A tactic we’ve been using to launch Please Share is to simply reconnect with former coworkers and tell them about our new service.
As it turns out, chatting with former colleagues is also a great way to start the new year. We’ve not only been able to reestablish many old friendships and learned how people managed to get through 2020, but we’ve also had a chance to pitch Please Share.
Interestingly, several dozen conversations have yielded a few recurring themes of how companies are currently leveraging employees to share content. We found that companies tend to use one of the following methods.
- They send emails to staff with content to share on social media channels
- They post messages in internal chat tools like Slack or Teams (not using Please Share though)
- They share a document (Word, Google Doc) with pre-approved content to share
- And in a few cases, they do not submit requests to employees to share content
Sans the few companies not encouraging employees to share content, each of these approaches require employees to proactively complete a number of steps. For instance, they must…
- Open the communication (email or doc)
- Copy the content
- Open a browser tab
- Go to the social media website
- Paste content into a field
- Post the update
- And, if applicable, repeat these steps for another network/channel
The Problem With These Content Sharing Processes
We’re not going to argue that any of these steps are particularly complicated. They’re not. However, these processes yield few results and become rather monotonous to team members. Ultimately, human psychology plays a role here.
Those who are responsible for creating content within an organization have a vested interest in getting their content distributed as broadly as possible. The company does too.
But when it comes to motivating people to take actions that benefit the company, understanding the human element is essential. People have busy schedules. They’re pulled in many different directions and asked to do much more with fewer resources. Oh, and they have things going on outside of work too – friends, families, hobbies, etc. All of these elements factor into how much bandwidth we each have to do something that’s outside of our direct responsibilities. Which brings us back to Please Share.
We Make Sharing Content Super Easy (& Fast)
With the Please Share app for Slack, content managers or marketers essentially “tee-up” the content they want their coworkers to share. The requests to share content appear in a tool that team members use every day (Slack) and can be quickly posted to Twitter or LinkedIn without leaving the app.
Once a team member’s social media account has been connected to Please Share (a one-time step), their process is as follows:
- See the post on Slack
- Select the Post to Twitter (or LinkedIn) button
- Review the post and click the Post button
Whether using Slack’s desktop, web app or mobile app, running between meetings, taking a call, commuting via the train or bus, etc., sharing updates using Please Share can be done in less than 5 seconds and because it’s so easy, doesn’t require very much mental focus. It doesn’t get more streamlined and efficient!
If you’re looking for a way to maximize the number of company messages distributed by your team members, you need to make the process as simple as possible. And right now, there’s no easier, faster or fun way to do this than by using Please Share!