All brands seek a devoted and enthralled social media optimization. What makes you think they wouldn’t? It’s a low-cost technique to promote items and raise brand awareness. However, building a large social media following is difficult. And merely being present on a platform isn’t enough. This is where SMO (social media optimization) comes into play. It’s a strategy for increasing interaction and, as a result, expanding your company’s reach.
There are 3.499 billion active social media users worldwide, according to a survey by Hootsuite and We Are Social. You have the chance to connect with active users, but you’ll need to enhance your social media to accomplish so. We’ll go over what social media optimization (SMO) is and how it relates to search engine optimization (SEO), as well as some SMO strategies and examples of B2B organisations who are crushing it on social media.
What Is Social Media Optimization and How Does It
Work?
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SMO entails determining which content performs best for your business on social media channels and then replicating that success. It’s much easier said than done. To do so, you’ll need to find out what kind of material your target audience wants, figure out where you fit in the social media world, and then execute (and then reassess) your approach. You might recognize it as a procedure comparable to search engine optimization (SEO). What is the major resemblance? The idea is to get your material in front of as many individuals as possible.
Social Media and Search: What’s the Connection?
It’s tempting to believe that all you need for a good search ranking is a speedy website with lots of content and appropriate meta tags. Google’s algorithms, on the other hand, consider a variety of factors, including how well you perform on social media. The amount of followers and level of engagement on social media can be good indicators for Google. Basically, if you improve your social media, you’re more likely to rank higher in search.
These SMO Tips Will Help You Expand Your Reach
There’s no denying that social media optimization is crucial, but how can you optimize your social media presence to increase your reach? Here are a few SMO pointers to consider.
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Select the appropriate platform(s) for your target audience.
When your prospects and customers are online, where do they go? They might use Pinterest or Facebook in their personal lives. They’re more likely to be found on sites like LinkedIn or Stack Exchange when they’re utilizing social media for work. According to the Content Marketing Institute, LinkedIn is the most effective B2B social media site, according to 66 percent of marketers.
Encourage your workers to express their ideas.
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Because it provides people with a social outlet on the internet, social media is successful. But social media isn’t only for fun; according to a Bamboo by Sprout Social survey, 67 percent of individuals use it for business. People are also more likely to connect with people they know rather than with brands. In fact, a post about a brand from a friend is 16 times more likely to be read than one from the brand itself.
As a result, encouraging employees to contribute branded material on social media is critical. Create an organized employee advocacy campaign and use sharing tools that make it easy for employees to spread the word on social media to improve your company’s social media presence.
Make use of graphic stuff.
As a user scrolls through their social feed, visual content draws their interest. The more visual content you can put into your plan, the better. This is especially true on image-heavy sites like Pinterest and Instagram, but it’s also true on B2B-friendly platforms like Twitter. Tweets with photos generate 18 percent more views, 89 percent more likes, and 150 percent more retweets, according to a Buffer study.
Make use of hashtags, but don’t overdo it.
Hashtags can aid in the discovery of content. Instagram posts with hashtags, for example, may expect 12.6 percent higher engagement than posts without hashtags. However, no one wants to come across a post that is littered with hashtags. This detracts from a post’s genuine sense.
So, how many hashtags should you include in your post? It depends on the platform, to be sure. It’s been discovered that one or two hashtags are sufficient on Twitter and Facebook. A decline in involvement has been connected to using more. Using fewer than ten photos on Instagram is a smart tip to follow.
Social Media Optimization in 5 Easy Steps
Examine your target market.
As previously stated, you’ll need to focus on the correct platforms, which should be the ones that your target audience uses the most. The purpose of this phase is to figure out which social media channels your target audience utilizes and where they want you to be.
Checking current social media activity is also a good idea. Which channels are the most popular right now? Some may generate a lot of engagement, while others may drive a lot of visitors to your website.
Conduct a competitor analysis.
After that, you’ll need to conduct a competitive analysis. You’re trying to figure out how you compare to the competitors. In comparison to them, how much social media activity do you see? What forms of social content are your competitors or other industry leaders using (or not using)?
Create a plan based on your findings.
Once you’ve figured out who your target audience is and what your competitors are up to, it’s time to create a well-defined strategy to help you achieve your objectives. According to an MIT Sloan Management Review business research, a lack of strategy is a major barrier to becoming a social business, with 28 percent of organisations citing it as such.
Put that strategy into action.
A strategy is worthless if it isn’t put into action. A strategy is carried out by a team, and in order to make the vision a reality, SEO executives and content marketers must collaborate closely with social media and community managers. Because social media optimization and search engine optimization are so closely related, these teams must collaborate to achieve the same goals and ensure that the message is consistent across all channels. If followers desire additional information, a brand can direct them to a blog article or an in-depth guide when they post on Instagram.
Examine the results and make any adjustments.
The results of the strategy should be assessed and corrections made once it has been implemented. Outline how often you’ll check in on the results in your original strategy. That way, you won’t have to estimate when the best time to weigh in is.
Tools for Social Media Optimization
To make this a reality, you’ll need the correct social media optimization tools. Fortunately, there are a variety of tools available to assist you with your social media optimization efforts. Here are a few people who might be able to assist you.
- Buffer, MeetEdgar, Sprout Social, and Later are all social media scheduling systems.
- Alexa, for example, is a search, social media, and audience research tool.
- Marketo, HubSpot, and Salesforce are examples of marketing automation software.
- Canva and PicMonkey are two examples of image creation software.