5 Ways To Encourage Customers To Share Your Brand’s Content

By Kristina Dolan, Spendsetter

Content is everywhere. Consumers today are being bombarded from all angles by YouTube videos, Tweets, Facebook posts, and Pins — it’s unavoidable. The creation of content is a highly important part of any marketing plan because of the growing amount of consumer activity on digital channels. However, in order for your content to be effective, it needs to stand out from the surplus of content your audience is seeing on a daily basis. One of the best ways to make sure your brand’s content is being seen is to encourage your own fans and customers to share relevant content to their own friends, family and connections.

Integrating social media and mobile tactics into your marketing plan is a no-brainer, considering that is where the majority of consumers spend a lot of their time. According to research from Flurry, 280 million people worldwide are “mobile addicts” who launch applications on their devices 60 times or more per day on average. Whether it is at home, on a bus or during their lunch break, your audience is constantly connected. To ensure your fans are sharing content on your behalf, you need to give them a compelling reason to do so.

Advocacy marketing is becoming one of the most talked about new forms of marketing for brands with passionate and active audiences. It is a method that not only discovers and nurtures your most valuable advocates, but also builds a truly meaningful relationship that encourages them to create word-of-mouth recommendations. Advocates are passionate fans of your brand who want to tell your story, and advocacy marketing provides them incentives, beyond discounts and coupons, to do so.

Here are 5 ways to encourage fans and customers to share your brand’s content:

1. Offer them exclusive ‘first-look’ content they’ll want to see.

Fans of any brand are particularly interested in feeling as though they’re a part of something exclusive. A great way to encourage them to start talking about your brand is to offer them early access to articles, videos, products, or other VIP-type content. The chance to see or participate in something before anyone else will incentivize them to jump on board and start sharing.

2. Let your fans vote on or pick the reward.

One of the best ways to get anyone involved in content sharing is to offer them exactly what they want. But how do you know what that is? Ask them! If you have a variety of rewards you can offer your advocates, let them vote on which rewards they’d prefer to receive. This way, everyone wins.

3. Prove to fans that their opinions count.

Brand advocates like to feel like their opinions matter, and in return they love brands that give value to those opinions. Ask your fans how they feel about a new product, store opening, or social event, then recognize them for giving their input. The more you interact with them, the more they’ll feel appreciated and want to share more of your content in the future.

4. Appeal to their benevolence.

Many people have the desire to do good things for others, especially if it’s made easy. For example, if a non-profit organization proposes to give $1 to their cause for every share or retweet, chances are most fans will participate. Give your audience the chance to get involved in a way that doesn’t require them to jump through hoops.

5. Create entertaining and shareable content.

This seems like a no-brainer, right? If you really want your advocates to share your brand’s content, it needs to be worth their time. Brand advocates will share content for rewards points, but more importantly, they’ll share it on their social media platforms if they truly want others to see it because it’s interesting. Images, videos and other visually appealing content will likely receive more engagement. Give them a reason to share your content by creating something that is one-of-a-kind.

An advocacy marketing program is meant to help your brand spread its message through passionate fans who love to share their opinions. In order for your brand to have a strong and positive presence, you need to make sure you are encouraging your advocates to do their part to spread your content across their social networks. If you’ve been looking to do just this, then an advocacy marketing program may be just the solution you need.