Why You Should Forward This to Someone You Know

Think of your next piece of content and ask yourself which one of these behaviors would you like the reader / viewer to do:

• Nothing
• Talk about it to someone else
• Limited interaction: 1 click (like, thumbs up)
• Significant interaction: Multiple click (share, redistribute)
• Considered interaction: Creative (comment, write review)
• Sign up for your newsletter
• Buy something

Make the ask

The data tells us that if you suggest a behavior at the end of a piece of content that people appreciated, they are more likely to do what you ask. 

The thing is - you can only suggest one behavior - try two or more and the likelihood that the recipient will do anything reduces.

One size doesn’t fit all

As with all content marketing - the more targeted and specific you can be the better.

“Got friends on Facebook who would benefit from reading this?  Use the share link below and post it on your timeline - they’ll thank you for it later!”

“I’m focused on building my presence on Twitter, if you tweet and you think your followers would enjoy this article use this click to tweet link to easily send it to them.”

“If you’re watching this on YouTube please give us a quick thumbs up - the button's just down there - if you’re watching on the website - the thumb is up here on the top left!  Thanks!”

It takes time and resource to produce good content, it makes sense to put a little effort into making it as easy as possible for people to share it.

Specific call to action

If you have someone working for you who writes your content - take a moment to forward this to them and the next time you chat, have a discussion about crafting action and platform specific calls to action.  you can use the button right here:

---

Written while listening to: depressing music

Image credit: Like by Luca Sartori on Flickr