With over 2.4 billion users worldwide, social media is one of the most popular marketing platforms today. Businesses use social media to share details about offers and products, as well as to interact with consumers and reach a larger audience.
Social media is also used as a tool in digital marketing, boosting SEO and providing a platform for influencer marketing. Social media marketing can also be used to increase website traffic and these are five ways in which this can be done.
Choose the Right Platforms
Social media isn’t one large space on the internet and consists of a number of platforms. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, WhatsApp, etc. are all social media apps and since they serve different purposes, it is important to choose the right platforms for your business.
When choosing the right platform for social media marketing, first consider the content on your business website. If you maintain an online retail store, the latest collection in your store can be posted on Instagram or Facebook with a link directing traffic to your store. If you are an event planner, you can share videos on YouTube so that people can see the type of work you do.
Another aspect to consider when choosing the right platform is the popularity or usage of the social media app. If Twitter isn’t popular among your target audience, you won’t generate much website traffic even if you invest heavily on maintaining a business Twitter account.
Complete Profiles
Social media accounts have space dedicated for bios as well as URLs, so if you want to increase website traffic through social media, you will want to complete your social media profiles and ensure web address visibility.
If you take a Facebook page, you can add your website URL to posts but it’s also important to add it to your profile. This way, visitors to your Facebook page will be directed to your website even if they don’t click on your posts.
If a social media account is incomplete, for instance, a Twitter account without a header or an Instagram account without a bio, your social media marketing strategies may fail to increase website traffic.
Choose Content Wisely
The trick to social media marketing isn’t to post as often as you can but to share interesting, informative, and relevant content. It’s also important to know what kind of content is best suited for a particular app. As an example, a hotel’s Instagram account can be used to share pictures of the property with a link to the website reservation page, but followers may be put off if artwork is shared on the same profile. On the other hand, travel articles can be shared on Facebook or Twitter, directing traffic to the website.
A social media post won’t reach many people if it’s published when your target audience is asleep and this is why the timing of content is also important.
Keywords also play a crucial role in social media marketing, where the use of relevant keywords in both social media posts as well as account bios can allow for wider reach and thus increased website traffic.
Call to Action
Call to action or CTA is a popular social media marketing tool that can be used to increase website traffic through social media. We have all watched videos on YouTube that end with “Click on the notification bell if you want to be notified when we post a new video”. This simple message at the end of a video will prompt viewers to subscribe to a channel. Similarly, “like and share this post” is another CTA used on social media.
In order to increase traffic to a website through social media, a CTA could be along the lines of “click on this link for more information” or “visit our website for more exciting offers”. A well-worded CTA will make users click on links shared on social media, thus increasing website traffic.
 Know Your Social Media Dos and Don’ts
Social media marketing is largely based on various social media dos and don’ts that look at user preferences and trends. One of the main social media don’ts is constant posting that clutters timelines, unprofessional engagement with trolls and haters, and publishing content that hasn’t been proofread.
By using such unwritten rules as a guideline, you can increase the reach of your social media posts and through that, increase website traffic.