Denver Social Media: Content Sharing - What, How, and Why?

Annie DiMatteo - 7.8.2010 12:25 PM

What is Content Sharing
The sharing of all content across social media; general information, pictures, audio and video content.  “ShareThis” is one such tool that allows for the sharing of social content.  Now when you see a blog post or a piece of content that is enabled with “ShareThis”, and you can choose to share the content on the media of your choice.  Choose to share it with your Facebook friends by posting it on your Facebook wall, or via your Twitter account, Delicious, text message, Stumbleupon, etc.  Whatever social media you are a part of, you can share the content on via ShareThis functionality.

Why Share Content
If you have a blog, this functionality will allow your content to be shared across the social world, via just one single widget.  All of this sharing can be done with the installation of just one button.  (prior to ShareThis, you would have had to install a separate button for each social media marketing outlet)

Top 5 Tips for Content Sharing
While it is fun to have the ability to share content with your social media, there are some strategic guidelines you should utilize in order to be a better “sharer".

1. Share More Than Content.  People will get bored with random content that has no relevancy or ties to them.  Instead, share content, and then write about the content you have shared – how does it benefit your social networks…how can they use the information?
2. Share with intention. You should know your audience, and know your purpose of sharing the content on your social media.  Assuming your ultimate goal of social networking is to sell your product or service, make sure the content you are sharing coincides with this.  Keep in mind what it is they are interested in with respect to this industry.  What are your customers looking for – this should be what you give to them.
3. Utilize RSS feeds – to find relevant content worth sharing.  You probably don’t have time to scour the Internet for hours a day, finding relevant content to share with your social networks.  Instead, set up an RSS reader that will pull all your feeds into one place in real-time.  You can choose to receive feeds directly related to your industry or topic.  You are then receiving a lot of relevant content, and you are receiving it in one place at one time.  This makes browsing and finding good content much easier and faster.
4. Analyze your social networks.  Take a look at your entire “social networking” picture.  What is missing from this picture?  Are you utilizing Facebook, but not Twitter or an eNewsletter?  While you absolutely do not need to be a member of every social network in the world, it is good to utilize a good group of them.  If you are actively participating in six relevant social networking sites rather than three, you are twice as likely to have your targeted audience receive this content.
5. Use additional content sharing tools to make sharing across multiple platforms faster and easier.  If you want to post a photo to several of your social accounts, try using Posterous.  Posterous allows you to post content quickly using your email.  You can send virtually anything (photos, audio, video, links, documents, etc.) and you can have it post to virtually anywhere (Fllickr, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Hulu, even your blog.)  You can also schedule all of your posts/tweets etc. with Posterous (Hootesuite is another great tool that allows for scheduling tweets in advance.)  By utilizing this tool, you no longer have to log on every time you want to share content, you can simply schedule it to be shared at any designated time in the future.

What Now?
Analyze your own current social sharing levels.  Are you actively engaged and sharing relevant content across multiple mediums?  If not, it’s time to catch up!  This is a trend that is on the incline, and will not be going away anytime soon.  For a free consultation on your social sharing strategy, contact Webolutions at 303-300-2640.
 

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