Social Media Optimization is often clubbed in with Search Engine Optimization even though, it is growing to be as major as the later with the lines between them becoming increasingly blurred. Most marketers are familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on at least a basic level. Using the ranks and reachability of search engines like Google or Bing to fuel your marketing campaign has been a successful strategy for years. But as social media grows as one of the top platforms in consumer use, new approaches to digital marketing have emerged. Various integrated strategies are used by businesses to maximize their reach online with profiles on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., all of which comprise Social Media Optimization (SMO).
With Social Media rising to become the new news, information, and broadcasting portal of the world, utilizing the platforms to raise your visibility and goodwill is more than important ever. One survey found 50% of companies that aren’t succeeding are not integrating SEO with social media marketing.
As with SEO, you should analyze your SMO efforts with social media analytics and keep a healthy balance of both.
Bing, which was accounted for over 33% of searches in the US alone during 2018, has been crystal clear about how their algorithm incorporates social presence into their ranking.
“Social media plays a role in today’s effort to rank well in search results… these positive signals can have an impact on how you rank organically in the long run.”
Businesses need to understand how social media platforms are individual search engines themselves. As with SEO, having a well laid out and responsive website is important similarly is for Socials. You need to have fully up-to-date profiles that speak clearly and cohesively about your organization. As for basics, keep your brand presence strong with a logo picture on display, brand name as the username, and an articulate description.
As you get onto building a strategy for yourself, make sure that it is aligned with your company goals and along the same lines only, focus on networking with the target audience, post engaging content, identify potential business and refine your market presence as a brand. Just like SEO, keywords play a huge role for SMO too just that they are used in the form of hashtags, pins, tags, etc. Large search volume Hashtags are synonymous to a greater reach as they can help you extend your reach to people who are not following you but looking for the things your business provides. Try encapsulating the hashtags of influencers in your industry or try relating the trending ones with your brand. You can also start a unique campaign through your very own brand new hashtags.
The share, follow and repost statistics that are assisted by limiting the number of characters is important too. However, including images and videos in your curated/created posts boosts your engagements multifold.
Most of the social media platforms including Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, even WhatsApp as a messenger have borrowed the concept of temporary posts i.e Stories from Snapchat. This makes engaging with the audience an even more nuanced process. As 24-hour posts (Stories) are temporary, tracking and strategizing with them is a regular job but the reach is incredible once you build consistency! For that, know your target audience and post at the timing corresponding to that with the right frequency because there is no point in creating content and posting if no one is seeing it.
Ultimately, the web is all about building connections, fostering relationships, expressing yourself, and sharing ideas with audiences–it’s inherently social. There are even more reasons for brands now to make the most of Social Media Platforms and optimize it to increase the core competency of their business through establishing fruitful relationships between companies and consumers.
