Free Assessment: How does your sales & marketing measure up?

Get Started
Close

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.
Get Started
Bob Ruffolo

By Bob Ruffolo

Apr 18, 2016

Topics:

Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing

5 Tips to Drive More Traffic From Social Media

Bob Ruffolo

By Bob Ruffolo

Apr 18, 2016

5 Tips to Drive More Traffic From Social Media


how-to-drive-more-traffic-from-social-media-feat.jpgLeveraging social media to drive traffic is one of the biggest challenges facing B2B marketers today.

While social media has the potential to be one of your biggest traffic sources, it also requires the most time and effort to maintain. The occasional tweet or Facebook update isn't enough to move the dial.

In this post you'll learn several ways to improve your current social media efforts and start driving more traffic to your website from it today.

1.Don't Forget the Link/CTA

It may seem obvious, but always include a link/CTA back to your website. It not only drives traffic, but shows your reader what to do next.

No matter how much someone likes your brand, if you don't ask them to visit your website, give them a compelling reason to, and make it easy, they are not likely to do it. So, always user social media as a teaser and include a website link for more information. 

Doing this may be difficult on platforms like Instagram and Vine, but you can always change and direct people to the link in your bio as companies like HubSpot do.

HubSpot___hubspot___Instagram_photos_and_videos.png

2. Always Include an Image

It's crucial to use images in your social media posts when sharing content, especially now that the majority of social media users are on mobile devices.

Images are more eye-catching than text alone and they also take up more room in the timeline, helping you attract more attention. Also, the right image can help prospects visualize what the content is going to be about while also making a post more "shareable."

Images increase engagement across the board:

  • On Facebook, posts with images attract 39% more engagement
  • Post with images on LinkedIn get 98% more comments
  • Including images and/or videos in your Twitter posts can increase engagement by up to 200% (Source)

3. Add Social Share Buttons to Your Blog Posts

It's great when you can drive a lot of traffic from your social media channels, but it's even better when other people do it for you.

If your website doesn't already have social sharing buttons, you could be missing out on a lot of social media traffic that's generated from people already reading your blog!

Social sharing buttons are those colorful buttons you see around the top or bottom of blog posts that allow you to share the page directly on the social media channel of your choice.

They provide convenience to your buyer persona and act as a non-pushy tool that encourages social sharing.

Two of the most common, and free, social sharing tools are SumoMe and Shareaholic.

If you'd like to learn more about those tools and 8 others like them, check out this useful article on bloggingwizard.com.

4. Use Paid Promotion/Sponsored Content

The quickest way to drive more traffic from social media is through paid promotion.

When you're executing on a solid social media strategy, paid promotion or "sponsored content" adds fuel to the fire. You can experiment with different targeting options (including location, gender, industry and interests on most profiles) to help expose new people to your content and promote new traffic. 

As the business models of social media platforms evolve, B2B marketers will likely have to pay to be seen. Facebook has been this way for a few years now and with the recent introduction of algorithmic timelines on Twitter and Instagram, this is likely a trend to continue. 

5. Be Active & Engaged

Too many B2B brands are guilty of not updating their social media enough. The only way to keep your followers engaged is to post updates and interact with people on a regular basis. Otherwise, they are likely to forget about you.

When we tell B2B marketers they aren't active enough on social media, their minds immediately picture a teenage girl glued to her phone as she posts non-stop selfies and updates on her every movement. We then assure them that being active doesn't require you to dedicate your life to social media.

In fact, a handful of posts a day is enough to do the trick.

Here's a simple, but effective daily schedule:

  • Post 1-3 non-promotional updates
  • Share 1-3 pieces of your brand's content
  • Share 1-3 useful articles from other brands, influencers, or new sites
  • Spend about 5-10 minutes replying to questions and comments

6. Be Consistent

If you study the B2B brands with the best marketing, you'll notice they are always consistent with their social media activity. 

Regularly posting high-quality, interesting content, and responding to comments keeps your page lively and engaging rather than a one-sided conversation. 

Don't take this to the extreme and post updates every 15 minutes or you'll just annoy everyone, but make your presence known. Have your brand act more like a human and less like a B2B enterprise on social media, and you'll connect with more people.

Free Assessment:

How does your sales & marketing measure up?
Take this free, 5-minute assessment and learn what you can start doing today to boost traffic, leads, and sales.

Related Articles

Why Short-Form Video Is a Vital Tool for Reaching Your Audience

September 25, 2023
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Your B2B Content Strategy Is Going to Need More Social

June 21, 2023
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

12 Ways You're Totally Blowing Your Business Social Media Strategy

June 18, 2023
Mary Brown Mary Brown

Should Your Demand Gen Strategy Change in a Slumping Economy?

April 12, 2023
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

How To Build an Effective Instagram Video Marketing Strategy

April 30, 2022
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

How Facebook's news feed algorithm works and prioritizes content

July 14, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Data: Facebook is No. 1 in revenue value for publishers, Twitter is a bust

July 7, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Best times to post on social media in 2021 (new data)

May 19, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Twitter fails to buy Clubhouse, whose creators can now make money... so what?

April 8, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Marketers, Facebook Analytics will be no more on June 30, 2021

April 2, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

7 Best Social Media Management Tools (+ Video)

March 26, 2021
Connor DeLaney Connor DeLaney

Twitter teases Super Follows, Communities; undo send tweet still a rumor

March 11, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

LinkedIn adds new 'Products' highlight tab on company pages

February 25, 2021
Melissa Smith Melissa Smith

54 jaw-dropping social media statistics for businesses [New for 2021]

February 23, 2021
Connor DeLaney Connor DeLaney

Facebook video best practices: what you need to know to grow your video presence

February 16, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

27 best digital marketing news sites

January 26, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Should you care about Clubhouse, the new audio-based social media app?

January 19, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

How to maximize lead generation via Facebook posts and ads

January 18, 2021
Bob Ruffolo Bob Ruffolo

Working with IMPACT on paid media: What to expect

January 13, 2021
John Becker John Becker

Instagram advertisers can create branded content ads on creators’ accounts

January 6, 2021
Justine Timoteo Thomas Justine Timoteo Thomas

The top 10 social media trends for brand survival in 2021 [Infographic]

January 2, 2021
Joe Rinaldi Joe Rinaldi

6 holiday campaign examples that are total showstoppers

December 25, 2020
Dia Vavruska Dia Vavruska

Pinterest continues diversity and inclusion efforts with new features and leadership

December 16, 2020
Shandia Drummond-Butt Shandia Drummond-Butt

TikTok still available in the US despite not reaching a sell-off deal

December 11, 2020
Karisa Hamdi Karisa Hamdi

New Pinterest weighted ads have better CX customization

December 8, 2020
Allison Melnik Allison Melnik