Here at SmartWeb Canada, we specialize in digital marketing strategies and so social media integration plays a big part in that. Most of us are familiar with social media to one extent or another. For most of us, we use social media to keep up with friends and family. And for many users, keeping in touch with important members of their local community is also a priority or at least a viable curiosity.
For a small business, social media integration can spread brand awareness and foster community connectivity. Social media integration is the deliberate incorporation of social media accounts into the primary online environment.
While adding links to social media accounts is simple enough, maintaining a productive social media environment is easier said than done. Gaining a following can be a challenge, and keeping up with the demands of various social media platforms can be even more challenging.
And depending on your industry, it can be puzzling to figure out whether or not you should integrate social media into your online business strategy. This discussion will help you decide whether or not social media integration is the right move for your business.
Should You Integrate Social Media Into Your Online Business Strategy?
The short answer is yes. At the very least, posting on social media will give prospective customers another way to interact with you. That being said, inactive social media accounts can do more harm than good. We’ve all felt that weird pang when we visit a website, like what we see, and then find that their Instagram and Facebook haven’t had any new posts for years.
If You’re Going to Integrate Social Media, Update Regularly
If you’re going to have a social media account integrated with your online presence, you need to update it either regularly, or on a predictable schedule. Like an outdated website, a social media page with no new updates will offer no value to your audience. It will also make prospective customers wonder why you have integrated media that you do not update or contribute to.
Be Flexible With Your Social Media Integration Strategy
Social media platform updates can severely impact predetermined social media integration strategies overnight. This can be maddening for marketing teams who invest serious time and money into a promotional strategy that stretches across websites, email marketing, and Google Ads budgets.
And ever-changing algorithms and procedures at social media platforms can prohibit what becomes visible. In an effort to compete with TikTok, Instagram continuously modifies its algorithm to prioritize new, trending video content. For social media accounts that prioritized and delivered photo content, like artists, restaurants, and photographers, this cost them views, interactions, and revenue.
Integrate Social Media Mindfully Into Your Online Presence
For most small businesses, social media is a great way to bolster their online presence. When a prospective client takes to Google to search for a product or service, a well-designed website that integrates SEO will answer their query on the first page of Google. Take dentistry as an example. 95% of people find their dentist on the first and second page of Google.
When they click on the dental website that attracts them the most, they generally go straight to the contact and staff pages. What this tells us is that consumers care about who they will be interacting with and supporting with their business. In this case, having active social media accounts go a long way to building trust and showing the prospective client a bit more about the people who make up the business.
Connecting Your Website to the Social Media Sphere
For some influencers and businesses, social media is the centre of their online presence. But this certainly isn’t the rule. The ultimate goal for most businesses active on social media is to draw existing and potential customers to their main sources of marketing and income. For most, this is a business website with an online storefront, a contact form, or whatever call to action results in profit and conversions.
The most popular social media platforms used for marketing and promotion are:
- Youtube
- TikTok
This number is growing constantly, with TikTok being the most recent addition.
Here at SmartWeb Canada, we help you integrate social media into your website and digital marketing strategy for your small business.
Get in touch with us anytime to discuss how we can help you implement your digital marketing strategy today!
604-648-3232
sales@smartwebcanada.com
