Before we update you with your social media optimization techniques, please take a look at what social media optimization (SMO) is all about and how you can get benefited using them.
It will be nothing wrong to say that most marketers are now aware of the positive effects of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques up to a certain extent. They know how to garner better results using search engines like Bing, Google and Duck Duck (most recent one). SEO techniques have long been adopted by marketers to fuel your marketing campaigns in the best possible ways.
Also Read- How to Build Your Social Media Marketing Strategy With Most Efficacious Ways
But with the advent of Social Media, hundreds of new and transforming ideas started spawning to reach your customers expeditiously. Well, the power of social media is not hidden any longer. You can see a number of social media optimization (SMO) techniques (campaigns) being emerged lately.
So, in today’s perspective, if you want to help your business reach millions of customers, then you must need to adopt such strategies without getting further delayed.
What Is Social Media Optimization (SMO)?
Social Media Optimization is primarily a group of strategies or techniques implemented to promote your brand, products, etc., on various social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.).
It is done by sharing the content to these platforms and then getting the desired results in the form of your brand visibility, more leads, etc., across the web.
SMO is a well tried and tested strategy that attracts users to a particular website. Using this technique, you can promote or advertise your business with more ease and flexibility.
With social media becoming popular among marketers, most businesses have started setting up their official Facebook or Twitter page, as it is one of the most effective and visible mode of communicating with your customers. It’s also the best way to promote or advertise your brand online.
SMO is all about building, creating and maximizing your entire social media plan to better connect with your target audience in the easiest ways. Take a look at how Social Media Optimization can play a vital role in maximizing your profits-
- Generate more leads
- Strengthen your brand value
- Connect with your audience
- Enhance more visibility
Why SMO Is Crucial?
Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) techniques used to be a separate entity long time back. But now, both these techniques use almost the same set of strategies and look like to be more intertwined than before.
By looking in terms of Google, it seems that social media directly impacts search algorithm. So, in that sense, it is going to be highly crucial for your business to plan a foolproof marketing strategy. As per one survey conducted in this regard, it has been established beyond doubt that close to 50% companies that didn’t get any success with SEO failed to integrate social media marketing.
The meaning and strategies of online business are always changing. In that sense, if you plan to have an ultimate approach to your online business, you will require a healthy balance of SMO and SEO. As you already know the reasons for that, let’s take you through some of the steps to maintain a vital balance between both strategies.
Time to Optimize Your Strategy
Due to the fact that social media is ever changing, you need to find new ways to keep your business well on track. However, if you fail to plan a proper SMO strategy, you might lose the credibility of your business in the long run. So, what needs to be done in this regard? Well, in order to help your business grow, you must implement these strategies without a fail.
At this time, most companies have realized the impact of social media on their business growth. For example, 28% of companies believe that a lack of a foolproof strategy in this regard is hampering their overall business growth. So, there is no other way but to design and develop an effective social media marketing campaign with defined goals.
Now, you might be thinking about the ways to plan an effective social media strategy for your business. Well, you don’t need to worry as we have enlisted a few steps to help you set up your SMO strategy in best possible ways.
- Find and focus on networks that add value to your business
- Plan your social goals strategically and solve challenges
- Create engaging content that makes sense
- Use best practices to identify your business goals on social platforms
- Try to engage with audiences instead of ignoring
- Constantly track, market and meliorate your efforts
So, if you too have a documented strategy well in place, you will better be able to scrutinize your efforts in this regard.
1. Optimize Your Social Profiles
This is one aspect where you need to be extra cautious. Creating your social profile seems to be an easy task, but actually enlists a number of crucial steps. Be simple and try to be effective.
For that, you may want to highlight your official company page as your business foundation. So, make sure you develop a highly interesting profile page reflecting your business. In general, it should comprise your business goals, bio, cover photo, etc.
In case, if your profile page is incompetent, it would be tough to build anything on the top of it. Kindly take a look below to build a strong business foundation.
Profile picture- You can use your company logo in place of your profile picture. However, if you are a personality, freelancer or consultant, you may also use a headshot of yourself.
Username- Always use your company’s name as your user name. Selecting your favorite social media username is going to emerge as a crucial factor for most companies. However, if you still face difficulty finding the one, you may use Knowem. This will help you to check if the username you have chosen for your business is widely available.
Bio- This is very crucial not only for you, but also for your business. To make things transparent and accessible, you may place the relevant link on your website to drive more traffic. You should also include relevant keywords in between to make your web page look more visible in search results.
Also, you need to make your profile complete in every respect. There are some social media sites like Google+, Facebook and LinkedIn that give you the privilege to enter information about your business.
It has been noticed that many businesses leave this field without completing. But your page will stand out more if your profile page is complete in all respects.
2. Optimize Your Content
Well, this is another crucial aspect that you should never miss. In terms of SEO, We often discuss about the fact – content is king. The same phrase holds true in SMO as well. So, you won’t be able to succeed in your social media marketing in the absence of high quality content.
Now, content can be of two types on social media-
- Curated content
- Original content
In order to get the best results, you must publish a mix of both.
For social media, you must publish original content that should be a part of your campaign. However, curated content is something that is shared using a number of sources.
In any case, only that content should be shared with the audience that has more value attached to it. So, you need to find out the content that your audience is searching for. You may do this by analyzing different search results, retweets, etc.
3. Post Headlines
Always keep experimenting with things and find out what works best for you. While posting anything on Facebook or Twitter, always use different headlines that look catchy. It sometimes happens that a particular headline is giving you better results than others.
4. Always Use Images
As per a study, B2B Marketing Mentor has found that images happens to be the most relevant tactics for optimizing your content on social media. In addition to this, you may use Canva to make all your images look perfect for each social media channel.
The best way is to share a featured image in your social media posts. This is because your image will be shared every time your content is shared.
5. Use of #Hashtags
The use of hashtags has become increasingly popular with the use of social media marketing. Facebook, Google+, Instagram, etc are allowing hashtags to make your posts reach faster to your target audience. Hashtags are an easy way to nail down any trending topics in your niche.
6. Post Length Also Matters
All social media platforms allow you to enter your text. For example, Twitter lets you enter up to 140 characters every time you make a tweet. However, your tweet should not comprise maximum length. Please take a look at the breakdown of the ideal length post on different social media networks-
- Facebook: Less than 80 characters and up to 40 characters
- Twitter: Up to 100 characters
- LinkedIn: Up to 25 words
- Google+: Up to 60 characters
7. It’s Better to Optimize Your Schedule While Posting
Posting is as crucial as the time you choose. There is no point sharing your content when nobody sees it. Please find below the appropriate time to post as one of the best social media optimization strategies.
- Twitter– 12-6 PM
- Facebook– 1-3 PM
- Google+: 9–11 AM
- Pinterest: 8–11 PM
- LinkedIn: 7–8 AM to 5-6 PM
- Instagram: 3–4 PM
8. How Often You Should Post?
While posting anything on social media, your sole aim should be to maximize your reach. And for that you must adopt a particular frequency. Find below an optimal social media posting frequency for a number of social networks-
- Twitter: No less than 5+ times per day
- Facebook: No less than 3-10 times per week
- Pinterest: Up to 5-10 times per day
- LinkedIn: Up to 2-5 times per week
- Google+: Up to 3-10 times per week
9. Track Your Progress With Social Media Analytics
The way you track your SEO progress, in the same ways, you should also keep monitoring your SMO (social media optimization) efforts with the help of social media analytics. You can always track the progress your social campaigns by using a plethora of social media marketing tools.
You can achieve your SMO goals with the help of Google Analytics (using UTM codes). Such codes along with shortened URLs basically allow you to track your website traffic from all social media channels.
You may also use such data (derived from social marketing tools) to ascertain the impact of your campaigns being run.
Wrapping It All
Social Media Optimization (SMO) can always help you achieve your desired results on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other channels. All you need to do is to start using a strategic approach to and amplify your results in better ways.
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