Crossposted from ActionSprout.com
You’ve heard the advertising for the lottery right? “If you don’t play you can’t win!” Well the same is true for ActionSprout actions. If you post something on your page without an action, then you’re not going to get any signers for your actions or new supporters into your database.

Several weeks ago The Harry Potter Alliance page shared a meme that took the internet by storm. With over 76,000 shares and 150,000 likes, the meme advocated for a raise in the minimum wage. Last week ActionSprout’s friends over at OURTIME.org shared the same meme but they didn’t put an ActionSprout action on it until it had reached over 5,000 shares. Just like with Harry Potter Alliance, OURTIME.org had a great response so far, with over 14,000 shares. As I’m writing this they have a total of 3,846 engagements captured (out of the total 5,984 likes, 344 comments and 449 action takers (folk that opted in for email communication). Can you imagine what would have happened if there had been an action link from the start?!

Take a look at Congressman Mike Honda’s campaign page here. One of the great things his team has done is include an action link on just about every single Facebook post. It’s always a good practice to develop “evergreen” actions that you can use regardless of what article or meme you’re sharing. Think about the mission of your organization and what issues are the most important to you. Then when you develop content or you find a good meme or article using the inspire tab, you can put an action link on it to quickly and easily, optimizing your completed actions.

Don’t forget: if you don’t have a link on the content you’re sharing you can’t win the lottery if your content goes viral!”