The first presenter at Day 2 of SMX Social Media Marketing was Alison Dempsey from Parenting Magazine/Parenting.com.  When her presentation title slide came up, it read “The Psychology of Sharing”… I was immediately reminded of an ANA Marketing webinar I attended back in September hosted by Brian Brett of the New York Times with the same title. 

During her presentation, Alison made mention of “according to a study”, so I wondered if it was the same one since she didn’t specify, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that it was indeed.  As soon as she started to go over the sharing personas, I pulled up my notes from that webinar and found the information was identical (which makes pulling this blog post together a lot easier!).  As Alison’s presentation was at a higher level, for this post, I’m going to rely on my notes from the webinar as they contain some of the more granular detail. 

Worth mentioning as an example of how she incorporated these tactics for Parenting.com is their Social E-Cards campaign.  I loved this example of how social marketing can be both cost effective and impactful; something as simple as creating and sharing images with an emotional connection and a funny slant can be all you need for your message to go viral.

And now, on to the notes… 

Why people share

1.       To bring valuable and entertaining content to the lives of those they care about

a.       94% carefully consider how the info they share will be useful to recipients

b.      49% say sharing allows them inform others of products they care about and potentially change opinions

2.       We share to define ourselves to others

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

b.      “I try to share only info that will reinforce the image I’d like to present: thoughtful, reasoned, kind, interested and passionate about certain things.”

3.       We share to grow, nourish our relationships with others

4.       We share for self-fulfillment

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

5.       We share to get the word out about causes (sometimes brands) we believe in

 

Common denominator: The relationships we have with one another

6 Sharing Personas

1.       Altruists: Tend to be female, driven by desire to help others and get the word out about causes they believe in.  Want others to know they’re thinking about others and care, they like to know that shared info was received and appreciated.  They’re careful about what they’re sharing and with whom, being 1st is not priority… FB is preferred method of sharing.

 

2.       Careerists: Well educated professionals who maintain a strong network of personal and professional contacts.  They like to bring people and content together in ways that get things done.  Networking is important, they like having the reputation of being someone who can connect you and get things done.  They inspire discussion and debate, engage with content shared with them, they like to add valuable content to move conversation along.  Low tolerance for sharing content that’s not valuable.  Serious about subject, tend to used Linked in and email the most.

 

3.       Hipsters: Youngest, most male group… young enough to have only known life in the info age.  Sharing content online is important part of their identity.  Love to start conversations, debates, they like to feel connected to the world.  Sharing is so important, they seek out content not so much because they want to know something, but to have more to share.  They want to connect, create new friendships… they like to be the first and get credit for it.  They prefer twitter and FB, least likely to share via email.

 

4.       Boomerangs: They share in search of reactions; it’s all about what comes back to them when they share.  They like to stir the pot, start a debate… love comments.  Validation is a big deal, makes them feel empowered… a negative response is better than none.  Older, more affluent and professional than hipsters, but also value being first. They share across FB, Twitter, email and blogs.

 

5.       Connectors: Predominantly female, share to stay connected.  Entertaining content is their favorite type to share, they enjoy it more when they share it.  It’s not just about distribution, it’s the experience of sharing… like things they can do together in real life, coupons for coffee, e.g.  Prefer email and FB.

 

6.       Selectives: A bit older, more traditional.  Share info they think will be of value, always have a specific person in mind, don’t usually share broadly across social networks.  Only share if they think recipient would not have been likely to find on their own.  They expect you to respond and take their advice/recommendation.  Tend to use email as primary method of sharing.

 

Segments were defined by:

·         Emotional motivations

·         Desired presentation of self

·         Role of sharing in life

·         Value of being first to share

 

Key guidelines to influence sharing

1.)    Appeal to consumer’s motivation to connect with each other, not just with your brand.  It’s not about relationship between brand and consumer,  but about relationship between consumer and other consumers.  Your message needs to be embedded in content they want to share.  Example: Nike’s “Make Yourself” campaign… social media buzz in July/August.  Great content people want to share, even if not Nike enthusiasts (great photography, athletics, famous female athletes). 

 

2.)    Trust is the cost of entry for getting shared.  Consumers not only have to trust you, they have to trust you enough to bring you and your content into the lives of people they care about… friends, family, colleagues.  They have to trust the source of the info they’re sharing.

 

3.)    Keep it simple… it will get shared and not muddled.  Your message needs to be straight forward, consumers need to understand without thinking too hard.  To be worthy of sharing, consumers have to believe the people who they share it with will also “get it”; no one will 2nd guess why they’re sharing.  Sharing means you’re ceding control of the message -- the more straight forward, the less muddled it’ll get.

 

4.)    Appeal to their sense of humor.  Humorous content is the most viral… people love to share info, they REALLY love to share funny stuff.  They enjoy it more when they share it and like to get credit (validation, self-fullfillment) for being the person to bring it into others’ lives.

 

5.)    Embrace a sense of urgency.  Stress the importance of immediate action… e.g. Groupon gives a small window of time to respond.  Convey the importance, offer a benefit for sharing quickly… things set aside are forgotten.

 

6.)    Getting content shared is just the beginning.  The sharing cycle: Get your content shared -> Listen to what they say -> Respond -> Get credit for responding -> Get shared again.  Example: Delta Assist program… they correspond directly with customers.  Consumers really like these things because there’s actually a human being listening and responding in real time.  People regularly tweet about how great it is that Delta listens and responds.

 

7.)    Email is still #1 way people share content online.  It’s the most personal method, makes sense as sharing is all about relationships.  Social media has short shelf life due to news feeds constantly pushing content down, posts are typically only seen by those who’re using that service at or around the time the post comes in… email is essentially guaranteed to be seen and highest likelihood to be responded to.

 

Do you see yourself and/or your target audience in any of the sharing personas?  What motivations do you think would be most relevant to your marketing efforts?  Are you going to use this data to inform your next social campaign?

Let us know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter.