When the desire to bring traffic towards a business strikes, the major white hat options that are available as routes are social media and search engine optimization. These two are both very useful traffic generating strategies that however have core differences that make one appropriate for a situation where the other would be a short sale. While a lot of people weigh them against each other, it is usually better to combine them.

Search works wonders for strictly business searches.

Just like you probably pull out your phone to lookup a product after seeing someone with it, so does everyone else. If the product they are searching is one you sell, the chances that they call you for it are increased only if your website or the landing page from the search results have relevant content and images of what they are looking for.

The almost oracle ability of telling what phrases customers are searching products using is a good start for provision of exactly what they need. Media rich content has always been easier for customers to read and share with their friends on social media.

The other advantage that search has in addition to being the first place customers run to for products, is that you can your campaigns all the way to the top page of search results. Nowadays, almost all search results have a short list of sponsored results that get clicked more often than not when relevant to the requirements of the customer, and leading to a sale.

Social media complements and works for interaction.

When the objective is to engage fans of your brand or increase awareness without even them searching for products, social media is the most efficient route. Facebook recently released bots that will improve targeted marketing for companies looking to spend each unit of their capital on potential clients that are already known to like their type of services.

Companies also get to show their true colors to their clients by responding to their posts, something that can work to their marketing efforts. The foundation of trust that can be built with fans that have an average of 500 friends each is a good bomb waiting to explode businesses with the right strategies. A simple interaction between your campaigns and the fans you amass with time sends your efforts to thousands of potential customers in under a 1 second.

Search engines have been known to consider the social activity of companies together with their content strategies on websites when listing search results. All the more reason for a company to be active on Linkedin Groups, Twitter and other social media platforms where their daily activities have the ability to make or break all their other SEO efforts.

It has become possible for a company to launch a product while streaming it live on Facebook as a business responds to followers’ questions. Not only does this prove a strong selling tool, it further reinforces a company’s chances of repeat customers and even establishment of ambassadors of their products on social media.