As Facebook continues to dominate the world of social media, we hear a lot about how marketing through this platform is the way to go. While we always recommend using a variety of marketing tactics to get the word out about your brand, there is never any harm in focusing a bit disproportionately on the world’s largest social media network. As the dynamic of how we absorb news and information continues to change, we as brand managers and webmasters must change along with it. Recent announcements and changes in the world of Facebook reinforce this concept. Below, we’ll discuss why it’s important to focus on Facebook when seeking to boost your site traffic.

One-Quarter

A huge and recent finding shows that Facebook referrals account for nearly one-quarter of the average website’s traffic. Think about that for a second. We’re not talking about social media accounting for a quarter – just Facebook. This huge trend toward the absorption of news, product reviews, multimedia and more via Facebook is the wave of the future for most brands who rely upon marketing. Pinging users with ads via search remains an intelligent approach for capturing a huge chunk of traffic, but Facebook is now at a point where ignoring its utility can no longer be tolerated in a world of brand-related success.

Other Sites Don’t Compare

When looking at the percentage of site referrals driven by other social media sites, none come anywhere close to Facebook’s potential. The next best site for traffic is not Twitter, but Pinterest, which is responsible for around five percent of all web traffic. Rounding out the top three is Twitter, which mustered only a measly one percent in this category (further reinforcing the notion that Twitter is not the best social media platform for inbound marketing). StumbleUpon, relatively speaking, still commands fourth place with just a little more than one-half percent of the referral traffic.

An Array of Possibilities

Facebook provides ample flexibility for marketers, bloggers and content creators – to the point that you’re never sure what you’ll get. Facebook’s algorithms are tricky things, meaning that each of your posts may be seen by thousands of people, or just a few. Likes and shares can go a long way toward boosting that, as can paid advertising. There may not be a better platform in terms of social media that incorporates a wide variety of multimedia like Facebook does: videos, photos or text can all be shared and are all prominently featured in ideal fashion, unlike networks like Twitter that may minimize links, automatically hide videos or restrict your ability to pour your thoughts out directly on the platform.

Conclusion

When pinging users with content, you want to be sure that the content resonates. More importantly, however: you want to be sure that the content compels the reader to visit your website or blog. Facebook now drives one-quarter of the world’s referral traffic to websites – a momentous development. With a wide array of possibilities in terms of sharing content and no real competitors in the business, your brand must double-down on marketing efforts through this social media giant.