Guest Post by Travis Steffen
Please note that this only works with WordPress.org blogs and not WordPress.com blogs like this one.
Let’s say you’re a site owner, and you want their content shared. When it doesn’t happen, you get desperate, and you resort to various begging tactics.
Like this post? Share it with your friends!
How many times have you seen this very statement? Okay – now how many times have you actually shared?
Exactly.
However, with the right strategy, getting people to share your content is easier than you think - and it all starts with learning…
Why People Share
NEWS FLASH: Users don’t share your content because they love you and want you to succeed (unless that user is your mother).
Users share your content because of the benefit it gives THEM.
Your users get benefits from your content by reading it, watching it, or consuming it in some way – but what benefits do they get from sharing it?
When it happens, it’s because they somehow get something out of the deal.
The ONLY 2 Reasons Users Share:
- Social Currency - If somebody shares a funny cat video on Facebook, they’re not doing it because they love the video. They’re doing it because they want to make their friends laugh - and they want the social capital that comes with it.
- Social Incentives - Many new and successful sites promise free or advanced access to their new platform, some sort of a free giveaway, or a discount or deal in exchange for one or more shares from their new users. This sort of incentivization helps spread your content - even if you don’t satisfy their need for social currency.
However, when it comes to #2 above, most sites will either
- Ignore It - Most sites either completely ignore social incentives, or they’ll group it into their paid marketing campaigns and just pay for clicks. This is great - but these are two separate things. If done correctly, you can do both incredibly well and leave your competition in the dust.
- Build Custom Solutions - A select few smart sites will build their own social incentives into their platform. They’ll lock certain content behind a popup that prompts users to like or share, they’ll promise free or advanced access to their content in exchange for a share, etc. and although it can be time-consuming and expensive, it’s effective if done correctly.
The Solution - UP
Introducing the world’s first turnkey viral incentivization option - UP (http://www.upshare.co/partners). UP takes care of all your social incentives through its gamified, points-driven system.
Here’s how it works:
- It starts with our responsive social tools and features, giving your users a lightening-fast, well-designed way to share.
- Your visitors can sign up for UP with one click without ever leaving your site by clicking the UP icon.
- From then on, every time they share content from you or any other UP partner, they get points they can cash in for cool stuff in our store.
- Users then see all the content their friends are sharing across all their networks, and can reshare it on any of their own networks with one click.
UP doesn’t incentivize the share itself, as doing so encourages users to spam their networks. UP incentivizes the INTERACTION on the share – so points are given by spreading your content to people who actually want to see it.
It’s also 100% free for both users and partners, and has been proven to make your site more viral by giving your users another reason for sharing in the form of social incentives.
Click here to put UP on your site in 30 seconds >>
As long as you take care of making your content valuable, the user will get both social currency and social incentives – and you’ll get more traffic.
And at the end of the day, that’s all any of us really want, right?