A report from AddThis found that Facebook and Twitter are the most frequently used platforms for content sharing. According to the study, 36.26 percent of all content shared on the web was sent through Facebook, while the platform’s Like feature accounted for an additional 16.7 percent of digital content buzz.
Twitter’s success brought it to third on AddThis’ rankings, registering 12.7 percent of content shares.
The research took place on January 9, 2012, collecting share data for a usual day. There were no major breaking new stories, so AddThis believes its data is a fairly good indicator of average sharing activity.
For social media marketing campaigns, AddThis’ research demonstrates the value of building a presence on both Facebook and Twitter to leverage the growing popularity of both platforms. Beyond social networks, email was also a moderately popular method for sharing content with 4.95 percent of all shares.
Email marketing campaigns that encourage prospects to forward articles to their friends or colleagues can help businesses spread the reach of their content. While this method was not included in AddThis’ research, Brafton reported that a separate study found social integration improved email clicks.
Brafton recently reported that companies using social media marketing but struggling to gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns will receive a lift from Google’s new social reports. While AddThis’ numbers show a clear strength of the channel in terms of content sharing, Google social reports will help businesses track how shared content impacts website traffic and conversions.
