New company promises ‘no cheesy ads’ to drive brand messages into social sphere
If people are already talking about their favourite brand online, why not pay them for it?
That’s the idea behind Sharetize, a new online platform that pays individuals to share messages and ads from companies on social networks.
After registering with Sharetize.com‘s program (currently in beta) and sharing their interests, consumers can browse campaigns, find one they like and post it to their social networks. The messaging is provided by the advertiser, who can offer up to 20 different variations of ad copy for each campaign; individuals choose the “voice” that sounds like their own words while allowing the advertiser control over their messaging.
“We’re thinking about the consumer as a business,” said Jamie Thompson, who is heading up sales for Sharetize and is also president of out-of-home company Adapt Media. “They love [a] product, they want to share that information, why not reward the people who already buy and love your product directly?”
For each consumer participant, there is a limit of two messages per day, per social network. “We don’t want people sitting there and sharing all day long just so they get paid,” said Thompson. “We want people to really think consciously about what it is they’re sharing.”
But a potentially contentious issue is that there is no indication the sender is getting paid for the post, an aspect that some digital agency execs balked at.
“I personally hope that it doesn’t work in its current format, as the non-disclosure aspect goes against the ethos of social media – to be open, honest and transparent,” said Ed Lee, director of social media at Radar DDB. “I would rather see them adopt a hashtag, for Twitter at least, to show some sort of disclosure.”
He added that PayPerPost was one of the first companies to roll out this model for bloggers “and at first did not require disclosure, but quickly changed its policy when social media purists started to draw attention to the unethical nature of the service.”
Adrian Capobianco, president of Toronto-based digital shop Quizative, agreed. “If there’s not something like @sharetize or via Sharetize, for me that’s actually more of a problem. If it’s not explicit that you’re being paid to do this, you’re kind of going against an unspoken contract that you have in social networks. There’s an understanding that you’re not going to shill a bunch of products… that it’s going to be more genuine, more conversational, more real.”
Sharetize founder James Faulkner insisted the company has taken steps to make sure the posts it produces are “a genuine share.” Sharetize “has a pure intention that you’re interested in that brand and you want to share it with your friends,” he said. “That’s the best we can do and that’s what our focus is.”
He said there is a “self-policing” element to the system: if you spam friends with messages, they’re going to defriend you, and if you send things that have no relevance, “you’re not going to earn any money from Sharetize because no one is going to click on that stuff.”
Just how much money can a user expect to make? While the system is customizable to each advertiser, a typical example is 40 cents to post and 25 cents per subsequent click, said Faulkner. It can vary depending on the number/quality of followers a person has. Users also have the option of donating their earnings to charities or cause-marketing initiatives for companies involved with the site.
What do you think of Sharetize’s model? Post your thoughts in our comment section.
To see more of Ed Lee’s thoughts on Sharetize, including why he thinks it might be a success, visit his blog.
