Social SEO is one of the fastest segments of promotion today and shows no signs of slowing down.
Why a Social SEO Strategy is Important
The rise of social media also is helping to boost the presence of companies in the search engine rankings. As social searches become more of a factor in overall online traffic analytics, your social presence online gains importance. If you want a larger market to take notice of you, or even just maintain your current market share of engagement, it can be worth it to keep a critical eye on your social media strategy.
How to Use This Type of Social Marketing
Many businesses devote an in-house online position to managing the company’s social media profile. You can build momentum for your promotions and enthusiasm among clients with consistent updates as you keep your brand in front of your audience.
It is in this capacity that the world can learn instantly about various topics from your business:
- New promotions your company is undertaking
- The latest deals available at your online site
- Updates on how product development is going for a new item
Social Tools
To best broadcast your message and start becoming a consistent presence in social media with a smart campaign, take time to know the tools of communicating and understand how each one works for specific goals. Each social media channel has grown into its own with specific marketing potential.
Some of the leading social networks include:
- YouTube
- Google +
Additional community outlets include
- Podcasts
- Blogs
- Social forums
- Online community bulletin boards
- Internet topic forums
- Magazine and newspaper online comment sections
Using these Social Tools
You could come up with numerous combinations of online marketing and promotion for your business depending on the goal you want to achieve.
All of the following efforts can work to build your online presence and brand recognition as a leader in your industry:
- A sales alert could be effective through your community on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook, in particular, works well for visual promotion. You can add photos and links back to your site to attract interest.
- Twitter can be effective for timely updates, such as changes in flight status with an airline or a one-day-only sale.
- Pinterest allows businesses to develop boards that can be a good way to offer visual promotions linking back to your online catalog.
- LinkedIn could be your go-to source for posting job openings or offering a perspective on events that your business peers might take interest in.
- YouTube channels offer video engagement with your audience that could serve as product demonstration to drive sales.
- Google + can give you a broader network through its social circles and boost Internet rankings the more you use it for interaction.
Moving Deeper into Social SEO
After you have a plan in place for tapping into the more popular social media sites, take some time to think about secondary promotions that could apply to your work:
- Podcasts can be a part of building expert credentials. Many self-help coaches use this strategy as a way to connect to a wider audience.
- Blogs can offer a personal touch to give your audience an insight into your life or the inner workings of your company. An entertaining blog can go a long way toward building trust and a deeper relationship with your clients.
- Social forums, community bulletin boards and Internet topic forums were the first wave of social media, but loyal users still connect in this manner, and they often serve niche-specific groups. Going into these forums could work for you if you do not try to hard-sell items. The groups often are popular for health-related topics, cooking or other personal advice topics. This may be an avenue to explore if just to offer the community an update about your business.
- Magazines and newspaper online comment sections on established media’s online sites have social worlds of their own, typically with the same group of commenters each day. If there is something topical in the news that relates to your business, this might be an avenue to explore, particularly for feedback management and public relations.
The Pay Off
With all of the potential for social engagement online, you may need to explore at length a combination of efforts before finding the one strategy that works for you. Your own promotions could be a mix of dabbling in all of the above.
If you or someone on your staff is devoted to this work, then it can be important to set up a daily calendar of tasks so that the work appears on a consistent basis for your audience. Blogs, Facebook feeds and tweeting on Twitter all take time to create and update. Different programs available online offer the ability for you to time-release posts so that you do not have to be sitting by the computer around the clock to hit “send.”
Your success ultimately will show in improved site traffic, a boost in your search rankings and ultimately your business.