconds long.

CONCLUSION

Each person is motivated differently, just like they are in the workplace. Focus on the motivation, then focus on the content that resonates best for the social media platform. The challenge is to keep pace with change, because tomorrow can be totally different. One thing to watch…Video, although low on the list of sharing, it’s gaining momentum as a business tool consider how to video’s and great for branding you and your business.

Source: Infographic by GO-Gulf.ae | Photo by Daily News Co. | New York Times | BuzzSumo

About Blair

Blair Evan Ball is a Social Media Coach and founder of Prepare1, a company that works with businesses, individuals and non-profits. He is a former executive with a Fortune 50 company, and his national division did $1.3 Billion in sales annually.

Blair has written three e-books: Facebook for Business Made Easy, Facebook Pages for Business Made Easy, and WordPress Blog Setup Made Easy.

Blair also educates, trains entrepreneurs and business professionals how to amplify their brand, increase revenues, and raise more funds.

The Race is ON! – Get into the Game and WIN!