The metric marketers should be prioritising: Shareability
There is no method of more cost-effective and authentic brand promotion with stronger credibility and authenticity than one; a personal recommendation from a happy customer.
And not only are customers more likely to do this when they have a positive experience, but a memorable one. One they want to actively share.
In the UK, 59% of consumers are most likely to buy a product if it’s recommended to them by family and friends. But not too far away from this, 39% would buy one from something recommended or shared on TikTok (Duel, 2024). Regardless of platform, testimonials have power. People want recommendations from others, they want to engage in sharing things they like, and fellow consumers are listening.
Hence an often-overlooked marketing strategy is rising; brands need to identify and harness channels and methods to make themselves shareable.
Marketing driven success through sharing
Creating brand experiences and moments that your customers and consumers want to share with others is a catalyst to creating brand advocates. And as Verity Hurd, founder of Duel and the Brand Advocacy podcast, shared at The Drum Predictions 2025; ‘advocacy is more than a buzzword – it’s measurable, it is strategy to drive business growth’. And many brands are already capturing their advocates, targeting shareability, in order create measurability.
Spotify’s most successful annual campaign is arguably their annual #Wrapped. Yet this is not just because of customer appreciation and excitement from receiving their individual report. It is because of the anticipation of sharing; seeing the musical insight of their peers.
From surprise at their top songs (and the memories that created them) to boasting that they are in the top 0.01% of fans of their favourite artist, the campaign instigates conversation both online and in real life. It’s been so popular other brands now create their own iterations – from Tesco to Monzo – in order to place themselves in pop culture discourse. And the key theme why the strategies win – people want to share it. You cannot hide from the data, so it feels like a real insight into the person sharing; what makes it so powerful is the authenticity.
Similarly to the digital desire to share playlists, creating shareability in-store strengthens incentive to visit. Glossier are arguably the pioneers, with their stores designed to put the Instagram moment at heart; tills are replaced with wall-to-wall mirrors, selfie spots and photo opportunities. Other brands are following suit, from Flannels exhibition space/store hybrid to celebrate new artists and technology, to Gymshark combining its flagship with a fitness space where they host classes and events. Creating additional experiences in-store beyond transaction generates excitement that consumers will seek to share with others – both digitally and socially.
Future functions that facilitate
Shareability needs to be seen as a new measure of success by marketers - not only for brand awareness but also as an ROI driver. Brands need to active strategies that take the power of a IRL recommendation, and place it in a measurable context; expanding the options for customers to do this in a physical (hence trackable) way.
The future strategy for brands is to make sharing the experience with others as easy as possible.
Netflix’s ‘Moments’ feature lets viewers pause what they’re watching, record and save a clip to their account and then share it on their social accounts or messaging apps. The technology makes the in-the-room conversation when watching shareable, as well as streamlining the practice of ‘meme’ sharing that is already prevalent with Gen Z.
Similarly, Runna (the world’s most-used running app) have just launched ‘Share Your Run’ cards, which are premade templates for users to share their progress and achievements. Running is a prime example of a boom that has taken off due to its evolution into a social exercise, with a 59% increase in running club participation last year (Strava, 2024). Runna is subsequently supporting users in making this participation driver smoother, strengthening their relationship with customers through making sharing easier.
In-store retailers are also demonstrating an acknowledgement of consumer desire to share – Trader Joe’s ‘What’s trending’ point-of-sale materials capitalize on social media trends of ‘Grocery Hauls’ and ‘Trying New-in Snacks’. Even mundane, everyday tasks such as grocery shopping and errands are becoming acts of self-expression through sharing—brands have an opportunity to trigger and remind consumers of this
Alongside physical strategies and products that increase and track shareability, brands also must lead with the intention of creating these viral and cultural moments themselves too. Pop-up activations can create spectacles and talking-points, like Severance’ Perspex box microcosm in Grand Central Station – not publicized, but generating traction through spread on social media. Cadbury’s recent limited-edition packaging triggered an online meme, in which consumers created their own version of the un-evenly divided chocolate, to fit into their niche.
From search terms and TikTok hits, to technology and strategy updates that streamline, brands who consider shareability in their campaigns are reaping the rewards, as they create a more connected and impassioned cohort of advocates.
Undeniably effective – which brands will win?
Differentiating brand advocacy and shareability may be debatable – they often overlap. But what is harder to dispute is their undeniable effectiveness, and never more so than in the digital era.
As the ultimate quick-fire interaction, sharing requires mere seconds of action from your customer—sometimes even less. With future generations growing up with an ingrained technology-first mindset, these small windows of missed or gained opportunity that will make all the difference. And creating content and solutions that captures and converts consumer urges to share is key.