Tips for Social Media Optimization

Internet marketing is now one of the most profitable ways for companies and brands to get their name out, and social media optimization is making that task much easier. Social media optimization is used to help direct traffic to specific websites using social media. Companies are no longer using the Internet merely to sell their product; they are also using it to strengthen relationships with consumers.

Why Companies/Brands Are Utilizing Social Media Optimization (SMO)

1.  Social media is expected to help engage customers to companies from 16% to 57% in the next 5 years.
2.  30% of the world uses the web and social networking. There are about 250 million tweets and over 800 million Facebook status posts every day, according to Mindjumpers.
3.  62% of Fortune 500 companies have an active Twitter account, and almost 58% maintain a corporate Facebook page.
4.  23% of Fortune 500 companies maintain an active blog.

Tips to Maximize Your SMO Practices

1. Improve linkability.
2. Make tagging and bookmarking simple.
3. Reward inbound links.
4. Help your content travel.
5. Encourage mashup.
6. Become a user resource.
7. Reward valuable and helpful users.
8. Understand the target audience you are here to serve.
9. Create authentic content.
10. Develop an SMO strategy and select your strategies wisely.
11. Make SMO practices part of your business methodology.
12. Create content that is sharable.
13. Make sharing easy.

Here are some timeless SMO practices that marketers should implement.

1. Relatable content is key. People will share and give exposure to content or opinions they can relate to. Valued content will go mainstream in social networks.
2. Publicize your content in a variety of ways and make it user-friendly.
3. Make sure you praise and recognize users that comment, share, or express their thoughts on your content.
4. Constantly share your thoughts as a company. Whether you have them up on different sites, such as Scribd, SlideShare, or YouTube, make sure you have something posted. Videos can be of great benefit to your brand.