Drive customers toward your platforms - not away from them
There is no doubt that social media can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you may think that you must meet your customers wherever they are. On the other hand, you might be thinking about how to give your own platforms relevance.
The ability to gather more or less organized content onto your own social media platforms can be tempting - you'll benefit from your own posts (and maybe users' posts) in multiple places, and if users engage with comments or likes, then it must be beneficial. Or what?
One can choose to think of this in the metaphor of a street. Is there traffic both ways? Or is the street one-way? And if so, in what direction? Too often you see SoMe plug-ins that at first glance look nice, but when the user interacts with the content on your platform, traffic is taken to the social media - and then that visit with your platform is over.
Think about the direction of traffic
Consider how you can use social media to drive traffic to your platforms instead of away. It is fine to download feeds as long as the purpose of the feed is clear. Keep in mind that if the purpose of the feed is to create dynamics, then you must also behave dynamically on the social media.
If the feed of photos or comments leads your visitors away from your platform then you should be very conscious if - and if so how - the lost visit benefits your business.
Your digital platform as a physical store
Try looking at your own online platforms as if you had a physical store with rent, staff and business hours. We know that a full store attracts more customers than an empty one. That if there is a good atmosphere and it is easy to be inspired and find your way around, you will stay longer. And if you can even get good help then you probably buy something too. Online is no different.
We would never voluntarily lead a customer in a store to the door until something was purchased. Supermarkets are world champions in that discipline - whether it's a pack of chewing gum at the check-out register.
Never lead your visitors "to the door" on your own online platforms, especially not with such an attractive and enticing door as in the dominant social media platforms.