Monarch is a powerful social sharing plugin developed by Elegant Themes, designed to help website owners increase social engagement and drive more traffic to their content. This knowledge base provides extensive insights into using Monarch effectively, covering key features, best practices for social sharing, and strategies for optimizing user engagement.

1. Understanding Monarch:

   Monarch is a versatile WordPress plugin that empowers website owners to integrate customizable social sharing buttons and widgets, making it easy for users to share content on various social media platforms.

2. Installing and Activating Monarch:

   • Purchase an Elegant Themes membership and download the Monarch plugin.
   • Install and activate the plugin through your WordPress dashboard.

3. Configuring Basic Settings:

   • Customize general settings, such as social networks to display, button styles, and placement options, to align with your branding and content offerings.

4. Choosing the Right Display Types:

   • Select the optimal display type for social sharing buttons, including floating sidebar, inline, pop-up, and fly-in, based on your website's layout and user behavior.

5. Customizing Button Styles and Colors:

   • Personalize the appearance of social sharing buttons with various design options, including shapes, sizes, colors, and hover effects.

6. Integrating Follow Buttons:

   • Add follow buttons to encourage users to connect with your social media profiles, helping you build a stronger online presence.

7. Configuring Social Share Counts:

   • Enable or disable share counts to display the popularity of your content and encourage social proof.

8. Integrating Share Counts API:

   • Connect Monarch with popular social networks or third-party services to retrieve accurate share counts and display them on your website.

9. Utilizing Display Rules:

   • Define specific rules and conditions for when and where social sharing buttons appear, ensuring they are strategically placed for maximum impact.

10. Implementing On-Demand Social Sharing:

    • Enable on-demand social sharing for specific content elements, allowing users to share images, quotes, or text snippets with ease.

11. Tracking Social Sharing Metrics:

    • Use built-in analytics to monitor social sharing activity, track popular content, and gain insights into user behavior.

12. Integrating UTM Parameters:

    • Add UTM parameters to shared links for better tracking and analysis of social media traffic in tools like Google Analytics.

13. Optimizing for Mobile Responsiveness:

    • Ensure that social sharing buttons are mobile-friendly and seamlessly integrate with your website's responsive design.

14. Maximizing Engagement with Social Pop-ups:

    • Design eye-catching pop-ups to encourage users to share your content or subscribe to your mailing list, increasing user engagement.

15. Staying Informed with Elegant Themes Resources:

    • Take advantage of Elegant Themes' extensive documentation, tutorials, and community forums to stay updated on the latest social sharing strategies and best practices.

Conclusion: Monarch by Elegant Themes is a powerful tool that empowers website owners to boost social engagement and drive more traffic to their content. By following this comprehensive guide, you can effectively leverage Monarch to create a seamless and engaging social sharing experience on your website. Regularly explore new features and stay updated on social media trends to continually enhance user engagement and increase the reach of your content.