The majority of savvy businesses today recognize the importance of sharing on social media for growth. When you consider that approximately 35 percent of millennials say that social media is one of their preferred avenues for communicating with businesses, it only makes sense that it will continue to grow. That said, many businesses don’t know how to use social media to engage audiences to help boost profits.
One of the easiest ways to get started is by sharing articles, videos and memes on social media. You don’t have to write and produce the content; you just have to find it and share it in a way that adds value to your social media connections.
What Is Sharing?
“Sharing” on social media is the practice of sharing content from a website or a blog on a social media platform, and it has transformed the media industry. Social sharing builds consumer loyalty by demonstrating your knowledge and authority (even without having to write a blog), generates high exposure of your brand and can even improve your organic search engine results. Most importantly, sharing will improve a brand’s reach (the more people engage with your posts, the more they and others will see them), increasing the likelihood of gaining new connections and followers of your brand.
The good news is that, when it’s done effectively, you don’t have to spend hours writing content that drives more traffic. For example, when I share articles on behalf of my clients, I display a banner while the customer is reading that article, directing them back to the client’s website. This helps my clients get more leads, build trust and close sales.
How and What Do You Share on Social Media?
The average social media marketer maintains five different accounts, but that’s not necessarily what all businesses should do. Generally, businesses should share their content on the social sites that their target audience seems to prefer. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, etc., spend some time researching the demographics of the different social platforms to make this important decision.
Sharing is fairly easy and varies depending on whether you’re posting and sharing or just sharing. It also depends on whether you’re sharing a video or a headline with a link, or if you’re adding photos. For a basic share on Facebook, click the “Share” link on the website blog post and choose a share option from the dropdown menu. Then, you can choose where you want to share, whether it’s on your own timeline, in a group, on a friend’s timeline or in a private message. Instructions are subject to change, so always check out the social media site’s help pages for up-to-date assistance. Alternatively, simply paste the website link into your Facebook post and add your commentary.
Knowing What to Share
We’re constantly bombarded with a lot of material to read, watch, see and contemplate every day. The average American actually consumes approximately 34 gigabytes of content and 100,000 words of information in a single day. This indicates that the biggest challenge of productive sharing is to be certain that what you post and share is better than what your competitors do. It’s also important to consider whether or not your network appreciates it, hopefully going so far as being excited about it.
Best Times/Days to Share
Thanks to the increase of paid social media advertising, it’s no surprise that achieving organic reach has grown to be more challenging for brands. That said, you can still get the most out of your organic posts if you share them at optimum times, which tends to vary by platform. For instance, the best time to share on Facebook is between 1 and 4 p.m. on any day; on LinkedIn, Tuesday through Thursday before or after work; on Pinterest, Saturday mornings; on Twitter, Mondays through Thursdays; and on Google+, between 9 and 10 a.m. any day. The best date or timing for shares isn’t set in stone so it’s a good idea to test it out yourself, posting different times of the day, an hour or two apart, and paying close attention to how many clicks each post and share gets.
The best time to share on social media is when your customers are on it. Experiment and don’t be afraid to publish. Over time, you’ll find the perfect cadence for your business.
Tracie Rollins is the chief content officer for Socially Posted, a division of The Rollins Advantage, a Phoenix-based content marketing agency. To learn more about our low-cost, high-value social media services, visit us online.
