Who isn’t on social media these days?
Data by Pew Research Center showed that nearly 65 percent of American adults now use some type of social networking. Facebook alone has 1.04 billion daily active users.
If you haven’t considered integrating social media into your web platform yet, you’re starting from behind. Plenty of businesses out there have already used social media integration to enhance their customer outreach goals. Let’s discuss how your particular business can leverage this trend to reach more eyes than ever before:
1. Know Your Market
The first step of integrating social media into your platform is knowing which platforms to use. Oh sure, you’ll probably want to hit the classics like Facebook and Google+, but the wide range of social sites available makes some market segmentation necessary. Is your site tailored toward business professionals? Including LinkedIn would be smart.
What about sites designed for youth and female users? Pinterest and Instagram are what you need. Avoid unnecessary clutter on your page by avoiding APIs your user base doesn’t need. The best way to reach your users is to go where they already are.
2. Integrate Social Sharing Buttons
Sharing is caring on social media. If we see something we like, we want our friends to see it, too. This fact has contributed strongly to the success of social websites. Though originally designed as ways to connect us to each other, social platforms have become powerful hubs for content, links, and data aggregation.
Needless to say, your business should get in on the action. The easiest way to bridge the gap between your site and social platforms are those handy little social sharing buttons, typically found on the edges or corners of each page. They’re a common part of most pages’ UI these days, but don’t underestimate these little guys. Blogging guru Jeff Bullas saw a 55 percent increase in site traffic by adding a single “retweet” button to his page.
3. Open a Dialogue
Much of the value brought by social media integration can bring to a business involves the personal connections that can be made…putting a face on a brand, as it were. While buttons are a good start, social media is all about communication. We love to share, but maybe not as much as we love having our own personal soapbox for whatever cause strikes our fancy. We’re driven by our desire to reach out and make connections with others.
To that end, open a dialogue with your users. Include comment boxes on pages that may generate buzz and don’t be afraid to proactively reach out. Solicit feedback from users that post, and provide easy routes to take communication to social platforms. Allowing users to log in through social accounts before posting comments is an easy way to build this connection. This ease of communication and platform integration can do wonders for improving the transition between your brand page and social media.
Social Development
Social media is constantly evolving, and businesses looking to find value from social platforms must evolve along with it. Social media integration allows you to make use of useful tools that bring more eyes to your content. Know who you’re targeting, include straightforward social outreach tools, and make the bridge between your social pages and brand pages as seamless as possible.