If you look through your inbox, you’ll see that Share-With-Your-Network (SWYN) links are really starting to gain traction. After all, they are essentially Forward-to-a-Friend on crack. But how many times have you actually clicked on a button to share an email with all your Facebook friends?
I once shared an email about my favorite organic fruit and veggie delivery service because they were offering 10 extra credits (half the value of a weekly delivery!) to me and my friend(s) with any new delivery sign-ups.
But that’s it: I’ve “shared with my network” only once.
Please - don’t get me wrong. I’m super psyched about Bronto’s new Social Sharing feature coming out in the fall release. I think it’s a powerful tool and is designed to make SWYN links easier for marketers to use. However, the big question posed by many email marketing gurus is poignantly:
Ultimately, you have to ask yourself:
1. Does anyone care about the email you’re sending? Does your email have a broad appeal, compelling offer or entertainment/news value such that someone will post it on their Facebook page for all their friends and frenemies to see?
2. Can you reward sharing in some way? Can you offer a coupon, a credit (like my delivery service!), or elite status of some sort?
3. Are you offering sharing in the right place? Consider your audience and where they live in the social network arena. It might not be Facebook! Can you get more targeted?
Loren McDonald offers some additional considerations for SWYN links in this article, including telling readers how to use the share feature, tracking which messages are most shared, and testing your design, location and copy.
My colleague, Kelly Lorenz, also recently made a point that I hadn’t previously considered. Sharing your message in the social sphere can spread awesome news/offers like wildfire, but also share any misfires/negative feelings just as quickly. Test your messages thoroughly and get feedback from colleagues to mitigate any backlash risk.
At the end of the day, keeping your “shareworthiness” in mind could spur you to create more compelling emails overall and improve your marketing efforts in general, which is certainly for the best.
What do YOU think is shareworthy? What has been working for you so far or what do you plan on trying? Inquiring minds would love to know!
Kristen Gregory
Email Marketing Strategist at Bronto
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Kristen -
Great points about the SWYN buzz. I believe some email marketers are starting to release case studies which highlight their successes, but the “wins” are quite rare at this point.
To me, a shareworthy email is one that I read/scan and literally say, “cool” or “wow” or “Yes!” out loud. Unfortunately, I don’t see many emails out there that have this effect on me. Ha ha.
I wrote about this last month - link coming in 3…2…1: Are Your Emails Shareworthy?
I realize these are my (repeated) words, but I think they tell the story:
“Analyze what causes your subscribers to open (think: trust, name/brand recognition, compelling subject line), why they read (think: clear, relevant, clean copy), why they click-through (think: targeted call to action, compelling offer, or just something different), and why they share (think: “this is cool” or “my friend would appreciate this”).
I love that you are keeping this conversation going and fresh. Time will tell whether or not SWYN gains ROI-worthy steam.
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
Thanks DJ!
I actually linked to your article where I mention the term “shareworthiness.” I thought your point about wanting your emails to have that effect whether or not you had a special link in it made a lot of sense and I wanted to make sure highlight that.
The more you can stand out and offer something different, compelling or “right on target,” the better. And then if you throw in SWYN links and get more eyeballs and clicks - terrific!
Essentially, great email should be effective without SWYN. SWYN should be the cherry on top. And perhaps better than increasing your conversions/clicks with SWYN, would be inspiring increased email sign-ups so you could speak to those individuals directly as well. What do you think?
Keep up the great insights, DJ.
My favorite is when people promote their “social email”, which is “social” b/c it has a button in it that takes you to a page with 79 social networks.
If I have a button that says “organic” in my email, did I just invent a “new” feature called “organic email”?
Let’s flesh this idea out Kristen! Halfsies?
I completely agree with you, Alex!
In a way that reminds me of when people say “subject lines greater than 70 characters or less than 60 do best,” but in reality, you can write a really TERRIBLE long or short subject line.
What you do may really matter less than HOW you do it.
We could write up our own definitions of what would make a social email. I have some thoughts.
In any case, I don’t think putting SWYN links in an email inherently makes it “social email.”
Let me know if you want to chat further offline!
Son of a…Sorry Kristen - missed the link. Thanks for the shout-out.
Alex C: How about we go thirds? If so, count me in.
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
This is a great question. I’m seeing these SWYN features in emails, but the ways they are implemented make it seem the marketer is burying them in the footer, in fear the recipient won’t perform their desired response.
I feel a hybrid email and social marketer should include these links with context instead of just “SHARE .” And the important thing to me, to make things share-able, is to link to a landing page, not just the email itself.
Of course, this all depends on the needs and the interests of their subscribers. Test and measure results to determine the right combination.
~Joseph
community manager, Infusionsoft
Hi Joseph,
Thanks for writing! I agree with you that marketers need to educate readers on what SWYN links really mean and provide more context than “SHARE” at times.
I’m curious what you mean by having the SWYN link share a landing page instead of the email (its online version) itself…Do you have an example?
Thanks!