Social Media isn't your mother's media. Its unique environment fosters sharing on a whole other level - something that benefits both brands and fans alike. But as with every other industry, there are misconceptions that persist and hinder companies from achieving the best possible performance. Here, we focus on five common misguided beliefs about social sharing:
1 | My Social Activity Is Single-Faceted
There's only one layer to sharing: your direct audience. This is one of the most powerful myths which lays the foundation for the others included in this article.
There are many layers or "generations" of sharing that stem from your original post. Your page post is the 1st generation, and shares of shares, likes of shares and so on are multi-generational activity.
2 | Most of My Content Is Shared Via Original Post or Share Button
Many marketers not only believe that their social engagement is single-faceted, but that any sharing activity stems from their original posts or share buttons on their website.
While share buttons and re-posts are still very important, as much as 60% of shares occurs from users copying and pasting links (otherwise known as Dark Social).
3 | Most of My Revenue Comes From Users Who Directly Interact With My Post
Marketers want to be able to show that their content drives orders and ultimately, revenue. Social attribution is harder to track, which leads to the idea that revenue comes from 1st gen activity.
As much as 34% of revenue comes from multi-generational and Dark Social activity. Tracking this engagement is critical to learning which channels are most effective for sales.
4 | I'm Tracking 100% of My Social Activity Through My Current Tools
Many brands subscribe to a variety of tools, whether it be ad buying, or publishing platforms and believe that 100% of their activity is accounted for.
The vast majority of systems are limited to 1st generation activity, which means that your assessments and attribution of content to conversion is incomplete.
5 | Dark Social is hard to track/impossible to track
Marketers aware of Dark Social may feel as though tracking conversions from copy/paste activity is virtually impossible to track accurately.
There are in fact platforms that track this activity and can report on clicks and conversions from both multi-gen and Dark Social activity.
What are some misconceptions you've heard about social sharing? Email, post or tweet us!
Photo Credit: Social Sharing/shutterstock