Social media marketing continues to grow and expand and many people want to know what impact it has on lead generation and driving traffic back to our websites.

Cynthia Boris wrote an article discussing the role that social media is currently playing for B2B companies. Boris writes, “You can build a comprehensive website and active social media marketing accounts, then wait for the leads to come to you. Might sound crazy, but according to DemandGen 90% of business buyers say when they’re ready to buy, they’ll find you. 78% of those people will start their search on the web. 50% will turn to social media and peer review sites.”

If you’re looking to use your social media networks for lead generation, consider amping up your presence on Twitter, which leads the pecking order. Looking at an eMarketer’s study, Boris writes that in terms of lead generation, “Twitter is the clear winner. 82% of social media leads came from the bird. Wow.” Facebook and LinkedIn are tied at a distant second place of 9% each.

Yet when it comes to driving traffic to a business website, Facebook reigns supreme. Explaining web traffic patterns, Boris writes, “Here, Facebook is the clear winner, sending 54% of traffic back to company websites. Twitter comes in second and LinkedIn brings up the rear again.”

Social media marketing continues to grow in practical B2B applications. Organic and direct search still dominate the amount of traffic directed to websites, and social media only accounts for an average 4.8% of current leads generated, but many analysts expect those numbers to grow, especially with the rise of technologies like Facebook Graph Search.

What’s your goal for social media marketing and have you noticed an impact on traffic and leads from using it? We’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.

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