Since Facebook implemented the “Share” option beneath a post in the news feed, there have been many viral images flying through users’ newsfeeds.
This additional exposure is a direct result of users actively “Sharing” posts with their friends.
The Share button is ultimately Facebook’s manual implementation of the viral effect.
When a user Shares a post within Facebook it begins a viral adventure. The Share link takes a post from one user’s feed and immediately seeds it into the “Sharer’s” feed for all of their friends to see.
This breathes new life into the post (more specifically increases Post Lifetime), as it now has an opportunity to be Shared once again in new viewer’s news feeds. This is an exponential effect taking place, all caused by the extremely valuable Share action.
The Data Behind The Share
EdgeRank Checker found that a post with at least one Share (on average) resulted in 4.5x additional Clicks than a post with zero Shares. This is because the post gathers additional impressions in the news feed, which results in more Clicks. The more Shares a brand can leverage from their content, the more success they will find from Facebook.
Also found in the study, Wednesday had the best Shares/Fans ratio of any day of the week. It is difficult to determine if this is a trend or an indicator that Facebook users tend to Share more midweek. It should be noted every weekday, other than Friday, exceeded the weekend’s average Shares/Fans ratio. It seems to imply that Facebook users, do in fact, Share more frequently during the traditional work week (with less activity on Fridays).
EdgeRank Checker analyzed a random sampling of 10,000+ Facebook Pages. Over 250,000 posts were analyzed over the month of October (2011) examining a variety of metrics. The focus of the analysis was centered around Shares and Clicks. Page sizes ranged from small local brands to world recognized brands.
Create Content To Be Shared
The value of a Share is monumental.
To truly create a viral experience with content, the Facebook marketer must encourage fans to utilize the Share option.
The best way to encourage fans to Share is by creating content that fans actually want to share with their family and friends. For marketers that are able to accomplish this feat, the rewards of the Share action will be immense.