Traffic referral from social networks increases more than 50%
The latest data gathered in the field of social networks confirms the effectiveness of social networks as a source of referral. According to the study published by Shareaholic, the relevance of social networks is becoming more significant resulting in more qualified traffic to the website or a brand. Referential traffic from social networks has increased more than 50% over the last year. This is a fact that reinforces the social influence theory and the important role of social media in the buying cycle.
Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter are the main sources of Qualified Traffic
The great players that attract customers to the sites are Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Specifically, Facebook reported about 59 % more traffic than the previous year, while Twitter was about 54% and Pinterest stood at 67%, which is becoming the queen of social influence driving more traffic than Twitter. This fact is especially important for network boards, which not only stand out for more contacts referenced, but these are of higher quality than those made by the other social platforms.
Visits from YouTube and LinkedIn have experienced a significant increase
The presence of these two social networks is becoming more relevant than ever, their influence is becoming increasingly apparent for brands, and its evolution should follow. YouTube has managed to increase by 53% over the previous year. We are in the development phase of online video search, and it seems that the world’s second largest search engine is positioned as an important source of traffic for brands. On the other hand, LinkedIn has risen 35%, an important step but still unrepresentative, given the low presence it had in 2012. This platform is particularly relevant in the case of B2B, where the social network is most effective for leads.
Google’s presence is not yet relevant to brands
Despite being the second social network, according to the number of active members, ordinary users are still using it as a source of useful information when searching for information online. In 12 months just managed to rise by 7% benchmark traffic volume, although with this social network is not possible to have decisive conclusions. Do not forget that this is a Google product factory, and any new change could radically alter this trend.
Definitely, e- commerce and social networks are a good team, and a serious brand which thinks about the long-term should take into account social networks as part of their online marketing strategy. The 70% of social network users buy products online. The 40% of social network users says it has purchased a product, either via online or physical store, after having shared or marked (with likes, Pin or RT) through social networks. It should be clarified that this type of reaction from customers is not immediate. 50% of these purchases including social media materialize a week after the interaction occurred. Therefore, when evaluating the effectiveness of social networks, it should be borne in mind that there is a direct selling channel, but involved throughout the purchase process, and its influence is difficult to quantify.