Why Do People Share?

Before you dive in you must first understand one of the basic principals of Social Media: Why do people share?

Word of mouth and Social Media are more effective than traditional advertising. People trust word of mouth more. It’s also more targeted than traditional advertising. Plus it’s cost-effective, if you can get it to work.

It doesn't cost you anything to get people to talk about your brand. However, it requires you to understand why they are talking about some things rather than others.

Jonah Berger gives us the 6 STEPPS on why things catch on:

1. Social currency
2. Triggers
3. Emotion
4. Public
5. Practical value
6. Stories

The main points are:

Social Currency. LinkedIn applied social currency to their users.

LinkedIn sent their users an email that informed them they were one of the top profiles on their site. When people received this email, not only did they feel special, they shared this information with others.

As a marketer, one of the greatest ways to employ social currency is to make people feel like insiders. You need to make them feel like they are part of a special club or have some sort of status that nobody else has. Not only is it good for them, it’s good for the brand too.

Triggers. They are equally if not more important than social currency.

Take the Rebecca Black song, Friday, or Psy's Gangnum Style. Both have become of the most watched videos on YouTube. (Gangnum Style 1,729,149,285 and Friday 54,983,601) yet, both songs were mostly received badly.

The idea is that if it’s top of mind, it will be tip of tongue. The idea of a trigger can include sight, sound, smell or anything in our environment that will activate something else in our mind.

Stories. Stories are the currency of conversation. 

Stories provide a way to convey information in a narrative form that makes everyone lean in because they want to find out how the story ends. We think in terms of stories, not just chunks of information. It’s the standard way to communicate. The key is to have a certain type of story.  

Always keep in mind who your audience is and what will appeal to them. The information must act as a bridge between you and your clients, and breach the opening for conversation.

    

2013-ITWWW-Odette Nieuwoudt