Social Media Vs A Website: What’s The Difference For Your Business
Having a website and social media presence is essential in the digital age. However, business owners and executives often debate between focusing on either one of the two – social media vs website.
If you’re pondering what is best for your company, this article will answer all the essential questions needed to make an informed decision.
We’ll begin by looking at websites and then social media, exploring what makes each great.
Social Media vs Website: The Power of Your Website
1. Websites Help Discoverability
A website is what most potential customers will see before interacting with your company. It’s how your business gets found online.
One study by Nielson found that almost 90 percent of people find local businesses by using the Internet. That means companies without a properly maintained site are likely missing out on opportunities.
Having a website is also essential if you want to pursue SEO (search engine optimization) as a marketing strategy. That’s because you can’t generate organic search engine traffic without a site.
In fact, research from BrightEdge shows over 53 percent of all web traffic originates from search engines.
2. Your Website Gives You a Controllable Digital Space
A digital space you control is something crucial that only your website can provide. It lets you promote your services or products in any way you deem appropriate.
Last year, more than two billion people shopped online, driving e-retail sales to 4+ trillion US dollars worldwide, according to Statista. That illustrates the power of owning a website and the potential revenues one might be losing without one.
Some of the things you can do with your website include:
- Use landing pages to describe the services or products you provide effectively.
- Use special offers to drum up sales.
- Alter the content, design, and pages whenever you want, without limits.
- Leverage website integrations to grow your online presence.
3. Ignite Your Sales Funnel
A website plays an essential role in any organization’s sales funnel. It’s what guides audiences from the awareness stage to consideration and conversion.
Websites are also great for capturing leads on autopilot, including creating customer experiences unique to your brand. It’s live 24/7, 365 a year, selling your offers to prospects.
Some ways organizations automate lead generation include setting up a live chat feature and creating lead capture forms.
4. Establish Your Credibility
In a digital-first landscape, credibility is a big deal.
People aren’t likely to trust a business that looks sketchy or unestablished. One study found that 81 percent of consumers won’t buy from a brand they don’t trust. And a website can help you establish trust and credibility in the eyes of prospects.
Some ways to do that include publishing helpful content (e.g., videos, white papers, eBooks, etc.) and showing off relevant social proof (e.g., consumer reviews).
5. Collect Data with Your Website
Data is the new gold in the current digitally connected world.
A website can collect essential data for promotional or marketing initiatives. According to Forbes, 64 percent of marketing executives believe data-driven marketing is critical to business success, particularly in a hypercompetitive global economy.
It’s much easier to determine what’s working for your business by using data. For example, installing Google Analytics (GA) enables enterprises to track website behaviour on a high level. You can track valuable information such as the number of visits, average time spent on the website, bounce rate, and conversions.
Social Media vs Website: The Power of a Social Presence
1. Social Media Helps Brands Connect with Audiences
When it comes to the debate, social media vs website, a vital consideration is the ability to connect with customers more personally. Social media does that exceptionally well since the purpose of social platforms is to facilitate connections.
According to Statista, consumers spend an average of 145 minutes per day on social media platforms, up from 142 mins the previous year. So there’s massive potential to connect with target audiences on a more intimate level, though it takes some ingenuity.
For example, you could create a community (e.g., Facebook group) that the target audience will want to follow and participate in – allowing your company to engage and build brand awareness faster. Social media pages serve as a means to showing prospects the more personal side of your organization.
2. Brand and Reputation Building
The more connected consumers are with a company on social channels, the more likely they’ll become paying customers in the future.
Social humanizes organizations by showing that real people are behind the company. As a result, it elevates awareness and can help unknown brands build a reputation online.
For example, regularly sharing photos or videos of team members and the leadership team helps establish trust and improves brand awareness. Similarly, sharing high-quality and actionable content can help a company establish the reputation of thought leadership.
3. Social Is Great for Sharing
Social platforms are a great sharing tool that can help you connect with your audience.
It allows brands to share content that can engage prospects and win new customers. However, keep in mind that people consume content in different ways. As such, whatever you share needs to take into account the consumption habits of the target audience.
The more people you expose to your content, the more your influence grows.
4. Reach New Audiences
With social media, businesses can reach new audiences in ways that aren’t possible via a website. For example, hashtags allow users to follow specific topics on social networks, enabling brands to reach particular groups.
Using relevant hashtags can bring your content to people who are more likely to engage and complete a transaction. While organic reach is limited on most of the major social platforms, you can pay to play – use paid ads to increase reach.
5. Social Promotes Interaction
Social media encourages users to interact and engage – the like, share, and comment features, among others, are built specifically to encourage interaction.
So you’re bound to engage your audience, providing the right content is being shared. And the more people engage with your brand on social, the more reach, awareness, and sales you’ll gain.
When it comes to the website vs social media debate, the sound approach is to use both to support each other. Neither of these marketing tools should be overlooked.
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