A simple concept really – so simple that it is something that can be missed. Everyone is excited about social because of the value that it brings to promotion and customer service. Companies want to shout to the world that they are involved in Social networks and will prominently display Follow links on their websites.
You’ve succeeded in the hard work of getting them to come to your site, why throw this away. To decrease the bounce rate and increase conversions on your site, you want to use social to bring people to your website, not to use social on your websites to draw people away.
This can be done by observing a few simple tactics.
Make sure that the primary Call-to-Action on landing pages has prominence
For every landing page on your site, you should define a primary Call-to-Action that takes the customer either deeper into your site or prompts a direct engagement with your company.
It’s important to define that primary Call-to-Action and give it prominence on the page. Having too many actionable links can be confusing to customers. To help highlight the primary Call to Action, make sure any other links are smaller or lower on the page.
The only page where your social networks should be part of the primary Call-to-Action is actually the About page. Other pages should relegate your Social network links to be part of the footer, or possibly a small sub-header if you feel your business actually revolves around your social presence. Another simple tactic is to have these links open a new window, so that the window to your webpage remains open.
Provide Video, Images, Slides and other Assets on your site
Make sure that assets are stored on your webpage /server, rather than creating a link on your site that references the social instance.
Often you will see websites that include a link or frame that references a video on YouTube or a Slide presentation on Slide Share. A click on these links leads customers off to the social network, where they can be distracted by the next recommended video or slide and they may never find their way back to looking deeper into your site.
It’s a common mistake to make because doing the reverse means duplicating effort. By all means you want to publish on these networks to draw people from the network to your site. Always publish first on your site, and then additionally upload or ‘share’ the assets to social networks.
Use social to listen and respond to your customer base
Finally, use social for what it’s meant to be, to engage with customers. (I also include all potential customers, in the term customer).
This can be done by actively listening on social networks to what people are saying about your products, and being able to respond to customer queries and questions. It’s using social to learn about trends in the customer ecosystem that can benefit (or harm) your product offering.
Social can help keep your company top of mind with customers. And as mentioned above it’s a good place to share out content already on your site to help draw people in.
