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WebProNews recently covered a study from Chitika, which found that Facebook was the most valuable social media tool for driving repeat readers to content sites. The study was based on 33 million unique users across Chitika's publisher network in September. It compared the number of visitors coming from major traffic sources Digg, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Twitter, to the number of times those visitors came back to the referred site. Visitors that went to a site four or more times in one week were considered loyal users. By a wide margin, Facebook led the pack in providing loyal traffic. 20% of all visitors from Facebook visited the site four or more times per week. "We've received the most clients from Facebook than any other social media website," a reader commented on the article. "Although we've received slightly more visitors from Digg and Stumbleupon, the viewers have not converted into customers the same way they had through Facebook." There has certainly been plenty of talk about how Facebook can drive traffic , but clearly there are still a lot of people struggling with just how to go about doing so. "Why am I not getting this?" another reader asked. "Blogs I've done are boosting my Google, Yahoo, and Bing ratings and getting traffic to my web site, but I'm not getting how Facebok can do this." Comments like these are not uncommon, and to be fair, this one was made prior to Microsoft's announcement of a deal with Facebook (Google has been rumored to be in talks with Facebook as well). But not all traffic has to come from search , although Facebook exposure can certainly contribute to that as well, if nothing else, than simply through promotion leading to links . When a Facebook user frequently checks for status updates, he/she is likely to see new posts made from Facebook Pages he/she is subscribed to. This means creating a Facebook page can have a great effect on page owners. Making readers aware of the page is key as well. Luckily Facebook has a widget called the Fan box , that you can put on your site, which can lead new visitors directly to your Facebook page. Facebook has also just updated another important widget - the share button . Now it will provide a live count of shares, as well as analytical information. You can find out how people are sharing and engaging with your content, and gain further insight into how your stuff is doing with the Facebook community (and adjust your strategy accordingly). Traffic is a common goal, but it is not the only one. Going back to the topic at the beginning of this article, brand loyalty is a big one. A representative for Stuzo Group , one of Facebook's exclusive development partners, shared some interesting case studies with us, looking at how they created branded applications and fan pages for brands like Doritos, Budweiser, Smashbox, and Purina. "When Stuzo works with these brands, the goals that they have most often in creating these promotions is to increase brand loyalty and recognition, boost traffic to their website, and drive sales," the representative said. "These goals all go hand in hand, and explain why Chitika's study was so valuable; hits to a website are great, but they don't mean much unless they contribute to brand loyalty and positive recognition of the brand ." ( emphasis added ) A common theme among the case studies provided by Stuzo is that they all present clear objectives for what they want to accomplish with Facebook. For example, Budweiser's were: 1. Create brand awareness through a strong fan base and social channel opt-ins 2. Incentivize users to engage with the brand on a regular basis 3. Convert new customers and drive increase in sales Budweiser went the route of contests and competitions (which are viral by nature). According to the case study, this has resulted in: - Hundreds of thousands of Unique Pageviews - Sustained high level of brand engagement by all measurements - Significant, continued growth in Budweiser’s Social CRM and social channel opt-ins Budweiser is just one example of a big brand finding success through social media, and through the use of Facebook in particular. As I recently discussed, you can find new and interesting ways to integrate social media into your own plans by looking at some of the brands you use yourself and how they employ different tools. This helps you to put yourself in the customer's shoes and determine the things that work and the things that don't. Related Articles: > Continue reading →