“Ah! Vegas was awesome! We drank 24/7 , we partied non-stop and we hit every strip bar there. Loose women everywhere, we actually had ten of them back to the hotel one night…… one of them brought a goat .But enough about me Granny, how are you doing?”. Sometimes sharing isn’t always the best idea.
The ability to be able to share content and conversation easily across the web is at the core of the success of social media. Remember you used to look forward to the email from your funny friend with the funny photos? I bet you rarely get one of those any more. People tend to share these things on their Facebook Page now or via Twitter. The problem is that you want to share different things with different people. It happens in real life. The type of jokes you tell and share with lifelong friends are usually different from what you share with new acquaintances or work friends. There needs to be context and relevance.
When we look at the gaming industry, the little sharing that has been done, has been done badly. If I share that I just won a hand with a straight flush, how many of my friends actually want to hear that? And is that what they want to hear? Is there not a better story to tell than that? The key to understanding any facet of social media marketing is to understand the consumer and what they want. Once you see what people want to hear and how they want to hear it, you can tailor your messaging and the same is true for the share. Who actually wants to hear about an interaction on your site or your content? Why do they want to hear it? How do they want to hear it?
That insight will help you firstly understand if you can or need to share. If no one wants to hear it, you are share spamming and this will only cheapen your product and dilute your brand advocacy. If it is right that you share, then you will now know what this share looks like. The last piece of the jigsaw is, why should the user share? You need to make sure there is incentive there for the user. Why should I share? What is in it for me? The better you answer those questions, the more people you will get sharing. Think of the consumer journey rather than the reach of your message. Would you rather 10 relevant people get a message that they engage with or 100 people get spam with your brand attached?
Sharing tools are incredibly potent. When used well, they will be the best marketing tool you ever use. When used badly they create a massively negative experience……just ask my granny.
