Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years (we know we use that phrase a lot. We like it. Can you tell?), you’ll have noticed how social media has really taken off. It’s not just a tool to keep you connected to your old school friends, it can also be a powerful marketing tool you can leverage for your business.
Lots of small businesses who come to us for advice are asking for tips on how to drive more traffic to their website. They’ve noticed their site’s not getting a lot of visits, and they want to improve it. And, believe it or not, but a great way to drive traffic to your website is actually through social media. So, this week, we’re going to be looking at the role social media plays in websites, and how you could use platforms like Facebook and Instagram to drive more traffic to your own website.
Why social media is useful
Shout about who you are without being annoying
Think of a social media platform as a giant stage where you can shout about your values and offerings, and show off your brand’s personality at the same time. Whilst your website should be showcasing these as well, it’s often easier to stay in the forefront of people’s minds on social media. This is because you should be posting a couple of times a week and, each time you post, you’ll reappear in your follower’s news feeds. You can’t keep serving your website up in front of people, but you can gently poke them in their social feeds.
When it comes to showcasing your brand’s personality, we’d like to use an example. We like sharing really bad nerd-jokes on our social media platforms, because we try not to take ourselves too seriously. We also totally get that website-related things are utter drudgery for most people. However, we can’t really cover our entire website in bad nerd-jokes – but we can drop one on our socials every now and then. It shows our fun side, whilst also being engaging.
If you can nail your brand identity / personality well, then you should have a consistent brand presence across platforms. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of your target audience recognising and remembering you. With any luck, this should lead to more Google searches and website visits because, when someone needs a service you provide, they’ll remember you. This is just one way you can drive traffic to your website.
We’ve written about building your brand on Facebook before, in case it helps.
Stalk customers without getting into trouble
Obviously we’re joking with that sub-heading. But social media does have the added bonus of allowing you to be pretty niche in your targeting. Due to the sheer amount of data these platforms have on their users, you can reach very specific audiences based on their demographics, interests, and behaviours. This is especially useful if you decide to start running some adverts.
If social ads is an avenue you’re considering exploring, then it is well worth thinking about putting together a dedicated landing page to go with your ad campaign. A landing page is a single dedicated page on your website that users will “land” on after clicking on your advert. Their primary purpose is to convert visitors, so you design them to match closely with the ad campaign you’re running. For more info on landing pages, check out our previous blog article.
Show you’re legit
We’re sure you’ve heard that engagement is everything on social media. We’re going to repeat that, because it really is important:
ENGAGEMENT IS EVERYTHING ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
It’s a two-way communication channel. If someone comments, respond to it. Try posting polls, and build a sense of community around your brand. This engagement will help build trust with your followers, and it will help encourage them to explore more about you and your company.
This engagement can also lead to “social proof”. When potential (new) customers see positive experiences from others, it’ll build trust in you, and help encourage them to get engaging (and, hopefully, buying). The average Joe knows that you’re trying to make yourself, and the stuff you’re selling, look good. And they’re onto you. But customer testimonials, reviews, and user-generated content shared on social media is a power unto itself – and the platforms love it too.
Post a wider variety of stuff
We often harp on about how great blogs are for SEO, your marketing, your brand, your life, etc., etc. But blogs can be tricky if what you’re selling is best sold visually. Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest thrive on visual content. So you can post pictures of your stuff pretty much to your heart’s content. Pictures can help capture attention, and encourage users to share your content (there’s some more of that social proof for you). You might even go viral (whether this is a good or bad thing, rather depends on what it is that goes viral, and how you can cope with it).
Don’t forget the humble #hashtag either. Hashtags are not just trends; they’re powerful tools for expanding your reach. You can create and promote branded hashtags, if you so desire. And some people follow specific hashtags, which may then lead to them stumbling across your content.
“You’ve written a lot about how great social media is, but what’s that got to do with increased web traffic?”
Fair question.
Social media gives you the opportunity to really connect with your audience – something a website click can struggle to do. And if you need people on your website in order to convert them into customers, then your social media stuff should be promoting said website.
You use your social platforms to help promote your brand, and help people remember you. And you make it as easy as possible for your followers to find your website and get to it from each platform.
Tie all of those together, and you should be getting an increase in website clicks.
Still don’t understand what tree we’re barking up?
Why not use our free advice offer and get some bespoke support from us? As the name suggests, it won’t cost you a penny. You don’t have to struggle with how to drive traffic to your website. We can – and would love to – help you! You can reach us on our social platforms (we’re on LinkedIn and Facebook), or drop us an email on hello@soxdigital.co.uk.