Social media marketing boosts traffic and inbound links for Eloqua.com

There's been a lot of buzz about social media marketing of late – from news about Twitter milestones in light of its recent birthday to multiple comments from Google's Matt Cutts about the value of social media in relation to search marketing. As reports indicate the promise of social media, Eloqua.com has seen measurable results that marketers may covet.

Last summer, the brand launched a social strategy surrounding its content marketing campaigns. While the firm felt confident in its info-heavy, high-quality content, it was looking to boost brand awareness and bring more consumers' eyes to its rich blog posts.

“Content marketing is the art of storytelling. I look at the pieces of content we publish as characters of that story. But, a collection of characters isn't a story,” said Joe Chernov, director of content for the firm. He believes that social platforms serve as the binding that puts it all together, or “the place we tell the story based on the characters we create.”

The company promoted its content via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter prior to distributing it to social users. It also reached out to consumers who tweeted about the brand, making it a point to share articles with this engaged audience. As a result, Eloqua saw lifts in traffic and heightened engagement with its content.

Eloqua received 12,000 new visitors to its blog, and this relevant audience proved to be interested in what the brand had to offer – there was a 43 percent increase in traffic referred to its main ecommerce site from the blog. The campaign also boasted a 21 percent increase in content views, a 12 percent increase in page views across Eloqua.com and a 14 percent decrease in bounce rates.

Plus, the social campaign enhanced Eloqua's SEO efforts as, it received 11 posts and related tweets from the industry influencer AdAge.

Marketers across industries might want to follow suit and distribute their content via social channels. Notably, small businesses plan to boost their social marketing this year with local content in order to engage nearby consumers.