According to a 2024 HubSpot survey, social media and websites are two of today’s top digital marketing channels. But while most brands use social media to drive traffic to their websites, many overlook the value of doing the opposite — using a website to send traffic to social accounts.
This approach to social media strategy can increase engagement and brand loyalty while streamlining marketing efforts. Here’s how to make it part of your web strategy.
Identify Your Goals for Social Media Integration
Start by considering what you hope to achieve. For example, you might want more followers on Instagram. If so, build your integration strategy around that concept. That could mean highlighting recent posts and giving website visitors a link they can click to immediately follow your branded account.
Or maybe you’re hoping to increase brand loyalty so customers continue choosing your business over competitors. A strategy for that could be offering a small discount to customers who follow or engage with your posts.
The key point here is that your goals should always inform your strategy. Following that rule will give you the highest probability of social media success.
Popular Integration Options and When To Use Them
There are multiple ways to make social media part of your website. These common strategies are a good place to start.
Embedded Feeds
Embedded social media feeds highlight your company’s latest posts on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn. They keep your site’s content fresh and show visitors the kind of value you offer on popular social platforms. The goal is for users to recognize that value and follow your accounts to see more of it.
An easy way to achieve this is by using a social media embed widget, such as Elfsight. With Elfsight, you can create an easily customizable social media feed that can be embedded on any website.
Share Buttons and Social Icons
Businesses also add share buttons and social icons to blog posts. When someone reads a post and finds it valuable, this gives them an easy way to share it with their network. It could help you get more traction on whatever platforms you want to grow.
Social Login Options
If your site requires customers to log in, consider letting them do so with social accounts. This often involves fewer clicks than traditional registrations, which could increase new user sign-ups.
Plus, you can make following your brand’s accounts part of the process. When a user logs in with a social account, include a pop-up window asking if they’d like to follow your brand on that platform. You could even incentivize it with a small discount for first-time customers.
Best Practices for Smooth Social Integration
However you decide to add social to your website, there are a few best practices every brand should follow.
Consistency in Branding
To start, verify that your branding is consistent across your website and social accounts. That means using the same logo and color scheme. Also, use consistent language across both platforms. For example, if you have a traditional, professional-sounding website, you wouldn’t want to be completely informal on your social accounts.
You want this consistency because it creates a unified brand image. Each channel makes the other more familiar to your target audience. For instance, if a user sees your logo on their social feed, they’ll be more familiar with it the next time they visit your site.
Over time, these kinds of interactions add up and create customer loyalty by creating a consistent brand experience. The more often a user sees your branding, the likelier they are to associate your industry with your company. Stats show consumers are more likely to buy from brands they recognize — and that it takes six or seven impressions to get there.
Mobile Optimization
People access the internet on mobile devices more than computers nowadays – and this is particularly true when it comes to social media. Your digital marketing tactics should reflect that. In this context, that means optimizing social integrations for mobile users.
Whether you use embedded feeds or social logins, make sure they display well on mobile devices. Otherwise, your web strategy won’t have the same level of impact on this large segment of potential customers.
Privacy Considerations
Nearly 70% of consumers worldwide are concerned about data privacy. That’s led to legislation like the European Union’s GDPR. It limits how companies can retarget European internet users across different platforms — like your website and social media pages.
The general rule is that users must opt into the kind of tracking that many EU brands did automatically before the GDPR went into effect. However, the specific rules your company has to follow can vary based on the region it operates in.
The key takeaway here is that you probably want to allow users to opt into tracking across platforms. Even if you’re not legally required to do so, it’s a way to show your company recognizes and respects the value of data privacy.
Leveraging Analytics To Track Integration Success
Once you implement an integration strategy, analytics will tell you whether it’s working.
For example, you could track click-through rates for your embedded social feed. This would tell you the percentage of users who clicked on the feed after seeing it. You could also track the average time a user spends on a page or how often they convert to your desired outcome.
The bottom line is that you need to track metrics like these to see if your integration strategy is working. A strategy that was working extremely well initially can decline in effectiveness over time. Analytics show you when that starts happening so you can make changes.
Real-World Examples of Effective Integration
Ferrari’s website is a real-world example of integrating a social media feed with your website. Users scroll down, see recent posts from Ferrari’s Instagram, and are encouraged to subscribe.
The City University of London is another great example. It highlights recent posts from students to encourage social tagging. This helps the school establish a presence on sites like Instagram without having to post excessively from university accounts.
Fire Up Your Web Strategy Faster With Pyromaniac Digital
Social media integration makes your website a more effective tool for building brand loyalty. It connects the prongs of your digital marketing strategy so they each accomplish more. But this can be a lot of work for a growing business with a small marketing team.
Pyromaniac Digital simplifies things. We handle the technical parts of digital marketing so marketers like you can stay focused on what you do best.
Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help.
