Nowadays, you can rarely visit a brand website without being given some form of encouragement to visit their social media channels. 

Whether we’re talking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or even a YouTube channel, companies of all sizes are often hellbent on signposting you towards their other online activities.

But is there a method to their persistence? Here are five reasons why you should consider integrating social media into your website. 

Capitalise on the growth of e-commerce

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect our daily lives, and while many shops are now able to return face-to-face selling, there is no denying the vast opportunities provided by online selling. 

According to recent figures released by Statista, global retail e-commerce traffic stood at 22 billion monthly visits during the height of lockdown (June 2020). If your brand has an online shop or auction page, placing social share plugins on each product page could be an excellent way of generating further conversation. And remember – greater awareness often leads to increased revenue.

Develop a community

Not everyone who visits your website will be a regular user. In fact, there is a good chance of them seeing your content for the very first time. With this in mind, it is crucial that first-time users are given a way to easily stay abreast of the latest organisational activity.

According to website management experts Sweor, the average user spends less than six seconds looking at a website’s main homepage. As soon as they enter your site, give them the option to join your online community. They could become users for life!

Your home of everything

Do you have a social media strategy in place? Perhaps that strategy involves placing different types of content on different platforms? Not everything you produce can adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach. 

Maybe you like to keep your Instagram visual, LinkedIn professional and Twitter content-rich. By giving website users the ability to either view your social media feeds in-site or click a link to view each platform elsewhere, your organisation has the ability to hit all demographics in one fell swoop.

Keeping it slick

I’m sure you’ve heard the old adage – images can make or break a website. That is also true of social media integration, especially if you are considering showcasing your social presence in some kind of tiled mosaic.

Images bring your products and services to life. They are the lifeblood of your operations, so let social media integrations tell a story on your site. Visual representation is everything when you’re looking to develop an online community.

Build trust

Do you want people to buy into what is being offered? The best way to do that is by showcasing others who followed a similar path. 

Social media posts and retweets offer a source of authenticity and trust between brand and beneficiary. User-generated content can act as a visual (and often written) testimonial for your brand, so make sure they’re easily accessible for potential customers to browse.