What is social media optimization?
Social media optimization (SMO) is one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around a lot, but not too many people understand what it actually means. Understanding social media optimization can help you take your company to the next level and differentiate yourself from the competition.
At its core, social media optimization refers to any strategies that brands (or people) use to help promote themselves online. It’s a vital part of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. To do it properly, you need to figure out which platforms are best for your industry and promote content and posts that are both compelling and have a call to action.
If all of this sounds a little bit overwhelming, don’t worry. This guide will help you understand all of the ins and outs of social media optimization and make your social media presence work for you.
How does social media optimization work?
Social media optimization helps you increase your followers and engagement within the social media platform. Often, the goal behind this is to increase sales or to use your social media to drive traffic to your website in meaningful ways. It ensures that your social media presence works in conjunction with your website and promotes your brand at every step of the way.
Social media optimization requires more than just setting up a Facebook or Instagram account. You need to use the platform properly to get results, which is why you should seriously consider working with a good Denver social media agency that can help you set up a game plan. It’s all about digital marketing strategy.
How social media incorporates with SEO
Search engines like Google look at your online presence to rank you on search engines. It’s vital that you rank well if you want to stay competitive. Some companies make the mistake of thinking that a good website is all they need to be at the top of search engines like Google and Bing.
Untrue. The entire online ecosystem must be considered when thinking about SEO, and that involves social media channels.
Your social media presences is part of your digital footprint, especially if they’re directing traffic back to your website. Optimizing your social media and making sure it’s running as efficiently as possible is one great way to increase search engine rankings.
How To Use Social Media
You need to know how to use social media if you want it to work for you. Different platforms require different types of engagement, and you must mix up your posts to maintain interest from your audience. Ultimately, there are a few different ways that you can ensure that you’re using social media appropriately and getting the most out of your marketing strategy.
Know your audience
You first need to know and understand your target audience. Figure out who your existing audience is and who you want to reach in the future, and tailor your posts and messaging accordingly.
Take a look at your existing customer base. How do they want to be communicated with? A fine-dining restaurant will have a much different approach to social media than a construction wholesaler who works with B2B clients.
Have a strategy and stick with it
One of the most critical aspects of your social media optimization strategy is the ability to stick with it for the long run. Social media optimization, and search engine optimization in general, hinges on repetition and consistent messaging. This is another good reason why you might want to employ a marketing agency to work with you on messaging and brand.
Use your keyword research
If you’ve already done the legwork of optimizing your website for SEO, congratulations. You’re one step ahead of the game. You want to use the keywords you’re using in your SEO campaigns and incorporate them into your social media optimization plan.
Since consistency and branding are key, using these keywords in essential posts and as hashtags will help you to reinforce your message and rise in Google’s rankings.
Fill out your social media profiles properly
Take the time to correctly fill out each social media profile, including a clear profile picture, company information, and any pertinent links. Always make sure to link out to your website and put your web address in any essential posts. Doing so will help you establish backlinks and maintain a more robust presence online.
When writing your company or account description, be sure to use your main keywords. That will make you more visible to those searching for your services. On certain platforms like Instagram and Twitter, you may also want to consider including a few hashtags in your profile description.
Automate what you can
Since social media optimization is an ongoing process, you’ll need to spend a lot of time crafting posts and adhering to your brand message. So take the time to automate what you can. There are plenty of online programs that can schedule posts for you. (At Kafen8, we use Cloud Campaign). Setting aside a few hours a week to automate all of your upcoming posts will free up your schedule and is a must to stay with your posting frequency goals.
Pick your social platforms wisely
This point goes hand-in-hand with understanding your audience. Choosing your platforms wisely will save you time and energy in the long run. For example, if you’re targeting a younger audience, consider posting in places like Instagram. Older audiences might gravitate towards Facebook. Business content and networking is best for LinkedIn.
Don’t feel like you’ve got to be on all of the social media platforms. Choose one or two at the most to truly focus on.
Understand your optimal post frequency
Similarly, understand how often you need to post on social media to be effective. Generally speaking, you should post to Facebook between three to ten times a week. Twitter requires more robust engagement, and you should shoot for at least five posts a day.
Create quality content that is of high service
The better your content, the faster you’ll grow. Consider your audience, and what questions they have. Aim to be of high service to your audience and prospects. At Kafen8, we fully believe in giving away quality advice and tips on our blog and in our socials.
Why? Because we believe that it’s important to build trust with your prospects and audience, and freely helping them is a great way to do so. Read our post on creating social media content that sells.
Diversify your media
Keep things interesting. Although it’s fine and good to link to original content on your website, you should also consider linking out to other diverse authorities or sources. Switch things up by putting visual media into your posts. Try to use infographics, video, and a variety of content whenever you can. Doing so will keep people engaged with your feed.
Also, be careful with your hashtags and create content that people want to engage with for the best possible social media optimization outcome. A little legwork now can net you huge rewards later on, so it pays to prioritize social media.
