Our Online Dialogue partner and social media expert Maurice Beerthuyzen has for Marketingfacts wrote an article on the proper use of social buttons.

Social media buttons are impossible to imagine a website without these days. Of course, an item is quickly shared via social media, so why not use these buttons? Yet social media buttons are often misused, leaving success behind. In this article some simple tips to increase the success of your social media buttons.

Why add social buttons to your corporate site?

Many Web sites already use the sharing and following options. Yet the implementation often leaves much to be desired. Every website manager is busy, so a few social media buttons are quickly placed at the bottom of the website template. They probably don't look at it, let alone measure it. At the same time, we spend a lot of time on an SEO/SEA strategy. After all, we all want to be easily findable. Social media buttons and the ability to share content are precisely an important part of your SEO strategy.

In fact, using social media on your website has beneficial effects on your search engine rankings. After all, by enabling link sharing, you are working directly on your linkability. The more you are linked to, the better you will be found.

You have to ask yourself what the underlying conversion strategy is. Do you want to make your main domain more valuable in Google? Then refer all share options to your home page. Especially with the Facebook share options, you can easily manipulate this. People think they are liking a specific product, but meanwhile your like contributes to the main page.

You can additionally choose to offer a share option per product or service that links to these products. Chances are then you will be found on very specific topics.

Before there is linkability, however, the buttons must be clicked. Even though it seems dead simple: a techie puts up a button and you're done. Yet there are a number of things you need to take into account - and which, remarkably, go wrong at a lot of companies.

1. The text

Pay attention to the texts you include when someone clicks a share button. Of course, you can make the texts as convincing as you want. Unfortunately, we often don't. Here is an example of how you can share your tie ( or any other product) at HEMA via Twitter:

Has the user been considered here? As a user, do I want to say this to my network?

• In any case, use persuasive text. For example: I am considering purchasing this tie. To do or not to do?
• For the url, of course, use a url shortener. You'd rather not bother your customer with the above campaign code. The URL as in the above example will often be modified by Twitter in its t.co-url when posted on Twitter (unless less than 19 characters), but the average customer won't realize that. Why not use the option www.hema.nl/blauwestropdas or something similar offered? Or else something along the lines of he.ma/tie (A country extension as your own url shortener?).

WalMart has understood the above well. They provide their shareable messages with inviting text:

2. Form

Pay attention to how you offer the buttons. Just a Twitter logo with no accompanying text, what does that say? Can I share information or follow you here? What happens when I click on the logo? That can sometimes be confusing. See the example here at Interpolis. They offer the same buttons on a page, but one button is a share option and the other is a ‘follow’ button.

If possible, also indicate whether the link opens a new page. This way the user will not be surprised. Also place accompanying text. I like to know what happens when I click a button.

The Interpolis page, part of a press release. True, tooltips are used, but the question is whether the user always sees them.

3. The placement

Offering social media buttons haphazardly everywhere makes no sense. First, think carefully about when it makes sense for people to share content. Do they do so on the standard product page? Or are only the news and videos exciting enough?

For example, it is useful to offer your link to your YouTube account around your commercials. Visitors, if they are enthusiastic about your commercial, will certainly subscribe to the announcement of a new video. Centraal Beheer has understood this well with fun.centralmanagement.com:

However, they immediately succumb to the next point.

4. The right social media accounts

I can get my sneak preview or other commercial only share via Hyves. Now I'm not exactly familiar with Centraal Beheer's target audience, but why was Hyves explicitly chosen here? Surely you would expect that Facebook and Twitter would have at least been added to this?

Perhaps the results of the Centraal Beheer Hyves page are stunning and then I have said nothing. Do come right to the next point and that is that you have to measuring and testing.

5. Measure your results

Check what the results are after introducing your social media buttons. You'll notice soon enough which topics are worth forwarding according to your visitors.

6. On which pages?

Using social media buttons is a form of conversion. Therefore, don't offer the buttons in an environment where your primary conversion is key. Don't place a social media button prominently in the order funnel when a customer is purchasing a product, and don't place a social media button prominently when a customer signs up for a newsletter. Want customers to share their purchase? Then offer the buttons during the orientation process (“What do you think, should I buy this blue tie?”) or after the sale (“I purchased the following items from Bol.com.”)

7. Testing with placement

Where are the buttons being clicked more? By default below the text? Or at the top anyway? The location of a button can make a lot of difference. Use A/B testing and mouse-click heatmaps To learn to understand the behavior of your visitors.

8. Test everything

All of the above tips are testable. And you definitely should. Let your customers determine what gets the most likes through your website.

Originally posted on January 21, 2013 at Marketingfacts