by Luca Moretti
Social media has come to play an incredibly important role in
the marketing campaigns of a variety of different businesses.
Here are 8 rules of social media optimization that you must
follow to ensure that you maximize the results of your social
media marketing campaign.
1. Increase Your Website's Linkability
The problem with a lot of websites is that they are static.
Their content remains the same and nothing on the site is
updated on a regular basis. Increasing the linkability of your
site is one of the first and most important steps of social
media optimization and SEO. The easiest way to get started with
this is by adding a blog to your site and updating it regularly.
2. Develop a Clear Social Media Optimization Strategy
All marketing campaigns have a strategy behind them and SMO is
no different. Define your objectives and set goals that will
help you reach your desired outcome, whether that is
credibility, a boost in reputation, site traffic, or increased
conversions. One of the biggest mistakes that many companies
make is not approaching SMO with clear goals or a strategy.
3. Stay Fresh
Don't be afraid to be different in social media. The social
media landscape is constantly morphing and the companies that
dare to be unique are the ones that end up with the most
successful SMO campaigns and getting national PR. Keep up with
all the new tools and products that pop up to stay on top of
your game.
4. Make It Easy for Readers to Tag and Bookmark
When you add features like the "add to del.icio.us" and the
"Retweet" buttons to your content, it serves as a direct
reminder for people to share your content. Many bloggers receive
a 100% increase in retweets when they add the button. When a lot
of people tweet or Digg your content, you get a lot of social
proofing. Nonetheless, you don't necessarily have to make it
easier for people to tag and bookmark since great content will
be shared no matter what.
5. Help People for Nothing in Return (Yet)
To put it simply, in social media, you have to give value to get
value. You can pass along links that would help someone resolve
an issue or give them advice if they need it. Eventually, people
will come to see you as a source of information. This will lead
them to link to your site or tag it as being an authoritative
site in your niche, gradually boosting your reputation and
improving your search engine ranking.
6. Participate Fully in the Community
Participation is the core of social media. Social media is a
two-way street. You must create awareness of your brand and
spread your message by participating in social media outlets on
a regular basis. Your reputation and message will spread faster
and further if you actively participate.
7. Know Your Target Audience
In order to make content and market ideas that are compelling to
your target audience, you have to know them well. You have to
realize that you can't appeal to everyone. That's why it's
important to know who your main audience is so you can tweak
your messages to appeal to them. In order to learn who your
audience is, you have to become a member of the community
yourself.
8. Be authentic
Social media users are becoming more and more skilled at
spotting fakers so to avoid being shunned and prevent damage
from being done to your reputation, be authentic in your
interactions.
About the author:
Luca Moretti is the head copywriter for SEOsapien.com
