Insights from 2015 shareability Today's Findings
  1. Content Shock. The volume of content is growing exponentially, and audiences cannot keep up. Across all industries, sharing of content is down by a whopping 50 percent since 2015, according to a recent BuzzSumo study. That both law and accounting firms have doubled their content volume since 2015, yet law shares have risen only 3 percent and accounting shares have dropped suggests that both industries are feeling the impact of content shock. Potential explanations for the disparity in performance are fleshed out below and in the full report.
  1. Content Automation. Last year both Twitter and Facebook began a crackdown on the use of machine-generated content. Accounting firms who were quicker to embrace this trend than their legal brethren, felt the impact more acutely.
  1. Dark Social. This refers to the growth in sharing and interaction that cannot be tracked, including the use of email as well as a range of messaging platforms (Snapchat, Slack, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat). It also includes “owned social” platforms such as Mighty Networks and industry-focused sharing platforms like Amino Apps. According to BuzzSumo, there is a shift taking place from social media to private media, and data suggests that private sharing in 2017 is twice as large as public sharing. Savvy firms should recognize this trend and experiment with new tools to capitalize on it.
  1. Flight to Quality. While overall the drop in shares across all industries might be sobering, BuzzSumo's report sees the change as a sign of maturity in content marketing. In addition, some highly credentialed and trusted publications—such as the Harvard Business Review and The Economist—have seen a spike in shares. Clearly, higher-quality content is being rewarded by social platforms as well as social users.
Takeaways full report Build Authority — Own Subtopics Before Others Do Get Ready, Dark Social Is Coming SEO Is Back in the Spotlight LinkedIn Is a Professional Services Powerhouse More Than Ever, It's Quality Over Quantity Download the full report here. Jamie Diaferia is CEO and Helen Bertelli is VP of Infinite Global, an award-winning communications and branding agency focused on helping professional services firms demonstrate their expertise to sophisticated audiences.