If you’re like most business owners or marketers, you use social media to stay in touch with your target audience. When you consider that 3.96 billion people use social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, it’s not hard to see the appeal of this strategy.
In the early days of digital marketing, social media and on-site engagement required two distinct approaches. Now, things are different. These strategies go hand-in-hand. As a result, we are able to build rapport with visitors and turn casual consumers into loyal customers using both platforms.
Today, our goal is to show you how you can get more engagement on your social media channels from your website.
Ready? Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Incentivize subscriptions
First, we have to stress the importance of incentivizing subscriptions. Consumers want to engage with businesses that provide unmatched value. If you’re not immediately offering something worthwhile, most people will not stick around to see what makes your brand superior.
Luckily, you can create offers on your website to encourage users to follow your social channels, which makes it easier to build rapport over time. For instance, if you want more people to subscribe to your YouTube channel, you could run a promotion where all of your new YouTube followers get a 30% discount on their first order.
If someone is on the fence about buying your product, this incentive could be the thing they need to complete their order and follow your channel. Simultaneously, subscribers will get more exposure to your brand as you create new content. As you release new videos and posts, subscribers will come back to check out to see what you have to say, which drives future sales.
We also recommend asking your existing audience to join your social channels the next time they visit your website. You can choose to run a similar promotion that includes a discount for all purchases, or you could present them with a lead magnet.
Show your feeds on-site
We’ve noticed that many brands have decided to add their social media feeds to their website’s sidebar. Instead of asking users to click a link to see what people think about your company, they can look at your website’s sidebar.
Not only does this tactic keep visitors on your site engaged, but it also shows them what they stand to gain by following your various social profiles. Imagine your Facebook account is full of shared posts where other users are talking about the benefits they’ve found with your product.
When a first-time visitor sees that your product or service is helping customers, they are experiencing social proof. Essentially, social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people are more likely to make a purchase if they see others enjoying the same product.
Imagine positive social interactions as reviews for your company. If people say good things, new users will feel inclined to trust your brand, even if this is their first time hearing about your product. You can bet that the people who eventually become customers will circle back around and follow you across your active social media accounts.
Create a Landing Page for your giveaway
If you use social media to reach your audience, there’s a good chance you’ve hosted an online giveaway. Consumers love the opportunity to win something, and you can quickly grow your following by creating distinct entry rules, such as allowing users to get extra chances to win by sharing your giveaway.
A staggering 59% of people use social media for shopping inspiration. So, it’s easy to see why this strategy is so popular among high-profile businesses. People would rather try a product for free before committing to a full-fledged purchase.
The problem with giveaways is it’s not always easy to communicate news of your event to website visitors. You can avoid this problem by creating a landing page for your online contest.
You don’t have to go all out either. As long as your landing page that shows users what they can win, as well as the available entry methods, is a great start. Now, people who only spend time on your website can see what kind of activities you host on your social media accounts.
We also suggest including links to your social media profiles so users can quickly get to your page and enter the giveaway before it ends.
Build a helpful Community
Finally, we want to talk about getting more social media engagement through community-building. People are no longer interested in one-time shopping experiences. Instead, users want long-term experiences with plenty of opportunities for community engagement.
There are several ways you can build helpful communities on social media and merge these benefits with your on-site marketing. For example, you could create a Facebook community group where like-minded people in your industry get together to talk to each other and your brand representatives about their pain points, goals, and helpful tips.
The key is to take what you learn during these sessions and carry them to your on-site marketing. Social media is one of the best places to uncover information about your audience. Studies show that 76% of consumers are willing to talk to helpful brands on various social sites. So, if you notice that most of your audience on social media struggles with specific aspects of your industry, you can create content that resolves this issue that ends up on your website.
Don’t forget to link to questions from the group within your article. As readers are browsing through your blog post, something a community member said might resonate with a problem they’re facing. This realization could lead to the reader navigating to your social media group and becoming a member.
Final thoughts
As you can see, there are several ways to get more social media engagement with your website. We suggest taking the time to understand your audience and build an aligned marketing strategy that will benefit users regardless of how they discover your brand.
