A study conducted by social technology company 8th Bridge has revealed that online retailers prefer Facebook over any other social media marketing platform for traffic and sales.

Facebook tops in referral traffic and perceived value

The survey, which took a closer look at nearly 900 online retail brands, found that Facebook’s adoption rate may be relatively the same with that of other social networks like YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Vine, but in terms of referral traffic and perceived value, Facebook comes out on top.

There’s a catch though. This traffic, as discovered by 8th Bridge, is not organic. Far from it. It’s actually ad space paid for through Facebook Exchange. Then again, top online retailers have no problem shelling out money for it because as far as they are concerned, Facebook has the most potential to drive sales.

When it comes to average upstream traffic from social media, Facebook also shines. Data collected by 8th bridge from respondents reveals that Facebook provides 2.16 percent of total social referral traffic. Paling in comparison are YouTube (0.82 percent) and the practically non-existent traffic from Twitter (0.02 percent) and Instagram (0.01 percent).

Facebook has always been regarded as being the most powerful social ad network. If anything, the findings of 8th Bridge only solidify that reputation.

So if you’re an online retailer looking to boost traffic and sales through social media, you now know which social media platform to turn to.