Is My Content Being Shared?
Given all your hard work developing and publishing your web content and blog posts, you might be asking yourself, "How many times has my blog post (or web content) been shared?".
Using marketing automation tools like Hubspot, you can obviously see the various reports showing how many views occurred, which prospect has viewed the page, etc., but what about shares? First, how is "social sharing" defined? According to the Free Dictionary, social sharing is defined as "a direct marketing technique in which (you) persuade internet users to forward (your) publicity material in e-mails." This definition can be expanded in the educational context so as to encourage sharing and receiving of feedback. Thus, one of the goals of social sharing in education is to encourage users (students, faculty, alumni) to connect with each other and network using the shared materials as the common connection theme.
So, how many times has your content been shared? Now you can find out! Take a look at this free web-based tool ... http://linktally.com/ .
It is easy to use this tool. Just enter the URL you are interested in checking to see if it was share. For example, select ... http:business.wayne.edu ... now you can see the shares that have occurred! The tool counts the number of times the url was shared across the four major social network platforms. The tool examines Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn.
So, for this simple example, you can see that the link to the Wayne State University School of Business Administration home page was shared 34 times.
You now can use this information to determine where you should be trying to share content. Or, you may use the tool to test whether placing "Follow Me" or "Share" icons on your page actually makes a difference.
Better yet, consider enrolling in ISM 7505: Inbound Information Technology!!
References:
1. How Many Social Shares Did That Get? http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34210/How-Many-Social-Shares-Did-That-Get-FREE-TOOL.aspx
2. LinkTally website. http://linktally.com/
3. Hubspot. http://www.hubspot.com/
4. Google Analytics. http://www.google.com/analytics/
5. Social Sharing Services. http://e-language.wikispaces.com/social-sharing