It’s no secret that Covid-19’s global push for widescale digitalization has changed the future of marketing. From an eCommerce boom to new site traffic highs, there have never been as many potential sales leads to pick from, and it has never been harder to grab their attention.
In a consumer-dominated online landscape, the average user now expects a brand to personalize their services, immerse them within their content and connect with them over a number of different platforms.
One of these platforms is social media. In the wake of a global eCommerce boom, the competition for site engagement continues to heat up. As marketers fight it out for ranking positions and click-through rates, it could be time to turn to social media for success.
(Image Source: Datareportal)
In just 2022 alone, we have seen a 5.1% increase in social media users, equating to just over half of the entire population now using at least one social media platform.
From building a social growth hacking strategy to the benefits of social media-driven SEO, read on to find out why targeting a social generation could be the key to boosting site traffic in 2023.
The Competition To Gain Site Traffic Is Heating Up
After 2020 saw the eCommerce sector grow by a third, competition quickly heated up between competing brands for increased engagement, a high organic ranking position within their niche and a loyal consumer community.
Battling against eCommerce giants such as Amazon and eBay, a number of small businesses are struggling to keep conversion rates high and receive a significant return on investment for their efforts.
As the competition to gain site traffic increases, it’s time to take a closer look at the types of consumers your brand is aiming to target.
Did you know that mobile devices now generate 58.99% of all global web traffic? As we move into the era of mobile commerce, brands need to do more to appeal to their smartphone-based audience.
From improving mobile-based UX to creating smart, snappy and personalized content, prioritizing mobile-based traffic could be the key to site success.
The question is, could a spike in mobile users also suggest that social media is now a playing field for eCommerce and site-based success?
Could Boosting Social Media Presence Be The Key To Success?
87% of smart marketers believe that social media aids site traffic.
(Image Source: Small Biz Genius)
While it is not a direct ranking factor for Google’s algorithm, it can most definitely amplify the ranking factor that the search engine does consider.
Not only are social media platforms constructed to aid mass sharing, but an influx in shared branded content can improve visibility and authority within your niche demographic, rendering them more likely to search for your site/services away from social media.
Better still, in the wake of platform link sharing and even social media-based commerce such as TikTok Shop, brands can directly link to their site’s product and services, generating quick, fast-track calls to action for their social media consumers.
How To Boost Your Site Traffic Using A Social Strategy
If you’re looking for new and innovative ways to boost your site traffic and SEO ranking, why not try crafting a social media-focused engagement strategy?
As you can see below, there is a clear correlation between site rank and social media presence. Brands that invest time into their social strategy are more likely to see higher conversion rates and an improved ROI.
(Image Source: Cognitive SEO)
Read on as we reveal three easy steps a brand can take to improve its social media presence in order to boost site success.
From optimizing social media content to engaging in conversational marketing and social listening, stick with us as we delve into the benefits of blending your site and social strategies for eCommerce success.
1. Optimize Your Social Platforms
Before creating any new content, it’s time to optimize your current social platforms. For brands using multiple social media accounts/sites, consistency is key.
For your consumer demographic to recognize your brand as a well-known, authoritative player within its industry, your profile images, platform bios and tone of voice should remain the same across all accounts in order to ensure consistency.
Next, it’s essential to start looking deeper into how your content is posted and presented. Your content quality must be prioritized if you want to optimize your socials for platform-wide sharability.
Not only should images be sharp and attract attention, but your content copy should be optimized the same way it would be on site.
Your copywriting strategy should include relevant keywords and trending hashtags while still remaining short, snappy and quick to call to action.
Lastly, make sure your platform bio includes links to your site wherever possible. With more opportunities to click, you increase your chances of gaining new traffic engagement on the site.
2. Create Sharable Content
Once your current content is optimized, it’s time to create new social media posts aiming to boost site traffic.
The key here is sharability. Your consumers share the more your content, the more visibility your brand will receive.
Better still, if you include links within your content, directly guiding a consumer to your site, these sharable posts are likely to drive traffic straight to your products/services.
In order to create successful sharable content, here is what your social post should contain:
- A Viral Headline: Taking time to monitor consumer search trends and incorporate that into your content will make it more likely to be found by your target demographic.
- Something Visual: Whether it is an image, video or animation, social media virality surrounds visual media. Knowing your platform well is also key when choosing a visual element for your post, as this content format will differ depending on the platform you’re targeting.TikTok, for example, favours short, snappy video content, whereas picture-based platforms such as Instagram favour high-quality image posts.
- Hashtags: Hashtags on social media work like keywords do on-site. Including relevant, trending hashtags within a social post will increase chances of visibility and sharability, both of which contribute to site engagement.
3. Create A Consumer Driven Community
Not only can creating a social media-based community for your brand improve visibility but gaining social credibility can also enhance your site’s value.
When a consumer is looking to make a purchase, one of the first things they do before visiting a site is to look for reviews, referrals and recommendations.
Incorporating positive reviews into your content and pinning positive comments to the top of your posts can aid your social credibility and encourage more followers to head to your site.
(Image Source: Art+Marketing)
With over 90% of consumers claiming that peer reviews and recommendations significantly influence their buying decisions, word-of-mouth marketing may be the oldest form of raising business awareness, but still one of the most effective.
What Does The Future Hold For Social Media Marketing in 2023?
As we step closer to 2023, social media marketing is on the verge of entering a new era. With Social 2.0 only around the corner, platform monetization is likely to lead to social marketing trends in the new year.
This is great news for marketers looking to boost their site SEO and eCommerce success. As popular new social phenomenons such as TikTok pave the way forward for on-platform link sharing and even on-platform purchasing, the future of eCommerce will be centred around mobile users and social media applications.
The key here is to stay on top of platform and consumer trends and ensure your brand moves in line with them.
Rebecca is an experienced marketing executive with a passion for UX design, data-driven outcomes, and digital creativity. She specializes in the future of SEO marketing and user experience in business.