The Contribution of Social Media Optimisation to SMEs by Jonny Lis
This is guest post by Jonny Lis is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Smart Traffic, a private company with SEO Specialists in Australia. He oversees optimisation strategies for Smart Traffic’s 300+ campaigns. Over to you Jonny:
Over the years, we have witnessed the rise of Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and Pinterest. The growth of these social media giants is really impressive. At the rate that they’re going, we will surely see more innovations from them, along with rising contenders like Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, and others.
So how is this relevant to small & medium business marketers and online advertisers?
These days, you may have noticed the proliferation of different SEO techniques, ones that are stricter and more standardised. Well, on the contrary, social media marketing is a less rigid method, allowing for creativity and interaction on your end.
Now, that is just the main thought. To really give you an idea about how significant it is to our online efforts, here is a brief discussion…
What is Social Media Optimisation?
Otherwise known as SMO, it refers to the different techniques used to market, refer, and bookmark your business website aided with various social media tools. Since this is still a new concept, most people argue that it is part of off-page optimisation, and it may have stemmed from that very category.
The whole point of having a website is to promote your business, right? Therefore, your main goal is high traffic and prominent visibility in search engine results pages. This is where social media sites come in. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube are highly effective in driving quality traffic to your website.
However, SMO is not as simple as sharing, liking, or posting new status updates on your social profiles. Your referral traffic depends on two key aspects: the “creativity” of your content or posts and their “shareability” across varying social media platforms.
But even so, why is it crucial for SMBs/SMEs?
It broadcasts your image to a global audience.
The great thing about social media is that it is global. It is not limited to the US borders, nor is it exclusive to Asia and Europe. It literally has access everywhere, be it Papua New Guinea, Alaska, or Thailand. So whether your market is worldwide or just limited to a certain geographic scope, you will find that it is effective in presenting and promoting your business to an active audience.
It diversifies your advertising campaigns.
It can be quite hard to predict what your target market wants. This is the main reason you must utilise all possible platforms when promoting your brand. Some people prefer reading tweets, some like browsing through their newsfeeds on Facebook, while other like seeing pictures on their Pinterest dashboards. To satisfy and appeal to different kinds of internet browsers, you just have to use a lot of networking sites for advertising.
Plus, with the fact that SMO is virtually free, you really won’t lose anything through social media marketing.
It is not called social media for nothing…
The purpose of SMO is to make your marketing efforts easier. You do not have to rely on experience or tools just to get your campaigns started. By using the most effective platforms and by engaging with your customers actively, you will soon reap the benefits that social media has to offer.
About the Author: Jonny Lis is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Smart Traffic, a private company with SEO Specialists in Australia. He oversees optimisation strategies for Smart Traffic’s 300+ campaigns.
Thanks Jonny. If you liked Jonny’s article you may find our Social Media Planning Template useful – a free download!