Intergration; The act or process of making whole or entire

How does integration of social media into your company/brand website work?

You may believe putting a cool Twitter, Facebook, or RSS icon on your website, like I have on this one (look above), is an example of social media integration. After all, that IS using social media on your website. But as I learned recently, that is not the technical term of social media integration.

Some social media strategists say that’s a way of playing right into the hands of Biz Stone of Twitter and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. In fact, by placing those links on your company/brand or personal website, you are driving traffic to them and away from you. It would be nice if Facebook and Twitter would put links on their home pages to my website. Don’t you wish they’d do that for your site?

There is a better way to efficiently integrate social media with your website. For instance, you own a popular restaurant. People are tweeting about you all the time. If using WordPress, simply place a twitter widget such as TweetBlender in your sidebar so website visitors can see your mentions. You can also place the widget multiple times in a footer or header section and use separate hashtags or search terms to fit your products i.e. lasagna, pizza, spaghetti or wine. In the video below, Jeremiah Owyang shows some examples. I’ve used the concept on a test WordPress install and I love the idea.

This isn’t original. Some may even consider it backward and it may not work with every client in their social media strategy. Individuals have been using twitter widgets in WordPress for a long time. Companies like Skittles, have attempted to integrate Twitter head on where their site was only a Twitter timeline. That may not have worked the greatest, but I can now see how Twitter timelines on a website are a benefit and no longer just another trendy thing to do.

Check out the video below hosted by Jeremiah Owyang, Tore Steen, and Kris Duggan. It’s very insightful and I’d recommend anyone interested in creating a social media strategy for their own company/brand/website or for others, to take notes while watching.

What are your experiences with integrating social media into your website? Have you seen other examples than what are mentioned in the video below? Share your thoughts so other readers can see what works and what doesn’t. Thanks!