We have been writing recently, on Softway’s blog, about the presence and impact of social networks in our lives. Most of all, we incentivise a healthier use of these media, because one thing is certain: they are here to stay! And we might argue about their inner workings, they are going to continue to be a great way to grow your brand and expand your presence among consumers.

Although it is important to understand that no social network is the same, as such, your presence should not be the same everywhere. You should start by defining the goal for each network. You might want to increase your brand awareness, you might want to attract visitors to your article or improve product sales. In either case and as we have had the opportunity to write about previously, your goal should be to bring users to your content, in particular, to your website.

For instance, Twitter is famous for its short and direct content. If your goal is to attract visitors to a blog post such as this one, then you might publish small excerpts as individual tweets as to convince users to read the full article on your website. This approach is common nowadays amongst news corporations.

Instagram, because of its focus on visual content, is a good platform to advertise products. There are several ways to integrate Instagram with digital stores, allowing users to access the product on your website directly. This method has proven effective in increasing sales.

Facebook, due to its mass use and user diversity, is a good way to increase brand recognition. It might also be a good way to gather customer testimonials and reviews and display them to their friends. But be aware that website users coming in from Facebook do not always spend a lot of time or interact on your website.

Either way, across all social media, a user's attention span is short and highly coveted by other companies. Content should always manage to capture users' curiosity and attention, convincing them to click to your website. For a quick practical example, let us imagine we own a small hotel. To attract users in these challenging times we decide to create a discount. A Facebook post might use a “50% off your stay” as the headline. But users might still want to know the conditions and details of the offer. So that post should redirect users to a specific page on your website with all the information and a call-to-action on the end of it. This way, after following through on the ad, they will have all the information available, increasing retention and conversion.

This integration between your social content and your website helps to relate professionalism for your brand and winning clients over.