If you are in the digital world and/or haven’t been living under a rock you’ve probably heard of ShareThis. If not, you have certainly seen their omnipresent, green, “molecule-esque” icon that brilliantly sums up how their product works.
Among other things, ShareThis is an all-in-one widget that allows users to share content from the Web with others through e-mail, AIM, or text message. By utilizing ShareThis, a site can drive traffic, stimulate viral activity, and track the sharing of content.
ShareThis was recently recognized as the Fastest Growing Company in the Bay Area and ranked #35 on Forbes America’s Most Promising Companies List. Not to mention more than 2.5 million web sites and mobile apps use ShareThis solutions.
I spoke with Matt Wolfrom, VP of Corporate Communications and Marketing at ShareThis about some exclusive digital trends and consumer sharing insights for The Hub’s readers to learn from.
Q: Why is sharing so important these days?
A: Sharing is the connective thread of the social web, it is one of the most innate human behaviors and sharing online has become second nature to consumers. As such, it has opened new markets for publishers and given advertisers greater confidence in digital media.
Q: Okay, so why share via ShareThis?
A: We use large-scale social data to deliver breakthrough insights, audience building and advertising solutions across mobile and desktop environments. Every day millions of consumers use ShareThis to share content across multiple devices and more than 120+ social channels including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest — giving the company unrivaled visibility into online social behavior.
Q: Which social channels are the most popular for users to share content from the net?
A: Facebook still leads the pack among sharing channels, with 66% year to date growth in the amount of content shared, but we also saw Pinterest and LinkedIn surge. For example, if you look at sharing behavior among moms, Pinterest is nearly five times more popular for sharing content than Twitter.
Q: Let’s talk mobile devices, who’s winning the war in the handheld sharing arms race?
A: On the mobile side, we found that the iPhone is the most social device, which is incredibly important to consider as we continue to see a massive shift to mobile.
Q: Can you tell me a bit about how the ShareThis platform works?
A: Our trending content API can identify top shared content on publisher sites and determine what trending content is driving increases in traffic. We also provide our publishers with an industry first metric- Social Quality Index, giving them the opportunity to measure the social value of their content. This leads to content optimization, capturing the content that audiences are sharing and engaging with.
Q: Any techniques you have gleaned from clients/advertisers that always seem to be effective or the opposite?
A: I can think of three important things:
Seek out social intelligence: Sharing can help marketers and communications professionals shape their social strategies, but they need sophisticated social intelligence that delivers actionable insights across channels and platforms. Knowing where and how people share what interests them – beyond Facebook and Twitter – will lead to more meaningful connections. Understanding today’s nuanced consumer and taking action based on relevant insight leads to better engagement and, ultimately, better results.
Make real time marketing a reality: As we saw when Oreo tweeted its now famous response to the Super Bowl blackout in 2013, brands who are part of the social conversation authentically and immediately can have a lasting impact. While every event, news moment and viral video has the potential to become a national conversation, marketers can’t be expected to spend every second of every day preparing to react. With the technology to identify social trends as they happen, brands can not only react to trends in real-time, but also predict them before they even unfold.
Remember it’s a Multiscreen World: In 2013 ShareThis found that the mobile web is twice as social as the desktop, meaning consumers are nearly twice as likely to click and share content on their mobile devices. The strongest growth in sharing will be propelled by this shift to a multiscreen world, where desktop and mobile experiences blend together.
