The Facebook Send Button: What it Means to You
Facebook has launched the Send button, which includes some provisions that will have an immediate impact on website owners and the content they produce.
To start, the Send button allows Facebook users to send a Facebook post to their friends and groups. But, as with the Like button, it also enables publishers to install the Send button on their own sites so that a blog post, product or other piece of content can be shared. Most important, the Send button allows email sharing outside of Facebook -- so users can enter email addresses (even to non-Facebook users) and send the content anywhere. The image below is taken from a Wall Street Journal post after clicking the Send button.
Besides the obvious advantage of sending a story via email and Facebook simultaneously, any "sends" are also added to a Page's Like total; now calculated by adding Likes, shares, comments and inbox messages containing a URL. This, of course, has an overall impact on a brand's Facebook presence. In all, it has become paramount to get your content "sent" via the Facebook Send button. Let's look at some ways to do that.
Write very strong headlines. Not to be confused with keyword-heavy headlines traditionally used for SEO, craft headlines that grab interest, make someone think or laugh, or otherwise compel them to share the content. Most content management systems allow for customizing the content's URL, so keywords can be effectively used there without changing the consumer-facing headline.- Put the most important information as near the top of the content as possible. Like the headline, you want to grab interest immediately to induce a "send". Like always, remember your audience so that your first few lines of content speaks their language. When sharing content via Facebook, by default the first few lines of content will usually appear to the recipient before they click through. Therefore, it is critical to convey the content's value immediately. Using Open Graph meta tags, publishers can specify what is shown for the title, image, and description.
- Embed the Send button at the top of every post, product page, video or any other piece of content. It's no secret that the Internet has resulted in short attention spans. Make the button immediately visible before a user scrolls down, reads half of your post then abandons the page. It's all the better if you can incorporate the button into a sticky sidebar so that it stays on the page even as a user scrolls.
- Using CSS, consider embedding the Send button in the content itself. After reading a few paragraphs or flipping through a few photos, the user might be compelled to share the content. Embedding the Send button in the middle of content could act like a "friendly reminder" to share.
- Use images and video. More often than any other types of content, video and photos go viral and get shared. Be sure to include all types in your content mix.
Website owners and users have a new Facebook toy. Only, this is not about fun and games but about driving interaction, branding and conversions through the largest single collection of Internet users on the planet. Use it.
Get the Facebook Send button code.
