Effective Ways to Increase Social Media Traffic
What Is Social Media?
Through virtual networks, social media facilitates the exchange of ideas and information. Social media encompasses a vast universe of apps and platforms that allow users to share content, interact online, and build communities, ranging from Facebook and Instagram to Twitter and YouTube. More than 4.7 billion people, or roughly 60% of the world's population, use social media.
Today, social media messaging apps and platforms are the most popular sites on the internet. In early 2023, 94.8% of users used to chat and message apps and websites, with social platforms coming in second at 94.6%. Search engine sites came in second, with 81.8% of users visiting them.
HOW TO DRIVE SOCIAL MEDIA TRAFFIC
Websites and social media are without a doubt two of the most important platforms for attracting customers to a company's products or services. However, a mutually inclusive approach for both channels is critical because it makes it easy for social media profiles to contact the company and drive traffic to the website.
Social media accounts for 81% of a company's website visitors. Social media helps businesses develop brand recognition and increase website traffic.
As you interact and make connections on each platform, your social media traffic will increase. Making yourself available to clients, brand advocates, and potential customers allows you to nurture them throughout the purchasing process. With platforms like Instagram constantly updating their algorithm (which isn't always in favor of creators), it's often pointless to keep churning out content that doesn't receive the desired traffic.
1. Make Your Content Easy to Share
You increase traffic to your website by reaching out to more people and convincing them to click on your links. The best way to accomplish this is to ask your current audience to share your content with their networks. So, if you want to increase social media traffic, make it simple for your blog readers to share your posts on social media.
This includes adding social share buttons to your blog posts so that people can easily share the post by clicking on one. Examine how HubSpot includes not one, but two sets of social sharing buttons in their blog posts.
To add social share buttons to your site, use a plugin like AddThis. You can even pre-fill the share windows with interesting captions.
In addition, you could use Click to Tweet to allow your readers to share snippets of your post. This way, they'll be sharing the most intriguing parts of your post with their followers, enticing them to visit your site and read more.
2. Invest in Social Advertising
Organic reach can only get you so far. With some social media channels prioritizing content from friends and family over brand content, reaching a new audience organically has become even more difficult for businesses. So, at some point, you'll have to pay to promote your content to reach a larger audience, which will drive more traffic to your site.
You could pay to promote your top-performing content on Facebook in addition to regular ads. Look for posts that have received the most attention from your target audience. According to the engagement rate, these are already well-received by your existing audience. As a result, paying to promote them for increased visibility will pay off.
3. Optimize your social media profiles
I previously made a connection between social media algorithms and those used by search engines such as Google. When we create content for those engines, we optimize it using various on-page SEO techniques.
It turns out that social media is the same way.
Every aspect of your social media profile can be optimized and improved for greater visibility. If you want to be a social media rockstar, you must understand these elements.
Many of the tactics you know and love work here, too:
- An easy-to-remember username
- A recognizable photo/brand logo
- Keyword-rich descriptions (that still sound natural)
When posting, use the same criteria to determine which images to use, which keywords to include, and how to phrase your call to action. This is true for all social media platforms.
4. Promote your profiles everywhere
Every location where your company has a presence should also feature your social media platforms. On your website, storefront, business cards, email signatures, and anywhere else you can think of.
Consider including follow buttons on your website so that users can instantly follow or "like" your page without leaving your company's blog or website.
Remember to cross-promote your social media profiles as well. Convert your Facebook fans to Twitter followers and vice versa. You want your presence to be known everywhere, which will exponentially increase your organic reach.
5. Post the right balance of promotional/useful content
This is difficult because you want to promote your product or service on social media right away. But, when it comes to these things, you can't always think about yourself.
Users also expect to find content that is relevant to them.
Sharing useful content (how-to guides, articles, new posts, and so on) increases a user's trust in your brand. They recognize you as an industry authority and will therefore trust you when you recommend a product or service.
The 80/20 rule is one to remember here. Eighty percent of your content should be useful and helpful, while the remaining twenty percent should promote your brand or its products. That eighty percent will bring in new followers and build trust, after which they will see the twenty percent and buy into what you’re selling.
Don’t forget that this variety should also include a mixture of videos, images, and other engaging content types.
6. Share content regularly
Sharing content on social media regularly is an excellent way to keep your followers engaged and build your brand. Depending on the size of your audience and the type of content you're sharing, you can post 1-2 times per day and include a link to your website. Post a variety of content, such as photos, videos, and stories, and keep your posts up-to-date and relevant. Track the results of your posts to see which content resonates the most with your followers and adjust your strategy accordingly. Post high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience and encourages visitors to visit your website for more information.
7. Consistently Engage With Your Target Market on Social Media
One of the advantages that social media provides to business owners is the ability to directly interact with their target audience. You can communicate in real-time with your customers, receive feedback, and improve your customer service.
Regularly engaging with your audience will drive more traffic to your social media profile and, eventually, your website. Furthermore, your customer's perception of your company will improve as a result of this. Customer loyalty can be measured using various NPS software.
The more you interact with your customers on social media, the more their trust in you grows and the more customer reviews you receive. They'll see that you're a company they want to interact with regularly, and you'll even earn their support, especially if you make your target audience feel like you're completely dedicated to them.
Because of the positive relationship you've built, they'll be more likely to visit your website once you start promoting it on your page.
Gaining customer visibility and trust will, of course, take time, but the effort is necessary to drive more traffic to your website.
conclusion
The secret to organic social media reach is the same as the secret to high search engine rankings. Everything revolves around optimization, user experience, and high-quality content. You'll see the pieces fall into place if you start thinking about your social media efforts in the same way you think about your SEO work.