Social media: the contribution of organic marketing to brand visibility and audience

Beyond the obvious benefits they offer in terms of marketing strategy (image, sales, brand awareness, leads, etc.), social media also represents an excellent natural lever for visibility and traffic for brands. How? That's what we'll explore in this short article dedicated to the advantages that social platforms offer in terms of organic marketing.

Social media and SEO: the truth is out there

Let's start by stating a fact: today, social media has no direct impact on organic search engine optimization (SEO), that is, a website's ranking in search engine results pages (especially Google). Note that we're talking about organic SEO (natural traffic, not sponsored) and not paid search engine advertising (SEA), sometimes also called paid search.

Indeed, as Google likes to remind those who still doubt it, its website ranking algorithm does not take into account any "social signals" (likes, shares, comments, number of fans or followers, retweets, etc.). Therefore, run away if you come across a social media agency that tells you otherwise. 

In other words, just because your social media account (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.) has a huge following doesn't mean your website will rank highly on Google. It might, but that's a correlation (a coincidence), not a causal relationship.

With that brief clarification out of the way, we can begin to look at the advantages that social networks offer in brands' marketing strategy, particularly in terms of reach and organic visibility.

The natural advantages of social media for brands

And yes, although they do not have a direct impact on brands' SEO, social media tools offer them and businesses significant advantages in terms of visibility and organic traffic.

First, social media allows a brand to diversify its website traffic sources. Indeed, today, the audience of many websites is heavily dependent on Google; that is, more than 50% of their traffic comes from visitors via search engines. That's far too much!

Indeed, by definition, traffic from Google is traffic that you don't control. Therefore, putting all your eggs in one basket is a risky strategy. Moreover, what will happen if your site encounters a technical problem or a ranking issue? Goodbye to your precious rankings, and with them your visibility, click-through rates, visitors, and ultimately, the invaluable customer relationships you've spent years building and refining.  

When you think about it, for a brand, having a website that is too “Google dependent” is actually counterproductive because, in fact, it cuts itself off from sources that present a much more qualified natural audience (the one found on social networks in particular) but also a much more powerful one in terms of awareness and exposure (reach).

Indeed, today, when a user (a consumer) is interested in a brand or a company, they will of course consult the brand's website but also its social media. For them, it's even the ideal way to familiarize themselves with the brand's codes, its values, its message, its editorial line, etc.

This multi-channel approach shows how crucial social networks are in a marketing strategy, beyond the campaigns for which they are used. 

Furthermore, creating a quality social content feed with a well-thought-out link to the brand's website helps to create a virtuous organic circle in which each component of the brand's web ecosystem (the flagship site, landing pages, social networks, etc.) mutually "boosts" each other.

Multiply the power of social media with a social media agency

As we have just seen, the natural possibilities offered by social networks in terms of visibility and traffic represent real opportunities for brands. This is especially true in the context of a health crisis where potential consumers are largely on the platforms (since they are not in physical stores) but where advertising budgets are not infinitely expandable.

Fortunately, thanks to social media and in addition to traditional media investments, there are several ways to develop organic marketing strategies that can boost subscriber numbers and create more online impact. Thinking about your target audience and the type of messages or content you want to deliver to them is a good starting point for developing this strategy. 

To take advantage of organic social media marketing (knowing how to use it with maximum efficiency), the best option is to use the services of a social media agency. 

At So Bang, we support and advise our clients on integrating this sometimes underestimated lever into their digital strategy. The quality of organic marketing is often a good indicator of the strength of the bond between a brand and its consumers. To learn more about social media marketing techniques, contact So Bang, a social media agency in Paris !