Wednesday Words: Social Media Optimization (SMO)

We've talked about sharability, interaction and engagement in the past Wednesday Words.  They, ultimately, lead to today's word, which is Social Media Optimization.  This can be defined, in laymans terms, as Search Engine Optimization for Social Media channels.

As mentioned with sharability, interaction and engagement, the key to getting people to interact - whether it's sharing, liking, retweeting, favoring, etc. - is to create online content that is likely to be shared through social networks.  It varies according to each brand and their audience, but it is an important thing to keep in mind.

If you are looking to find out what things appeal to those in your audience, check out similar pages and twitter feeds and see what gets the most interaction, then imitate it.  Don't use exactly what they use, but use something pertinent and similar and go from there.

Best of luck!

Wednesday Words are a series of definitions released on Wednesday each week regarding a word found specific to Facebook's social media platform, or may be a generic word dealing with social media.  These definitions are to help provide you with a better understanding of common and uncommon terms associated with Facebook and social media.   You can find all the Wednesday Words by clicking on the Wednesday Words tag below.

Tuesday Tips: Monitor Your Social Media

Many companies make the mistake of creating social media accounts on the major networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) but then not doing more than a few minutes with it each week - thinking they've already done most of the work because they are "on social media."

If you are one of those people who think that, you couldn't be more wrong.

If you don't listen to your customers - and don't engage them - you aren't going to retain them and your social media presence is for nothing.  This is especially true if you are a new company or an established company that's new to Facebook and looking to expand your business with social media.

As your social media following grows, you will end up spending more time, possibly ending up with a person who is your social media manager who will handle all things related to social media.  But until you reach that point, you need to engage your customers.  Ask open ended questions to spur conversations, create well versed replies that are NOT canned responses, respond to people who ask questions.  Like their responses in topics.

Remember that social media retains everything you say or post.  You should constantly re-evaluate how you respond to both positive and negative comments and try new approaches from time to time.  Keep things fresh.

Tuesday Tips are a series of tips released on Tuesday each week regarding a hint or tip to help you manage and market your Facebook presence better.  You can find all the Tuesday Tips by clicking on the Tuesday Tips tag below.