Table of Contents
If your business needs a kick in the right direction, it might be time to reevaluate your social media marketing strategy. Social media is increasing in usage and popularity as time goes on, and that pull isn’t going anywhere. There are more than three billion monthly social media users around the world, your business has a great chance of achieving its goals by leveraging different social platforms.
Too many marketers ignore how social media plays a crucial role in giving their businesses the boost they need. One survey found that 50 percent of companies that aren’t succeeding with SEO aren’t integrating social media marketing. If your social media isn’t optimized, your brand reach won’t get as far as it should.
What is social media optimization?
Just like it’s essential to optimize your website to create conversions and drive organic traffic, you need to do the same with your social media marketing strategy. Social media optimization, or SMO, uses optimization through social media to promote a business and further its reach. Its goal is to higher a website’s ranking in search engines and give it boosted visibility so the chances of getting noticed by the right audience increases.
SMO allows you to create a strong online presence for your brand. It furthers your reach when other efforts aren’t getting your name spread far enough. It also helps improves your lead generation so you can cater to a wider audience who needs your business solutions. Being active on social media opens up a direct line of communication between you and your customers to resolve issues and make connections imperative to the success of your brand.
Conduct keyword research
When you create your content marketing strategy, you conduct keyword research to know which keywords to use in your blog posts to attract attention to the right audience. The same goes for your social media content. Finding and using the right keywords is how your target audience finds your content and follows your account. When people search for keywords related to your industry, you want your brand to be the first one that shows up.
Use Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to find well-performing, popular keywords your audience is currently searching. These tools allow you to create a list of terms that will drive traffic to your social media profiles by updating them with these terms and phrases.
It’s important to avoid keyword stuffing because Google abhors this practice. Write and insert these keywords naturally so they don’t feel forced and flow with ease. Use only terms that are relevant to your brand and industry.
Fill out every section of your profile
Every social platform has its own algorithm for whose content it’s going to promote, what types of content will pop up most, and to whom. For example, on Instagram, if a post consistently performs well by gathering a high amount of likes and engagement, it tells Instagram that this is a high-quality account. Therefore, the more a quality account posts to the platform, the more visibility it gets so it continues to perform well. Twitter switched up its algorithm last year by giving users the chance to choose between top tweets and latest tweets depending on what type of content they’d rather see.
A good way to ensure that your target audience still finds your content, regardless of any algorithm changes, is by optimizing all parts of your social media profile. This is the first thing new visitors see when they stumble upon your brand online. It tells them what they need to know about who you are, what you do, and what value you bring to the table. It’s also what visitors see when they look up your brand on search engines, so if they aren’t filled out from a customer standpoint, your business loses out on potential followers.
Across social media, these are the main components of a profile you need to optimize:
- Profile photo
- Header image
- Bio
- Location
Your profile photo should accurately represent your brand and make it clear that you are who you are. If you already have a brand logo, it’s a popular idea to use this as your profile photo. If you own a personal brand, however, you can opt for a professional headshot. It’s important that your photo is clear, sharp, and the right size suitable for each platform. The photo you choose should be the same photo across all your social media accounts for consistency and credibility.
Your bio is arguably the most important aspect of your profile. In just a few short sentences, describe what your business does and how it helps its target market. Write in clear, concise sentences that are easy to read and explain what your business does. Tell users what they can expect to see from your content and, if you have enough space, insert a call-to-action to prolong engagement with your brand. Adding branded hashtags and industry-related keywords help your profile gain visibility by people who search those terms, so add them if they flow naturally.
Create original content for social
A great way to grow your social audience and refer more visits back to your website is by creating content specifically for social media. Studies show that social media content is the most effective type for B2C businesses. It’s common to see brands posting content that links back to their blog posts or product pages, but if you can find new, creative ways to entice your audience, you’ll have a better chance of improved reach.
Create original content for social media that isn’t already on your website. This forces you to come up with new ideas to approach your audience and promote your brand. Tell a story about your brand and try to connect it to your audience. Incorporate other types of media like photos, videos, gifs, and emojis. Think outside the box in terms of how your content can be relevant to your audience and excite them about your brand.
Grammarly, a grammar and spellcheck app, used the original content in this tweet and tied it back to their brand by incorporating an attention-grabbing image:
Use social retargeting
There’s going to be a percentage of your website visitors who browse and then leave without taking further action. You can use social retargeting so that those same visitors see your brand’s ads while on social media and remember to return and become customers.
These social ads use cookies to track when lost visitors are on social media so your ad is shown to them directly. When they scroll through various sites and social media platforms, the ad will continue to show until the goal is met and they click through to purchase a product.
Retargeting ads are effective when they resurface because they show customers products they were already interested in to begin with. They’re different for every platform, but by taking the time to incorporate it into your social media strategy will bring about better reach and boosted visibility.
Wrapping it up
Optimizing your social media marketing strategy will help your business capture leads, increase followers, and further your brand’s reach. It’s important to conduct keyword research, fill out your entire social profile, create original content specific to social, and utilize social retargeting. By adding these steps into your strategy, you’re sure to see a boost in activity from your target audience.
