There’s nothing a brand loves more than a customer looking to push their buttons. Welcome to the world of Social Web, where new media is as important for driving traffic to a website as the website is driving fans to new media.
The Old Standard called for a social-savvy site to include a few social media icons, called chiclets, that would drive traffic to the brand’s Facebook, Twitter and other social properties. The down-side? You were sending your hard-earned traffic back to social media sites, the internet’s most noted time-suckers, for a multi-step process in order to get the traffic to ‘fan up.’ It might not seem like a huge amount of work, but every extra step is a step away from your site’s primary purpose.
One Smart Chiclet broke from the pack just over a year ago. Powered by Open Graph tags, Facebook introduced an on-site like button, allowing Facebook users to easily share content and connect with brands without leaving their website.
The results? Social Web exploded, giving way to social integrations in content sharing, email marketing and even e-commerce! “Like” became a legitimate, clickable call-to-action in the digital marketing tool kit.
Later that year, Twitter followed suit with the social sharing Tweet Button, allowing users to share content and links to the popular platform with a single click.
The New Class of Social Web Chiclets recently graduated to public use. While the flexibility of Facebook’s Like Button continues to give way to interesting models in engagement, Twitter and Google introduced their own social-enabled (and quite attractive) buttons.
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Twitter’s Follow Button allows visitors to a brand’s site to follow the brand with a single click. If the user is already following, it lets them know. If the user isn’t following, a ‘Follow’ button appears. The button includes an option to include follower count, which is a great social-pressure in attracting more followers.
Though it comes in standard ‘light’ or ‘dark’ flavors, the design of Twitter’s Follow Button is highly customizable, allowing for in-code customization of typeface and color.
Google’s +1 Button allows users to ‘vote up’ websites from within search results or on-page. Sites that have been +1′d [pluhs-wuhnd] receive extra love in search results. Your +1′s effect your personal search results, as well as the results of those in your network! Google reckons that if you like a website, your friends will like it too.
It’s similar to Google’s recently retired Star system with a social media twist.
Bing’s Social Web Integration isn’t a new chiclet, but it’s certainly worth mentioning. Bing allots a healthy amount of search rank to social currency, but it relies on the Open Graph platform (the same platform as Facebook’s Like Button.) In short, Facebook Likes will boost organic search results relative to the user’s network. If your friends like a site, Bing reckons you’ll like it to!
Remember, your page must integrate the Open Graph tags to make Bing’s social magic happen.
The Old Standbys such as Digg and Redditt, are still viable options for social-integration. However, as adoption of on-site social tie-backs to the more dominant social media sites (Facebook and Twitter) becomes more commonplace, these last-generation link-share sites are losing their favor with digital marketers and users alike.
How Will You Do It? We’re curious. If you have the next big idea for implementing the new social chiclets, show off in a comments below! If you have a question, we’ll get back to you in the comments below.
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Tags: facebook, Fans, Google +1, Like, Marc Frechette, Open Graph, Social Search, Social Web, twitter
