There are multiple channels for a blogger to gain audience to their blog. These channels include an organic reach through various search engines like google, bing etc. Social media platforms are also one of the top performing channels to drive traffic to ones blog.

Here is a full break down of various channels:

• Social: Traffic coming from social media platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram and Reddit etc.
• Organic Search: Traffic that comes from search engines like Google
• Direct: Bookmarks or URLs that were directly typed by an user.
• Mail: Traffic from links provided in emails
• Referral: Traffic that comes from a link in another website source.
• Paid Search: From sponsored search advertisements on a search engine like Google, Bing etc.

So the obvious question for bloggers is which channels should I focus more to drive traffic to my blog.

A recent study made by GrowthBadger reveals The average top blog gets 66.47% of its traffic from Search compared to 6.44% from Social. The keyword here that needs more attention is average.

So whether you should focus social media platforms to drive traffic or not? – It Depends.

Social media platforms work excellent for brand reinforcement

If there is so much ROI bloggers can expect from search engine optimization efforts, why almost every brand/ website out there spend investments on their social media teams? A recent study by Statista in collaboration with The CMO survey revealed in 2024, a 24% share of marketing budgets is devoted to social media marketing. And there is an increasing trend in that share from 2015 to 2024. The reason why companies spend a quarter of their marketing spend on their budget is because, social media platforms do fantastic job when it comes to brand reinforcement and recognition.

According to a recent article on Forbes, Companies know social media can help reinforce a brand by building brand awareness, reputation, and loyalty. As a blogger, you too can leverage social media to create your brand and presence.

Social media platforms drive traffic – when done right

The same survey by GrowthBadger referred above also points out, there are differences in how social media platforms drive traffic depends on the industry/ niche you are in.

some industries do rely more on social media and other traffic sources than others. Business and Marketing tops the charts with 18.05% of its traffic coming from social networks — followed by 11.58% for Fashion and Beauty.

News/ Media Agencies/ Blogs:

Internet news agencies and similarly themed blogs take great advantage of photo based platforms like Instagram and Pinterest to reinforce their brand.

Nytimes.com shares their articles on Instagram and here are two things that drives user engagement on their page

• Reinforce their brand by repurposing their great photo journalism, perfectly written titles, applying a standard logo
• They either call for an action by saying it in the title or by creating a caption on the photo inviting curiosity from the subscriber

Cooking/ Recipe / Health Category Bloggers:

Bloggers whose niche is either cooking, health leverage social media platforms like x/twitter to their advantage.

InspiredTaste posts every recipe on their twitter/x account along with a great looking image. They also post a link to the recipe (a call to action). and leverage Pinterest to drive traffic to their blog. They organized all their recipes and pinned them on their board. Check how they have created their profile in whole:

Easy recipes for home cooks that you will want to make again and again. We love all food, especially veggies!

They described what they are up to, who they are. Understand how it is important to describe yourself to make your subscribers understand who you are.

We are great fans of Inspired Taste here at socialDapr. We get so much inspiration from them and are proud to feature them.

Personal Finance Bloggers:

Personal finance is another niche that can leverage social media platforms to drive traffic. The Penny Hoarder is a great example to learn from on how to use social media to direct traffic.

The Penny Hoarder posts thoughtful tips, clues to approaching financial discipline at a personal level. Their posts, reinforce their brand colors, actionable insights they are known for.

Life Style Bloggers

thejuggernaut.com is another example of how bloggers can leverage social media platforms to reinforce brand, drive loyal traffic. They follow the strategy of taking snapshots of their original article, post them as pictures on Instagram. The snapshots provide an excerpt view of the article. People often get curious and are inclined to go on to the website and subscribe to the content behind the paywall.

Are social media platforms are right for your blog promotion?

Let’s examine the question again now. Are social media platforms are right for your blog promotion? Yes they can be! if you answer yes to any of the checklist questions below:

• Can I use my blog content and turn them to snippets that
  • Invite call for an action?
  • Can create curiosity among my subscribers?
  • Ask for a feedback?
  • Take a quiz on my article?
  • Try a free trail for a time period?
  • Redeem a paid service for free for a trail period?
• Do I produce any content that is social media friendly e.g. include:
  • Content like copyright free images that are licensed for social media as well
  • Content that I can let my subscribers consume with an attention span of 5 seconds or less
  • Content that resonates well with my brand (fonts, colors, logos etc.)
• Can I create assets that I can use for social media in a productive way?
  • Your approach should let you re-purpose content with out spending too much time on mundane social media tasks. e.g. creation of images from scratch, re-writing captions.

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Bloggers have various channels to drive traffic to their sites, including organic search, social media, direct visits, email links, referrals, and paid search. Although 66.47% of traffic on top blogs comes from search engines, social media plays a key role in brand reinforcement and awareness, with 24% of marketing budgets allocated to it. Different niches, like business, fashion, and personal finance, use various platforms effectively, demonstrating the importance of tailored strategies. By creating engaging content and using social media strategically, bloggers can enhance their visibility and audience loyalty. Adapting to industry-specific needs is crucial for success. You can read through our 5 point strategy guide to get more pointers.

Good Luck.