Social Media Optimisation: Make Your Business The Talk Of The Web

You have most probably heard of SEO and SEM, and may even be applying them your website, but there is another acronym making its way around the big wide world of Internet marketing. It's called SMO - that is Social Media Optimization.

SMO is using social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, to attract visitors to a website. More and more businesses are using social media outlets on their websites to market their product or service to the visitor in a new, different, and exciting way. It is not just about drawing visitors in through search engines anymore - you can take the initiative and just get those hits yourself. SMO is about knocking down walls and allowing information to be shared with each other - and if that is your business' information being shared across the globe, then you can imagine the benefits of this.

You might join a social networking site, add social news sections into your website, blog, share videos and images. The more links on other websites that link back to your own, the better. And the more interesting, vibrant, up-to-date content you write, the more people that will be following those links back to your website. With the tide of social media outlets rising, the possibilities are endless. SMO has been described as the next level of online marketing, and it's easy to see why.

The facts don't lie

The past year has seen a rapid growth in the popularity of social media, more dramatic than the years before it. In Australia alone, Twitter had 800,000 visitors in June 2009, up from 13,000 in June 2008 (that's a 607% increase). Think it's not relevant to your specific customers? The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 55-65 year-old women. It would seem that nearly everyone is using social media. Still not convinced? Three out of four Australians visited a social networking site in the month of June. You can't ignore the facts - one of the easiest and most effective ways of attracting visitors to a website is through social media.

The popularity of social media is at a high, so it makes sense that this needs to be taken advantage of now, and be used and applied in your online marketing campaign.

Making SMO work for you

So you like the idea, but you're not quite sure how to get it to work for your online business. The first step is choosing the right social media - you need to select one (or more) that best suits your market demographic, and that will work best for what you want to use it for. If you have a website that advertises retirement village condos, there's not a great deal of use in using Twitter - a social media outlet that is being used mostly by young adults.

• YouTube is a website where users can upload, view and share videos.
• Facebook is a social networking site where each user has their own page. Access is free.
• Twitter is an online micro-blogging service that allows users to post regular updates ('tweets').   
  
• Del.icio.us is social bookmarking service, where users can store, find and post their favourite bookmarks. 
  
• Flickr is a website that hosts videos and images. It most commonly used as a storage and blogging space for users' photographs.

This list is by all means not comprehensive; there are countless social media outlets available and more being created every day. Do a little research, have a play around, and find the one that is most well suited for your website and why you want it. Is it for pure advertising? A way of connecting with customers? Having your say in the community? Twitter is great for joining in discussions, allowing you to build your reputation within your chosen industry, and connecting with your customers. YouTube, on the other hand, allows you to use video as an easier, more interesting and entertaining way of getting your message across. Some businesses have a range of videos on their very own channel, all of them with a unique feel that is exclusive to that business. Facebook is a great way of connecting with customers; allowing them an insight into your business and making them feel more a part of what you do.

Reaping the benefits

Say you have a store and a potential customer walks in. You wouldn't walk up to them, hand them a long winded document, and walk away to let them read it. You would engage them personally, chatting to them, showing them different products, perhaps making them laugh. You would definitely try to engage them and get them to enjoy their experience with your business. That's the sort of familiarity that SMO can give you. Even a social media outlet as simple as a video feed on your website can attract more visitors, and give you an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with customers or prospects.

Applying SMO methods to your website is a way of giving your business instant exposure. To be a part of a social networking site is to have extra publicity, and any business that becomes part of an online community will only see good things come from it. Visitors will see that your business is contemporary and 'up to date' in what it has to offer, and your brand can be strengthened through the extra hype that social media can bring to your website and to your brand. For example, loyal customers can become 'fans' of your Facebook page, which then shows up in all of their friends' feeds, instantly making your brand more recognizable.

There's no doubt about it, social media is the way of the future for businesses. SMO can be used to establish yourself and your brand in the community. It will allow you to connect with your potential customers in ways that online businesses did not and could not before.

For more information on how social media optimization can build your business or brand, contact iQuantum for personalised advice.