| Why should I care about Social Media | | | | equivalent to spam. Unfortunately, we're all far |
| Optimization? | | | | too familiar with spam. Unsolicited bulk messaging |
| You should care about Social Media Optimization | | | | and link heavy advertisements instead of useful |
| (SMO), because you care about your company's | | | | comments are two of the more prevalent |
| image. There's an old saying that goes something | | | | methods of Social Media spamming. However, |
| like, "A happy customer will tell one other person | | | | Social Media spamming is even more atrocious |
| about his good experience. A disgruntled customer | | | | than email spam, because the offending text is |
| will tell ten people about his bad experience." Good | | | | visible to everyone on the site. It doesn't hide in |
| or bad, that's powerful marketing. Social Media | | | | your inbox, so it can really dilute the appeal of the |
| Optimization gives you the power to take an | | | | site. Your kindergarten teacher was on the right |
| active role in managing your brand by interacting | | | | track. If you don't have something relevant to |
| with your current and potential clients by | | | | say, don't say anything at all. |
| discussing your products, their comments and | | | | Is SMO right for my firm? |
| concerns and continually promoting your brand. | | | | There are many different types of Social Media |
| Social Media Optimization Defined | | | | sites currently available. To put it in perspective, |
| In its most basic form, Social media optimization ( | | | | think about all the different interests you have in |
| is any method used to raise your website's online | | | | life. Now, consider the possibility that there's at |
| visibility through meaningful communication. SMO | | | | least one Social Media site for each of your |
| opens a dialogue between you and your clients, | | | | interests. Of course, you're not the only person |
| using the power of popular opinion to fuel your | | | | on the Internet, so it's a safe bet there are |
| marketing campaign. The open format | | | | literally millions of sites dedicated to countless |
| strengthens your search engine optimization | | | | interests around the world. Believe it or not, |
| efforts by fostering a mutual connection with | | | | there's a group out there looking for your |
| your clients through the myriad of online | | | | company, product or service. You just have to |
| communities, also called social media sites. Current | | | | make it available. Therefore, understanding how to |
| examples of SMO include: | | | | submit to and maintain your content on each |
| Â- Creating profiles in social media communities | | | | community is absolutely crucial when developing a |
| such as MySpace, Facebook, and VIRB. | | | | successful SMO strategy. |
| Â- Participating in and/or creating blogs. | | | | A few examples of the different Social Media |
| Â- Disseminating your blogs or articles using | | | | genres include: |
| RSS feeds. | | | | Â- News - These sites allow users to submit |
| Â- Creating and sharing content through | | | | news articles. Once an article is published, users |
| community based sites like Flickr, YouTube, and | | | | can submit their comments and vote to promote |
| more. | | | | the story and/or author. |
| Not to incorporate unnecessary buzz words, but | | | | Examples include: Digg, Propeller, Newsvine |
| SMO is a very Web 2.0 approach to Search | | | | Â- Media - These sites allow users to upload |
| Engine Optimization. Of course, Web 2.0 merely | | | | and share a variety of different media files. The |
| refers to the perceived second generation of | | | | overwhelming majority of these sites are |
| Web-based communities and hosted services - | | | | dedicated mainly to photo and video files. |
| the social-networking sites, wikis and | | | | Examples include: YouTube, Flickr |
| folksonomies, which facilitate collaboration and | | | | Â- Wiki - These sites allow users to add and |
| sharing between users. SMO allows you to | | | | edit informational articles as determined by the |
| become an active member of your online | | | | individual users. |
| community, quite an important aspect of | | | | Examples include: Wikipedia, WikiHow, Million Dollar |
| marketing your brand. Through participation, you | | | | Wiki |
| establish yourself or your company as an industry | | | | Â- Networking - These sites allow users to |
| leader and increase your online visibility. | | | | create profiles and network with others according |
| As you can imagine, Social Media Optimization is | | | | to similar traits, tastes, and interests. |
| most effective when the viral nature of the | | | | Examples include: MySpace, Facebook, Virb |
| technique and its communities are utilized in a | | | | Â- Bookmarking - These sites allow users to |
| positive manner. Creating legitimate content, | | | | compile public bookmark collections of sites they |
| building relationships and instilling trust in your | | | | find interesting, informative, or helpful. The more a |
| community is the very backbone of SMO. You | | | | site is bookmarked, the hgher the ranking. |
| may initiate the process, but effective SMO will | | | | Examples include: Stumble Upon, Technorat, |
| take on a life all its own. A true forum is bred | | | | Del.icio.us |
| through the act of continual communication | | | | When executed properly, Social Media |
| between your company and your online audience. | | | | Optimization can be quite a beneficial marketing |
| Of course, not everyone plays by the rules. In | | | | tool. However, SMO may simply not be the right |
| every aspect of life, you will find those who | | | | fit for your organization. Some questions you |
| would cheat the system to receive short term | | | | might like to consider before launching your SMO |
| gains. Like most schemes, the underbelly of SMO | | | | campaign are: |
| may seem attractive to anyone looking for a | | | | Â- Most SMO sites share very specific |
| quick fix, but don't make that mistake. Just as it's | | | | information. Would your products benefit from |
| true with SEO, erroneous SMO will backfire. Using | | | | this type of content specific market? |
| questionable techniques will very likely yield the | | | | Â- The audience for most Social Media sites is |
| exact opposite results you were hoping to see. | | | | more of a young, tech savvy group. Would your |
| SMO Etiquette | | | | company, product or service appeal to their fickle |
| Legitimate SMO techniques are centered on | | | | nature? |
| sharing information and exposing your community | | | | Â- Does your web site contain a blog, or similar |
| to your interests. As such, you want to focus on | | | | media outlet, you can regularly update with |
| promoting proper SMO etiquette. The MySpace | | | | relevant content? |
| super friend, the guy or gal who adds anyone and | | | | Â- Given the fact that community based sites |
| everyone, would be a good example of improper | | | | focus on individual profiles and commentary, are |
| Social Media Optimization. The whole concept | | | | you comfortable with developing unique profiles |
| behind Social Media is to create a community with | | | | across multiple sites? |
| similar interests for meaningful discussion and let | | | | In summary |
| the power of popular opinion increase your online | | | | Social Media Optimization has become a successful |
| visibility. Of course, you may belong to several | | | | marketing tool for one simple reason. It works. |
| different communities and you may even have | | | | The gap between old media and new has gotten |
| some of the same friends in those different | | | | smaller and smaller with the majority of the |
| communities. That's perfectly fine. The idea is to | | | | prominent television and print media outlets finally |
| remain active in your communities by adding | | | | embracing the Internet by launching sites of their |
| friends and contributing relevant content. Adding | | | | own. The different Social Media sites, like |
| friends in bulk, for no reason, is no way to | | | | MySpace and Facebook, have exploded with |
| optimize. | | | | profiles for everything from 8th graders |
| Communal sites like MySpace and Facebook, or | | | | discussing their favorite bands to full scale ad |
| even YouTube and Flickr to some extent, are | | | | campaigns for Blockbuster movies. |
| indeed popularity contests. However, simply trying | | | | If done correctly, SMO can expose your brand to |
| to catalog massive amounts of unrelated, | | | | markets you never thought possible. Whether it's |
| uninterested "friends" is totally counterproductive. | | | | used alone to drive a campaign or in conjunction |
| Let the high school kids worry about who's got | | | | with your current interactive marketing strategy, |
| the most friends. For the purpose of SMO, you | | | | Social Media Optimization offers you a significant |
| should concern yourself with quality, not quantity. | | | | advantage. |
| Using unsavory SMO techniques is the Web 2.0 | | | | |