How do I use shortened URLs and link management in social media?
BL.INK goes beyond short links to provide data structure, easy management
When most people think about links on social media, they immediately think of short, branded links that showcase their business.
While brevity and branding are definitely valuable pieces, there are several other factors that are often overlooked.
Unseen benefits of link management
Short links are often hidden when presented on social media. They can get lost behind the ad, how it’s placed, or buried under other content. However, there’s still value in having that short link – even if your audience may not see the link.
Link management is integral to the success of social media campaigns. Let’s take a look at some examples of the added value that short links bring to the table.
With BL.INK, everything is editable. Everything.
When using BL.INK to create short links, everything can be edited. Users will always be able to make changes or update their links or link details within BL.INK, as long as the link is active.
With branded short links, users can update the link’s destination, description, tags, date actions, and more, with just a few clicks but without having to wait on a third party.
Dynamic links are links that send your audience to a different destination based on specific variables like day, date, time, location, language, device, etc.
Time-sensitive campaigns are a great use case for our dynamic links. Before the campaign even begins, you can set up the destination for the duration of the campaign and a new destination for your link once the campaign ends. This way, your audience will never run into a dead end.
Case study: Fidelity
Fidelity uses their short links in posts on Facebook. The link redirects to an article that Fidelity hosts.
If this content changes over time, or if Fidelity wanted to update where the link redirects, they can simply log in to BL.INK and update the link’s destination all in one place.
This applies to any of their posted content, and allows for the link to be evergreen – so even if the content on the other side of the link changes, a customer looking at an older Facebook post is still redirected to relevant content and not a 404 page.
Enabling Fidelity to manage and update their links makes link management much more attainable – it eliminates the worry about stale, outdated content or having to manage old Facebook posts, updating webpages with new content, or de-publishing posts on Facebook.
One stop for ALL of the traffic
Many times, users will publish content to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn all at the same time, potentially with the same link. In this case, making one change inside of BL.INK can remedy any errors without having to log in to each platform and update separate posts.
This will save you time, and prevent the headache of sifting through old posts and making updates to content. It also ensures that your audience doesn’t get lost and close the window, which maximizes your chances of a conversion.
Another fun tip: BL.INK tracks referral data. If you’re using one link for multiple social media platforms, you’ll easily be able to see which platform a click came from.
Case study: Target
Target is another great example of successful link management.
Here, they’re using their custom branded domain tgt.biz. Then they have a custom keyword, which is sometimes referred to as a hash or a slug. The keyword here is ShopTarget.
Target has this link in their bio on Instagram. They may also choose to reference it in a live chat, in conversation, or share it on other platforms.
This single link will then take their audience to their personalized page that shows all of their different ads and postings. One link gets reused over and over because it’s customized and it’s memorable, so it can be shared that much easier.
Integration
When creating short links for social media, integration can be a key component. We offer several native integrations in BL.INK which can help to automate your processes without disrupting your workflow.
BL.INK currently offers integrations with Khoros, Sprinklr, Zapier, SocialBee, and more.
Automatic posting with SocialBee
Within BL.INK, you can connect to a multitude of social media management platforms. One example is SocialBee.
SocialBee allows users to automate social media posting with evergreen content categorization, scheduled new content, and custom URLs and tracking.
Every time that we publish content through SocialBee, it automatically shortens any links with our branded short domain. If we need to update an existing link, SocialBee will automatically update the link in already-published posts. Additionally, it creates a different short link for each platform (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), expanding our reach seamlessly.
Link shortening with Sprinklr
Sprinklr is another integration that is offered through BL.INK and offers similar functionality to SocialBee. Every time content is created in Sprinklr, it automatically shortens any links and is published automatically using your branded domain.
Branding with Khoros
BL.INK allows for seamless branding with our Khoros integration. We’re integrated across all of Khoros’ different footprints: marketing, community, and content customizations. No matter which platform you’re using with Khoros, your short links can be branded with your domain, seamlessly and automatically.
Live chat integration
Even when you’re creating or sharing content in a live chat, you have integration options. Every time your link is being shared, it’s automatically going to be shortened and branded, making sure you have full control and visibility over your brand.
The value of controlling your brand
If you’re not using branded short links in your social media presence, you may want to reconsider. There is so much value in being able to use short links—they’re another way to enhance your brand presence with every interaction. Every impression is another opportunity to increase brand awareness, build trust with your audience, and to convert clicks.
Branded short links also allow for better management in creating content on social media. Content lives everywhere—even if you don’t have control over the content at the destination, you do have control over the links.
Link management allows you to have control over where content ends up in the future, and if you ever need to change that content, you can do so with just a few clicks.
For any social media marketing strategy, make sure you’re using short, branded links.
Read branded URL success stories
BL.INK customers have amazing stories. We are honored to share some of their successes here.
Trusted By Thousands
Our customers create hundreds of millions of links - and every one is important. You will find BL.INK links on grocery shelves, mobile devices, table tops, ad platforms, mailers, social networks, and messaging platforms around the world. No matter your audience, BL.INK connects. Read more reviews here.
"Dynamic links generation is my favourite feature. You can easily create one link and depending on information collected from the user, time, device used, language... You can redirect him to a different location depending on your needs. Bl.ink also keep some parameters you could need in the url."
Read full review on G2
Eric B.
International Business Development
Monica M.
"We are in a highly regulated industry, and finding a service that was able to meet or exceed our InfoSec security questions *as well as* provides easy-to-use features seemed like it was going to be a bit of a lost cause, but Bl.ink is a bit of a unicorn!" Read full review on G2
Brian G.
BL.INK “..integrated into our Spredfast social efforts seamlessly, giving us branded links and enhanced tracking at a great value. They are also consistently reliable with high quality product and customer service. It is the solution we needed.”
Scott Carrington
Digital Marketing, Patagonia
"BL.INK helps us to brand all our short URLs across different channels. It helps track content performance and engagement across different channels for different content types. Helps Track, Manage and Modify a wide range of links that could easily become a complex task for enterprise customers in no time." Read full review on G2
Vijay S.
Digital Marketing Manager
Company size: Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"We are able to track our web traffic that is directly attributed to social media campaigns. This was a gap for us in the past so this has been a huge help in proving our team’s impact. We also have integrated Blink into our Adobe Analytics so we can track even further data." Read full review on G2
Gabby M.
Social Media Manager
Company size: Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Using BL.INK, we can easily create branded website links, that over time, help build trust in the quality and value of the content we share. Advanced features like dynamic links and promo badges are useful. I especially appreciate that BL.INK is very client focused, and the team eagerly listens to our business needs and offers innovative solutions." Read full review on G2
Joe C.
Director, Digital Content Strategy, UnitedHealthcare Brand Marketing
“From the start, they’ve been nothing but helpful and accommodating. No problem was too big or small, with a constant friendly and warm response to all the queries we have had throughout implementation. Great service and a real contender to the other services out there.”
Tom Reid
Software Integration Analyst, Yorkshire Water
"Any company needs to manage the links in their domains. There are countless URL shortening tools today; however, not many tools have the required level of flexibility like the right tracking parameters, attribution, and campaign insights. Thanks to BL.INK, I can direct leads to the right place at the right time (by day, date, time, geography, device, and language). A must-have tool for any company looking to increase reach and engagement." Read full review on G2
Hobin K.
Marketing Manager
"Blink is super helpful for any time I need a link shortened. It's also great it keeps a record of all my links & can set up tracking for campaigns, which makes it super easy to track many different campaigns at once!" Read full review on G2
Rory B.
CyberSecuritiesUK
“.. allows us to easily measure the conversions for links distributed via our social platforms.”
Kenton Olson
Director of Digital & Emerging Media, Seattle Seahawks & Sounders FC
BL.INK enables our team to..."include a link in promotional materials that we can change once the link is created. Additionally, when we have a problem with a hyperlink, we can change the redirect without having to re-distribute the link to clients, customers, or employees." Read full review on G2
Neil T.
Marketing Manager
“They’ve allowed our organization to better track and analyze engagement on social media. The team has been accessible, responsive and more than accommodating for special requests, feedback and support.”
Lauren Fox
Social Media Manager, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
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Explore more of our customers here.