10 Rules Of Social Media Optimization
Rob van Alphen
LBi Belgium
Be sure to check out some other 'Optimization' presentations we gave at our Client Afternoon
Changed environment:-Enormous range of new tools available to communicate, express opinions,..: easier, faster, cheaper, and on a much wider scale than ever before- Corporations need to adjust to these changes and evolve from topdown to bottomup/dialogue (openness/transparency) Increasing importance of social media (3M FB users in Belgium)
What we, and every business, try to do, and has become more important since the growth of social media, is reach the top of the engagement pyramid. Starting from publish (old way of communicating; pushing messages to an audience) to empowerment: engaging users in the most active way (co-creation), by creating 1:1 dialoguesThis should be our priority; with ROI coming along the way..
SMO: subset of social media marketing=Optimizing your exposure through social media & generating public interest in your content. Because even if you have the greatest content, people will not find out if you take the wrong approach in promoting it. Complementary with SEO: both are methods that aim to attract more visitors to your website. SMO however is more than using search engines to drive traffic, and uses a variety of techniques and channels. Benefits:- Increase visibility (link generation, natural SEO)- .. and accordingly your reputation & thought leadership (give your company a face!). Generating a positive image with your target audience- Relationship building which in turn will lead to improvement in sales=> All this means gaining the edge in your highly competitive market by outsmarting the competition.
Ofcourse it won’t be of much use to start optimizing, if you haven’t determined your strategy..Without a strategy, you cannot determine ROI & establish your objectives
10 golden rules in improving your social media presence & optimize your communication strategy by creating visibility. By adopting these rules you can increase the number of site visitors & (if well done) reach your objectives more easily; gain momentum
Register your company/brand/product name on all networks-> proactive: in case users register your brand name & talk in name of your company (check with Namechk.com). Better to be safe than sorry Being ever present also means you’ve got to be on different channels. Be where your customer is (monitoring needed!). On every channel link to your main profile; i.e. Homepage where all channels are gathered.
Driving people to a website isn’t enough. OK, so you’ve got more visitors.. but what’s the next step? What do you want them to do? Every consumer thinks: “What’s in it for me?!” Find out what makes your audience tick, and use this information for your own benefit. In first place this means: creating content (1) .. and making it valuable (2) If you do not provide valuable content, people will not come. This can be anything like whitepapers, blogposts, videos, ... The principle is simple: “give value to get value” ... + a catchy title always helps (+ copywriting / conversational style..)
People may visit your website, but they will not come back if you do not provide valuable content on a regular basis. Recurring visitors are evangelists in the making. BUT also update ‘timeley’ (do not bookmark, post, tweet,... in the evening) -> ofcourse especially relevant when trying to reach people in a different timezone.
Promote your content on different social media platforms: No successful social media campaigncoversjust a single social media site. -> i.e. A recorded video can be posted on the company blog, youtube channel, bookmarked on Delicious & the link posted on Twitter & Facebook Link with traditional media channels (360°): i.e. Put a link on your magazine/billboard ad (cfr. Pepsi: facebook fanpage link on can) + Promote your content in the right places: “one of the most important benefits of SMO is the targeted nature of its approach. Your content is promoted only and exactly where people might be interested or would sooner or later require your services.”
You can provide as much valuable content as you want, but if people don’t notice it (promotion comes in here!), or do not have the possibility to share, it will not spread. Making content/ideas spread is essential to reach critical mass. -> + open up comments (when you have a blog,...); encourage interaction Think about it: what if you could reach the 2nd degree network of your customer by adding a simple share-button. Knowing that the average Facebook user has 130 friends.... the potential is enormous!
Join the conversation! Do you leave your own party when the guests arrive to go pick a movie? Communication is a two way process. Find topics that interest you, and engage (express opinions, be helpful..). Provide links to your community, website, blogposts,... to get the readers back to your site If you established your own community, it’s not just about participating yourself, but encouraging participation among members. -> The most succesful communities thrive when you just let it go, and let the magic happen. i.e. Let’s say you are on Twitter, listening to potential opportunities or threats. You react on a tweet helping the person in question. He/she found the information helpful and thanks you for this. You can then retweet the positive feedback. This way a positive message was send multiple times to the network.
Encourage the reuse and remix of your content and ideas. Basic: RSS / Simple, but good example: Youtube (embed urls)-> open source / API (with the future being mobile, this provides lots of potential)
Reward your most loyal customers: those who act as brand ambassadors, help others or are the most active. Do something that makes people come back and, more importantly, stimulates them to spread the word-> i.e. Link to their blog / respond on their comments,... (rewarding does not mean financial)
Never stand still. Keep up with the latest technologies and developments, and just think how these can help you further your business or better fulfill the needs of your customer. Inspire / do something that hasn’t been done before / make it worthwhile (and it will spread) Look at your competitors and what they are doing. How they are evolving.. (INSIGHTS)
Key principles a company should keep in mind while engaging online are: transparency, authenticity and trust. Engage in a conversational style (be human, be fun), and not in a bureaucratic one.
Wonderful things can happen. Let loose does not mean give up!
Change management is an essential element to let social media be part of your organization & marketing strategy. Companies must co-evolve. i.e. you cannot become an open organization if you block access to social media for your employees.