Gaining new followers and increasing engagement, time on the page, and conversions are just a few immediate benefits agencies and their customers get by using Flockler for their social media walls. There are even more meaningful reasons for considering Flockler as your partner.
On the one hand, some of your customers use their social media accounts to link to blog posts or company news. Others see their social media accounts as independent communication channels and create content specifically for their social media channels.
Here is how Flockler solves some of the many different customer needs you may face as an agency.
Why add a social wall to a website?
‘If I put effort into my social media content, it's usually worth not only having this content take place on Instagram and other channels, but also showing it on the website,’ says Jan Kiesewalter, Head of Interactive Experiences at 247GRAD. In addition to developing digital strategies, websites, and apps, the Koblenz-based agency develops ad campaigns and social media content for its clients. These include well-known companies ranging from manufacturing to media and cultural institutions.
‘If I decide in favor of a social wall, I should always ask myself one thing: What strategic value does it offer my company to integrate social media content into my website,’ continues Jan Kiesewalter.
- 🤩 For example, do you want to increase the appeal of your products or services?
- 💰 Do you want to demonstrate social proof to sell your products better?
- 💪 Do they want to strengthen their image and brand to make the company noticeable?
- 🔎 Or do they want to look more closely at everyday working life with employer branding?
Social walls for employer branding
An excellent example of how employer branding can succeed with social media is Apra. Apra offers customized electronic housings and control cabinets. The family-run company is breaking new ground in employer branding to strengthen recruitment and find trainees. ‘By putting the Instagram channel in the hands of the trainees, apra offers an authentic look into their everyday work,’ says Jan Kiesewalter.
On Instagram, the Apra trainees introduce themselves and their tasks and show various stages of their training. ‘We present the content as a social wall on the careers page,’ Jan Kiesewalter explains. ‘This allows others to see what their day-to-day work would be like if they started their training at apra.’
Why use Flockler for pixel-perfect social walls
There were three main reasons 247GRAD decided in favor of Flockler to display the social media content:
1️⃣ Easy to use across many client websites
247GRAD always delivers a unique experience when it develops a website for its customers. ‘For example, we don't buy any WordPress themes, but always design and program the website designs ourselves,’ Jan Kiesewalter explains. The agency did the same by integrating social media feeds on the website.
‘With a single website, you can still manage a manual social media integration with an API,’ says Jan Kiesewalter. But if you manage several customer websites in parallel, updating takes significantly more effort.’ This is because social media platforms constantly update their APIs to offer new services or improve security. As the number of customers increased, the Koblenz-based digital agency started looking for a standardized solution and found it in Flockler.
Your agency can focus on what you do best.
The partnership works because both sides focus on what they do best: ‘The developers at Flockler are very familiar with the APIs of the social media platforms and update the tool as soon as updates are available,’ says Jan Kiesewalter. ‘Meanwhile, we take care of what we do best: Building excellent websites.’
What the Head of Interactive Experiences appreciates about the social media integration with Flockler is that the team can create several feeds within a few seconds: Flockler updates the feed automatically, but the agency controls the individual design and branding of the social media feed on WordPress. ‘We haven't been able to find this function with any other tool,’ Jan Kiesewalter says. ‘The integrations work very well with Flockler.’
2️⃣ Clear API and documentation
When selecting a suitable social media aggregator, 247GRAD wanted one with an open API: ‘As sometimes we also want to use the social wall tool by integrating via the API, it was important to us that our partner offers this function,’ says Jan Kiesewalter, looking back. ‘At that point, the options were already getting smaller.’ The choices narrowed when the agency emphasized the importance of good documentation. Flockler fulfilled both requirements.
Easy design and branding options
Flockler offers four layout options. Social media feeds can be displayed as a classic social wall, as a grid of similarly-sized posts or reels, carousels, or slideshow. Users can customize the style and color with just a few clicks inside Flockler. Flockler also allows you to create your layouts thanks to the open API. 247GRAD used this customization option for the Koblenz Theatre website, for example.
The theatre creates individual social media posts for Instagram to present new productions and announce premieres. Each production has its subpage on the website. Currently, 247GRAD displays Instagram posts in a unique carousel design.
Filter social media content with hashtags.
But how do Instagram posts find their way to the right page? To ensure that content related to the play ‘Emilia Galotti’ is shown on the ‘Emilia Galotti’ page and posts regarding the production of ‘The Last Ship’ are only shown on the ‘The Last Ship’ page, 247GRAD filters Instagram posts by hashtags and also supports manual selection of Instagram images in the backend. ‘Following our interface approach, we can do this directly on WordPress,’ says Jan Kiesewalter.
There's even more: In addition to the social media content, the pages also contain press reviews and news about the individual plays. The content sources for this can be found on other websites.
3️⃣ Great pricing and customer support
Another vital reason why 247GRAD opted for Flockler is the price. ‘When you look at the pricing of agency plans for software, you sometimes fall over backward,’ says Jan Kiesewalter. ‘What some providers are charging is enormous. Compared to alternative tools, Flockler's agency plan offers the best price we have seen.‘
What 247GRAD appreciates about the agency plan s that it can serve all its customers with one license in one place. ‘It was important to us that there were no “artificial restrictions” that would mean, for example, we could only display the last ten posts or only reach a certain number of views,’ Jan Kiesewalter explains. ‘With Flockler, we can set up any number of social media feeds. No other tool in this price category offers this.’
That flexibility is essential for 247GRAD because, for many customers, the social wall is, at first, a simple enhancement of their website: If it were too expensive, customers with a limited budget would decide against it despite its many immediate and long-term benefits. Missing out on an important strategic direction to generate more conversions and engagement.
Makes everyday life in an agency easier
Managing different customers with the agency plan is straightforward: Once logged into Flockler, agency employees can jump between various sites with a single click. Each site represents a customer. At the same time, customers only have access to their site. ‘In Flockler, these are completely decoupled worlds,’ Jan Kiesewalter explains. The app makes it easier for the agency to set up and manage different customers.
Customers can easily manage the one-time integration of social media channels inside Flockler without requiring any help from the agency. ‘That's great because, as an agency, we don't need admin access to our customers' social media channels,’ says Jan Kiesewalter. This aspect is critical for many IT managers on the customer side. In addition, Flockler offers customers many options, such as moderating social media posts and hiding unwanted content. As a result, the agency gets fewer requests for modifications, happier customers, and saves time and money. While at the same time, customers always retain control over their social media accounts and content.
