As everyone knows, we live in a world full of social media platforms where people share literally everything about their lives. From their highs and lows to what they had for breakfast (and lunch, and dinner). Social media is on pretty much every tablet, laptop, desktop, and phone across the world. It is used by “influencers” and everyday people alike to connect with the world around them and be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Due to its reach and influence, a strong social media presence is imperative in today’s business world. Social media can be a great way to connect with your existing customers, find prospective customers, and engage in ways that were never possible a couple of decades ago (I guess I am aging myself). This can help form a brand identity, improve business awareness, promote goods and services, improve customer retention and so much more.

So how do you use social media to your full advantage? One important way to do this is by integrating your social platforms into your public marketing websites. You will want to create unified social media profiles, ensure that you keep all of your social profiles consistent, and create connections. Once you have the basics, you can integrate this into your website in so many different ways from simple links to QR codes, to videos and presentations, to news feeds.

Another great way to leverage social technology is to create “product” or “market specific” social channels to allow customers to reach you and get support, separately from selling to new customers. For example, if you have a platform that customers subscribe to, in addition to your knowledge base or ticketing system, create a social channel for “mycoolapp_support.” Promote this in the customer portal and help areas so that customers can reach the right team to get help, vs a prospect reaching the sales team. This can build a strong connection with existing customers, just be sure that you have it staffed well so that when customers ask questions or seek help, someone is there to respond quickly.

We know that it can all seem a bit overwhelming with the endless (and constantly changing) possibilities, but we are here to help. Let us guide you through all the ins and outs of integrating social tools into your platform and put you on the right path to gaining all of the advantages that social media has to offer you, your customers, and your business.