Report: Social Media Continues to Drive Website Visits for Marketers and Companies

As more marketers turn to social media to drive people to their organizations, new research suggests that it continues to grow as an effective channel.

Merkle recently published its “Digital Marketing Report” for Q3 2019, and statistics showed that the average share of visits to company sites produced by social media remained steady between Q2 and Q3 of this year at 4%. Compared to the previous year, social media visit share increased by one percentage point, indicating that it continues to grow as a channel.

In terms of specific social media websites, visits to company sites driven by Facebook grew 23% year-over-year, while visits via Pinterest increased 24%. Instagram grew 22% year-over-year, marking a decrease from 56% just one quarter ago.

Instagram Remains a Top Channel for Marketers

Despite the decrease in the number of site visits through Instagram in recent months, previous research shows that marketers aren’t giving up on the social media platform just yet.

Social Media Today conducted the “Instagram Marketing Survey Report,” and statistics indicated that 90% of marketers are now utilizing Instagram for marketing purposes. Specifically, 81% of respondents are using Instagram Stories to resonate with their target audience and prospects.

“Without a doubt, Instagram Stories, which now has more than 500 million daily active users, is fast becoming a must-have in social strategies today,” wrote the authors of the survey. “While some businesses may not think it’s relevant to their particular audience, and they may not feel like their brand has anything to create Stories about, the feature is becoming a key platform within itself.”