Traffic Through Social Media: Paid or Free? Know the Difference!

Sat, Sep 5, 2009

With the increasing popularity of social media sites, the use of social traffic to drive visitors to sites, blogs or online stores is also gaining attention. Before social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace were even created, many online marketers focused on paid traffic to ensure that they get a good number of people visiting their sites daily. There is really nothing wrong with paid traffic strategies. These strategies can be very effective. However, they can be quite expensive. You may actually have to spend hundreds of dollars a day if you want your paid campaign to really have an impact on your business.

But with the social traffic solution, you will make use of social media sites that are free. It’s easy because all you need to do is spend some time participating in these websites. Create good quality materials so you can make use and maximize your traffic-enhancing strategies. It is important to note that simply having a profile in Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other types of social media sites does not guarantee an increase in your Web traffic. You first need to know who exactly your target market is, and make sure that you profile is deemed attractive by them.

Another advantage of social traffic over paid traffic is the influence that you can gain in social media. As an influencer, you can affect people’s decisions on what to buy or what service to get. In order for your paid traffic to make a purchase from your site, you need to be able to infuence them to get it through huge discounts and a lot of other freebies. But with web traffic coming from social media sites, people learn about you through viral marketing or word of mouth. This means that Web users who go to your site are already partially convinced that your product or service is good because someone from their social media network recommended you.

There is no doubt that paid traffic solutions can effectively encourage people to go to your site. However, this certain type of marketing campaign will only work if you have enough funds to support/pay for it. Once you no longer have budget for PPC or banner ads, your traffic may also dwindle. The effect of social traffic is a bit different. The efforts that you put in today may not have immediate effects on your traffic now, but it can definitely explode your online presence in the weeks or months to come. As long as you participate in social media communities and keep your profile on those sites, you will experience and increase in your web traffic.