Social media integration into your marketing strategy: How to do it right

In today's competitive business landscape, the importance of engaging customers on social media can't be stressed enough. By incorporating social media into your marketing mix, you can drive customer engagement and satisfaction and witness a significant bump in revenue. 

Here's a quick guide that will give you a complete rundown of how social media can be integrated into your marketing strategy.

What is social media integration?

Social media integration is the use of social media channels to augment your marketing efforts.

Since billions of people use social media platforms, integrating social media into your digital marketing strategies will be beneficial in the long run. As you do so, your brand's personality and values will shine through when you reach out to potential customers, helping you engage your customers effectively.

Here’s the best part: Social media integration not only streamlines your marketing efforts but also helps you gather insights on consumer behaviors and interests so you can better understand your audience and meet their needs. 

Social media integration can also help you scale your business. You can attract new customers while retaining the existing ones and turning them into brand advocates, leading to more sales and revenue.

Why is social media integration important? 

Social media has become a key element in any business’s marketing plans. It allows your brand to connect one-on-one with your audience and receive authentic feedback. Plus, it serves as a forum for your customers to share their brand experiences with their network.  

Here are a few more reasons why social media integration in your brand’s marketing strategy is essential:

1. Increased brand visibility

According to recent studies, 55% of individuals rely on social media platforms to gather information about brands. Hence, it becomes vital to enhance your brand's visibility. 

For example, Nike has an impressive 302 million followers on Instagram alone, and the number keeps growing by the day. This massive online presence has enabled Nike to expand its reach to a larger consumer base.

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2. Enhanced customer engagement 

By incorporating social media into your marketing strategies, more avenues for customer engagement will open up. You'll also be able to engage directly with your target audiences, thereby creating a sense of community.

For instance, Apple Inc. effectively uses social media platforms to interact with its customers. It shares updates on product releases or events to keep its customers informed and engaged. It also actively addresses customer inquiries while also engaging in open conversations with its audience.  

This approach strengthens the bond between the company and its customers, ultimately resulting in the loyal fan base that it has today.

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3. Targeted ad options 

Targeting a specific audience by using advanced social media advertising features is highly effective. 

Facebook Ads or X (formerly Twitter) Ads are great examples of targeted ad options. These options allow you to select your target audience based on customer behavior, interests and demographics. You can also skip unwanted options and customize your marketing campaign to ensure it reaches the right people.

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4. Access to valuable analytics 

As mentioned earlier, social media integration can help you gain valuable insights into your customers' behavior and preferences. And you can use this data to fine-tune your marketing strategies for better outcomes. 

Platforms like Instagram Insights or LinkedIn Analytics can provide information on the demographics of your followers. They can also provide information on the best-performing posts and the optimal posting times.

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5. Amplified content distribution 

Integrating social media into your marketing campaigns strategically increases brand awareness. You can easily share your content on multiple social media platforms and gain exposure to new audiences within a short time frame. 

For instance, a company can share a blog post regarding its products or services across different social media channels. This can help expand the reach of the content piece since each platform provides multiple opportunities for audience engagement.  

So, by sharing your content on multiple social media platforms, you can increase your engagement rate at a much faster pace when compared to relying on just a single social media platform. 

Read More: Building a better Social Suite: 12 features that fuel your enterprise-wide social media strategy

6. Explore cross-platform solutions 

Social media management tools allow you to manage multiple platforms from a single dashboard. This streamlines effort, saves time and ensures consistent messaging across different platforms since you can conveniently use a single dashboard to handle all these tasks. 

You can effortlessly maintain a flow of messages and updates across multiple platforms using a single dashboard. This makes it easier to stay organized with your posts and ensure a consistent brand experience for your audience. 

Deep Dive: 8 best practices to ace your social media marketing

How to integrate social media into your marketing strategy

You can successfully incorporate social media into your overall marketing strategy by using the below methods: 

Social media integration into your website 

Integration of social media into your website can significantly boost your online presence and traffic. 

Here are a few ways you can integrate social media into your website:

1. Social login plugins: Social login plugins on your website can make it simpler for visitors to sign in. This enhances user experience and motivates them to revisit your website in the future.
2. Social share buttons: This functionality enables users to easily share your brand content on their social media platforms. This ensures a wider audience reach and increased web traffic.
3. Social live feeds: This feature enables your website visitors to stay informed on the news and updates related to your brand.
4. Social media wall: It allows you to display content generated by your social media followers on your website. This boosts user engagement and offers insights into people's perceptions of your brand.
5. Social media review widget: This allows you to display reviews and ratings directly from social media platforms. It also provides insights into an individual's experiences with your brand.

Social media integration into your emails

Incorporating social media into your emails can enhance the effectiveness and reach of your email marketing campaigns. Here are a few established ways to integrate social media into your emails: 

Promote your social profiles: You can include social media icons or links in the footer section of your emails, allowing your customers to easily connect with you on different social media accounts. This strategy helps broaden the reach of your campaigns, thereby amplifying the impact of your message.

Newsletter signup tab: Including a section for newsletter signups in your emails can help you capture leads and expand your mailing list. This enables you to send personalized emails (with links to your social media profiles) to individuals who have shown interest in your offerings, ultimately enhancing user interaction and improving conversion.

Examples of social media integration done right 

Below are a few examples of companies that have successfully integrated social media into their marketing strategy: 

Social login option

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One of the better examples of social media integration is the social login option used by Sprinklr.  

The social login option helps users to log in to a website with their existing social media accounts instead of creating a new account to log in, simplifying the user’s experience.  

You can follow these best practices when using the social login option on your website:

• Use popular social media networks to ensure that your social login options are well utilized
• Place your social login options on the login page and registration page so that users can easily access them
• Use the correct format of the social login options

Social media QR codes

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Coca-Cola ran a successful marketing campaign with the integration of social media QR codes on its products. The dynamic QR code directs customers to a web page that links and connects all of Coca-Cola’s social media channels. This option makes it easy for customers to interact with the brand quickly.  

Some best practices to follow when using social media QR codes for marketing campaigns are:

• Place the QR code in a prominent position to grab the attention of potential customers
• The QR code should be the right size and high in quality
• Test the QR code to ensure it works properly and that it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices
• Write clear instructions on how to scan the QR code with a mobile device
• Link your QR code to something that you want your audience to know about. It could be a discount coupon, product details or even an upcoming special event 

Hashtag campaigns on social media

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The Lay’s #DoUsAFlavor campaign is a great example of a successful hashtag campaign. It generated quite a buzz for the brand’s new product launch. By encouraging audience participation through social media voting, Lay’s successfully engaged its customers. 

By using hashtags in your marketing efforts, you too can significantly boost the engagement of your brand and foster a sense of community.  

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when crafting your hashtag campaign:

• Start by creating a hashtag that is unique and memorable
• It should be short enough to fit into posts yet recognizable
• Research to make sure it’s not already in use as you don’t want to confuse your audience
• Once the hashtag is created, promote it across channels and encourage customers to use it

Final thoughts 

Social media integration is a great way to fuel a brand’s marketing campaigns. Most businesses these days rely on it to achieve long-term success and stay competitive in the market. 

So, take advantage of social media integration to connect with your audience and drive your business growth like never before. 

Do you want to see how effective social media integration can be for your business?  

We encourage you to start your free trial of Sprinklr Social to experience the power of social media for yourself. You can also connect with us to learn more about our product.