HIRE ME TO SPEAK
HIRE ME TO SPEAK

Authors of Return on a Share Report do not really value sharing

I write about strategies to turn fans into customers and customers into fans. I also share ways to use real-time strategies to spread ideas, influence minds, and build business.

Social Media  |  Worst Practices  |  Case Studies  |  Brand Journalism

Return on shareA new research report from ShareThis, the Paley Center for Media, and Beresford Research calculates dollar value and influence of sharing on purchase decisions.

Interestingly, it shows something many of us have been saying for years: Online sharing is nearly equivalent to in-person recommendations.

You can download the complete infographic from which the image on the right is taken The Return on a Share with no registration required.

The Return on a Share Report

The study quantifies the monetary value of online recommendations. The report shows that online content, such as recommendations shared between friends, now influences consumer purchases more than price and brand and can motivate buyers to spend 9.5% more for a product. Interesting stuff indeed.

You can download the complete The Return on a Share Report here. Sadly, it requires registration, so I have not downloaded it for fear of being added to unwanted email lists.

Don’t squeeze people who want to share!!!

Squeeze formToo bad ShareThis is not learning from their own report. People are reluctant to share content that requires a registration.

I find it ridiculous that this report, which talks about the value of sharing, actively discourages sharing by putting a massive gate on the content.

This report has value as a commodity to be shared and many more will do so without being squeezed. My analysis has shown that a report like this with no registration will generate 20x to 50x more downloads than one that requires registration.

Which is more valuable: 50 downloads and the resulting shares or one email address?

It seems the producers of the report are missing an opportunity to make it free with no registration to showcase the value of sharing of their own report.

More on this riff in my 2009 blog post Say NO to squeezing your buyers.