At fMC 2012, Facebook’s first conference for marketers, Facebook global head of brand design Paul Adams presented one of the most important talks of the entire event. In the session, “What People Share and Why,” Adams suggested that people are not necessarily predisposed to this behavior. “If you look at likes, comments and shares, there are a lot more likes and comments,” Adams said. “This is because sharing isn’t natural. Talking is much more natural and brands should focus on talking: why we talk, how we talk, who we talk to, and what we talk about.”

Adams then outlined four main reasons why people share. They are: to make life easier, to build relationships, to help others, and to craft our identity. Below are examples of how brands use each of these to increase the sharing of their content, as well as metrics for how to accurately determine what share methods work best.

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Create Content That Makes People’s Lives Easier

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Brands need to understand why people talk. By doing so, it is much easier to create vibrant communities and conversations. The first reason people talk is to make life easier. For brands, that means creating content that makes something easier for their fans. – Why Fans Share and How Brands Can Capitalize On It by Michael Jaindl

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