Think using social media may be a waste of time for your organization? Well, what if it’s already sending you traffic and you’re not doing anything to capitalize on it? Even if it’s just a little traffic, it may be worth exploring (whatever traffic you’re getting without effort can only be improved). Whatever the size of your organization, there are likely to be mentions online (reviews, recommendations, shares, mentions, etc.), so it’s probably worthwhile to see what’s being said.
Social Media Traffic
The easiest way to see what traffic is being sent from social media is to look at your website analytics software (like Google Analytics), at the referring sites section. I have yet to run across a client who is not getting any traffic from social media:
Baseline & Tracking Success
Using this technique is a great way to get a baseline before you start new social media campaigns, and is also especially important for measuring the success of your various social media tactics. You may also discover sites which are unexpectedly sending you traffic that you can leverage to increase sales or lead generation.
Converting Traffic
Once you have traffic coming to your website, the next step is to identify why and then leverage that to increase your sales. It can be especially helpful to have specific landing pages for each social media site where you spend time interacting, and certainly for each specific campaign.
Remember…
Social media can be a powerful tool for increasing traffic to your website, which you can then use to your advantage to increase sales. But, don’t forget to use social media to engage and converse with your audience (not just advertise and promote to them). Building relationships can lead to more long term success than short-term traffic spikes.
(photo by epSos.de, on Flickr )