If you want to attract potential customers , generate thousands of visits every day and close more sales , web pages are the way for you.
If you want to build a community , converse with your audience and aim for virality, social networks may be the most suitable option.
A web page is a piece of land that you buy on the Internet.
An account in a social network is a space that you rent and that can stop being yours from one day to the next.
A web page will help you to be found through search engines (Google). A social network will be very useful to connect with people who share your same interests and then spread your message.
In the digital world, to promote your company’s products or services, you have two great options:
1.- Build a website.
2.- Open an account in a social network.
What should you invest your time and money in?
To tell the truth, the perfect strategy includes both the website and the RRSS .
However, below we will compare both marketing and advertising tools so that you can make the best possible decision, in case you can only choose one of the two.
In this article, just as we did in our text on Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing , we will compare these two alternatives according to 5 variables:
1) Methodology : How do they work? What is its essence? What are they based on?
Website : Attract visitors.
Social networks : Build community.
2) Ability to measure results : How accurately can you assess the performance of each?
Web page : You can find out how the user found you, where he came from, what he did within your site and much more.
Social networks : The platforms give you some statistics for free, and others for a fee.
3) Speed – How fast can you get new customers?
Website : If you target the right words and there is no competition on those particular terms, you will be able to attract qualified prospects in a matter of days through Google.
Social networks : Building a community takes time. Even if you go viral.
4) Return on investment and conversion rate : What is the ROI with one and the other? Out of 100 people, how many will pay attention to what you are offering?
Website : You can generate a lot of income with few visits.
Social networks : You can have millions of followers and not generate any sales.
5) Durability : How long will you be able to enjoy the good results of your campaigns?
Website : The content you upload online can always be found .
Social networks : The posts you publish will be lost after a couple of days.
In other words, a web page is just one of the many sections that a site can have.
However, for practical reasons, in this article we will use both terms as synonyms.
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The essence of social networks is to group people around a topic of shared interest.
The same user can be attracted by Real Madrid, by the Democratic Party of the United States and by Bitcoin.
For each of those topics, that individual will look for the best accounts to follow in order to: stay informed, make a decision, or just have fun.
On the other side of the sidewalk are the content producers (companies, media and personal brands).
Their task is to get to know their audience, study and guess what can satisfy that group of people and create posts accordingly.
In practice, we can all play the role of producers or receivers of content. One day we have to create and the next day consume .
The important thing, if you are a company owner and you want your organization to have a space on these platforms, is that you define your message and your objectives well: what you want to achieve with your participation in the various networks.
Creating a community around one or more particular topics, as we will see later, takes time. Building the trust necessary to close a sale takes even longer.
What is a web page? Methodology: attract visits
A web page is like the office or store that companies have on the Internet.
Its role is to attract a specific target, just when that target wants to know something about what the company in question sells.
If you want to increase the sales of your business and for this you decide to create a site, your goal will not be so much to create a community but to get people who are interested in your product or service to land on one of your pages.
The great advantage of sites is that their content is indexed (archived) in Google .
Therefore, when someone searches for something related to what you do, you can appear in front of them at the right time.
Attracting a specific target just when they want to hear from you is an unparalleled advantage that divided marketing into a before and after .
Statistics in RRSS: some are free and others are paid
If you have a regular account, you can find out how many likes your tweet received, how many comments your post has on Instagram or how many times your post has been shared on Facebook.
In a business account, which is also free, you will be able to know some more things, such as how many people your message reached, how old your audience is, among other data.
If you do paid campaigns, you will have even more numbers at hand.
Measure results on website
With your website you will find out how they found you, where your users come from and what they did within your pages.
How to know visits and web traffic?
With applications such as Search Console, Google Analytics and HubSpot you will have the opportunity not only to know how many visits you have received, but you will also know what words they found you with, how much time users spend on your website and on which specific pages they have been more minutes.
In addition, you will be able to determine what was the path that a potential client took before contacting you.
Did you check your pricing page ? He read several articles and is already informed about your services?
These notes will be very useful for your sales team and then you will define what is the content that is generating more transactions.
The above are questions that with social networks you will not be able to answer .
Let’s face it: you don’t build a fan base of thousands overnight.
You can buy followers and have 100k in the followers box, but doing so guarantees that:
1.- You will not really have a connection with your audience.
2.- Despite having 100,000 followers, your posts will not even reach 100 likes.
3.- You will not have built trust, the key factor to close any transaction.
You can make great campaigns and create a significant base of prospects in 3-4 months, but remember: transmitting security depends on other aspects.
Only time and perseverance will allow you to be a recognized voice in the market.
How long does an SEO strategy (positioning your website) take to give results? You can attract qualified prospects in a matter of days
Ranking organically on the first page of Google can take, on average, between 2 and 6 months .
And being at the top of the search engine brings with it a great advantage: everyone trusts what appears there.
If your website is located on the first page, it usually means that it has passed quality tests and, therefore, Google approves that content.
What does all this mean?
That, unlike social networks, on the web you don’t need to build a fan base, but attack an existing demand .
That is, you can know how many people are looking for something related to the product and service that you sell.
Consequently, you will be able to create the content that satisfies that need, and then close a sale .
If you discover that 100,000 people a month search for “Coat for my pet”, you can write a text with that title and then, through a call to action, offer that person that article of clothing for their dog or cat.
Therefore, you could get a sale in a matter of days .
In the RRSS, the engagement rate is usually very low. Accounts with millions of followers receive 10,000 likes ( Nacho as an example ).
There are cases of influencers who were unable to sell even a shirt ( see article ).
Also, to build a community you need to constantly post content. Post after post. Day after day. Which requires a lot of work (time and money).
In addition to this, keep in mind that followers are not equal to sales.
People do not enter social networks to buy, but to kill time, get information and have fun.
People don’t expect to see ads that sell something.
According to Rand Fishkin , engagement on Instagram is 1.73% per post.
This means that only 2 out of 100 people interact with the publication that appears in front of them.
On the other hand, according to Shopify (2014), the conversion rate on Instagram is 1.08%.
Which means that only 1 in 100 users buy after clicking on an ad.
Price :
According to Marketing and Web School , you can advertise on Instagram from €1 a day.
Hootsuite points out that on IG, you can pay by the number of interactions or by the number of impressions.
The same company notes that the average cost per click on an Instagram campaign for 2017 was 0.72 USD.
Rand Fishkin said at MozCon 2019 that Facebook engagement is 0.09% per post.
That is, only 1 in 1,000 people interacts with the publication that appears in front of them.
Price :
WordStream (2019) did a study and found that the average cost per click on Facebook, taking all industries into account, is 1.72 USD.
That is, you will have to pay almost two dollars each time someone clicks on your ad.
According to Fishkin himself, the interaction on Twitter is 0.048% per post.
Only 1 in 2,000 people interact with the post in front of them.
On the other hand, according to Shopify (2014), the conversion rate on Twitter is 0.77%
That is, less than 1 person out of 100 bought the advertised product or service after clicking on an ad.
Price :
As the platform ‘s website indicates:
Whether you’re a small business or a large brand, Twitter Ads campaigns can be tailored to fit your budget. There is no required minimum spend for Twitter Ads, and you always have complete control over how much you want to spend on your campaigns.
As in other social networks, the price will depend on an auction scheme.
Generate leads with a website: you can generate a lot of income with less effort
If your company has a portal, you can receive thousands of readers every day, without the need to constantly publish articles.
Plus, you’ll attract prospects who are ready to buy .
Google already gives you the trust factor: if you come out first, it means you’re good. Therefore, selling will be easier.
Another advantage is the following:
Unlike social networks, to generate thousands of visits you do not need to be writing all the time.
You do not require the constant publication of content. If you write neuralgic pieces, you can sit back and see how they work for you.
Remember two things:
1.- The contents do not get sick or ask for vacations. They will be your sellers at all times and will be ready to appear when someone does a search related to your products or services.
2.- Unlike social networks, people can enter Google to buy. And not only that, but there are searches that have a high purchase intention, so if you appear first in that type of query, you will be very close to closing sales.
A good post has a shelf life of 2-3 days, at most.
If it goes viral, people will share it everywhere and whoever posted it will enjoy their minutes of fame.
The problem is that when that wave passes, that post will be lost in oblivion.
In addition to this, it is difficult to find old content on social networks, because their internal search engines do not have the same efficiency as Google.
How long does a web positioning campaign last? The content you upload online can always be found
A good article lasts forever .
If you successfully cover a topic, Google will put you first for a long time.
So, every time someone searches for something related to that text, you will appear there to offer the answer.
The same piece of content can work for you for months or years.
In Google, the posts are not lost in oblivion, but gain strength over time.
| Variable | Redes sociales | Página web |
|---|---|---|
| Metodología | Construir comunidad | Atraer visitas |
| Capacidad para medir resultados | Buena (sobre todo si pagas) | Excelente (métricas detalladas) |
| Velocidad | Lento (si no utilizas publicidad) | Rápido (si apuntas a las palabras adecuadas) |
| Retorno de inversión | Bajo | Alto |
| Perdurabilidad | Días | Años |
A web page will serve to produce and store relevant information for your customers or prospects. It is a house on the Internet that will constantly attract guests.
Social networks will help you connect with people interested in what you do. As GaryVee says , they’re kind of word of mouth, but on steroids.
To find out which platform has more value, let’s compare the following scenario.
If you could choose between these two options, what would you choose?:
a) 100,000 followers on a social network.
b) Appear on the first page of Google when a potential customer searches for something related to your business .
Example
Let’s say you set up a watch business, and after doing some keyword research , you discovered that the term “stylish watches” is searched for 200,000 times every month.
What would happen if you managed to rank first in Google for that term?
You would attract those 200,000 people, wouldn’t you?
Now, let’s remember Cyrus Shepard’s phrase:
“Unlike traditional marketing, where you pressure/interrupt the user with a message , SEO allows you to deliver just the content the user is looking for, exactly at the same time they are looking for it.”
So you’d be walking in front of people who want a watch like the one you’re selling, just when they’re looking for a watch like the one you’re selling.
Social networks, despite being an extraordinary tool, do not allow us to do this.
We can have many followers in our social network, but three things happen:
1.- The engagement rate is usually very low. Accounts with millions of followers receive few interactions.
2.- People do not enter the networks to buy something. Sign in to see what your friends or favorite artists are up to.
So, you can have your watch account and post really nice photos, but that won’t get you any closer to the sale because your entire fan base, when they get on IG, won’t be thinking about whether or not to buy your watch.
On the other hand, if one of those people consults Google about watches, it would mean that they are still waiting to buy a watch and that is when you could appear in front of them.
Remember: when people go to Google it means they are looking for something. When those same people are on social media they may just be killing time.
That is the big difference.
3.- Networks can be invaluable tools for inbound marketing (if you share valuable content), but their content is not indexable.
What does this mean?
That you write it today is very difficult for it to be found by a person who uses Instagram in one or two months.
It is not registered in a database as it happens with search engines, which are like libraries.
In Google the contents will work for you at all times and at all times. They don’t get sick, they don’t ask for days off, they don’t have unforeseen events and they don’t change their mood.
Basically they are public relations professionals prepared 24/7 to serve a potential client in the best way.
Now, thanks to the texts and videos you produce, you no longer have to repeat the same thing over and over again. The content will work for you.
If you dedicate yourself to being an expert in your field and translate that knowledge into content, you will dominate Google and you will be the main reference within your market.
