Posts tagged smo
When Stumbling Leads To Success
Mar 9th
Man is inherently a discoverer — a truth that many social media networks attempt to exploit, but only a chosen few like StumbleUpon effectively optimize. As an 8-yr old site it boasts 234,000,000 inbound links, 1,100,000 monthly visitors according to Quantcast, an Alexa rating of 362, and a (so far) indomitable reputation as a top social bookmarking site.
What it basically does is bring the spotlight on quality websites based on the formation of a collaborative opinion with the help of its users. Its more than 8 million users can add sites they just happen to find and recommend it under one of the around 500 topics used by StumbleUpon. Also, items with the lowest/oldest ratings are regularly removed to maintain its image as the go-to place for the moment’s best of the web.
From the online marketer’s point of view, it is indeed a social discovery site. What a lot people don’t know though, is that it can reserve a certain number of daily page views for the right price. Web publishers participate in this cleverly designed ad network for a minimum $0.05/StumbleUpon user who visits.
It may be best employed for brand or campaign awareness rather than that of a sales tool. So, does being a high-traffic site translate to being an effective source of new visitors for the bookmarked sites? Well, according to several experimental studies such as the one by www.social-media-optimization.com it does, especially in comparison with the other social media sites. What is even more convincing is the observation that SU users being in “discovery mode” tend to explore the destination website rather than other sites where they leave after the landing page. This behavior leads to its potential for improvement as a direct e-commerce driver.
Taking SMO Seriously
Mar 6th
If even the dictionary takes the matter of recognizing the word “Twitter” seriously — then you probably should, too. Right on the tails of the SEO industry is the concept of Social Media Optimization — making your online communication materials easier to immediately share among your audience’s networks.
An important tenet of SMO is to know which tool would be most effective to use for achieving the end goal, regardless of whether the aim is to influence a particular demographic, harness the unique potential of “crowdsourcing,” or to get direct feedback on your newest project. Therefore, at the very least a familiarity with the following online behemoths would be the best place to start.
- Micro-blogging. Even the already established publication, The Guardian, made the revolutionary move to be exclusively found on Twitter (after 188 years of being on print). The micro-blogging site represents some of the best things about the World Wide Web —- literally up-to-the-minute-news, social and professional networking, niche insights, and domino-effect information broadcasting. All those features — in 140 characters or less. Other micro-blogging sites include Tumblr, Plurk, and Squeelr.
- Video Sharing. After the success of YouTube, which can only be described as phenomenal, video sharing has become an important player in SMO. In tri-media, TV advertisements cost tons of money, whereas a video uploaded on YouTube can generate impressive hits for virtually no cost comparison. An interesting video with good reviews and ratings can singlehandedly lead to swift traffic swelling to your site. To help give your videos a push, consider the channel profile, the keywords/tags used, even the very title of the video.
- Picture Sharing. As cliché as it may sound, a picture paints a thousand words. And as a number of psychologists have employed over the years — an image can affect one’s disposition. At the forefront of this would be the Yahoo-owned Flickr, which Technorati is also affiliated with. As characteristic of the most successful social networking sites, their communities are very involved. For those involved with online marketing, the site’s link embedding capabilities, comment subscription for ease of response, affordable annual Pro membership, and good privacy options, Flickr has understandably become quite the choice.
- Social Bookmarking. Del.icio.us, Digg, Stumbleupon, and Technorati are sites that help collect, play up, distribute content online (so as to diminish the impending threat of information overload on netizens). Article tagging, link sharing, keeping on top of the hottest items online, and browsing by user tags all define in SMO. Del.icio.us, for one, has over 4 millions who have collectively bookmarked over 100 million web pages. Amongst social bookmarking users are the sought after bloggers, for whom using some variation of “add this to ” is almost reflexive.
Empowered with SMO
Mar 1st
The acronyms the online community has come up with nowadays already number in the thousands. For online marketers though, two of the most important would have to be SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SMO (Social Media Optimization). Given their similarities, SMO differentiates itself through its demand for active involvement, mediums of information communication, and key audience. The million-dollar question begging to be asked is, of course, “What is it for?”
The principle of SMO is grounded on the power of making information yourself (company, brand, unique selling proposition, individual, etc.) easy to share. We live in networks where re-tweeting, re-blogging, stumbling upon and Facebook posting drives people to impact the online presence of organizations with critical SMO strategies.
Beginning is always the most difficult step, but it can be made easier with the following pointers:
- Know that SMO and SEO, albeit extremely powerful when effective, function primarily as drivers and not directly as sales converters. Therefore, compelling content, targeted marketing, and a convenient sales process will be crucial most especially for e-commerce sites.
- Keep the end in mind — what are your goals and performance indicators? Will an increase in site visits, registered members/subscribers/followers/fans, page comments be the main metrics of success? Holding community-exclusive promotions (raffle, refer-a-friend, print-a-coupon, and crowd sourcing) are also an excellent means of making full use of SMO.
- Pick your weapon of choice. A shotgun approach to SMO might not be the best way to go about conquering the online sphere. Spamming is a big no-no especially when it comes to niche networks. These are communities, not just a gathering of people. They do not take it lightly when people try to take advantage of that. On the other hand when one provides the community interesting and relevant pieces, the group also tends to respond with an unimaginable swell of support.
- Make sharing instinctive through content worth spreading and ease of bookmarking/forwarding/re-posting. Constantly visible icons to the most common social media tools: Twitter, Digg, Facebook, Del.i.cio.us, Stumbleupon will increase the likelihood of your word being spread. But this is only second to the most critical factor — having content that people will want to share with in the first place.
- Participate! Commitment to being involved is the key distinction in SMO. Companies who harness this potential are able to make it a win-win situation. Now “knowing your customer” has become quite possible, accurate, and up-to-date. Also, press releases and other big announcements can be coursed through these networks, thereby ensuring that they reach the people for whom it matters most. On a bigger scale, industry news/developments can more easily be picked-up by keeping abreast with the field’s authorities. Niche communities also make the social media sites a gold mine of innovative ideas and consumer insights.
16 Things Experts Say About Social Media Optimization (SMO)
Jan 28th
Within the past year alone, there have been a considerable number of resource materials that sound like the social media subject equivalents of self-help books.
What remains to be one of the most comprehensive and effective lists, however, was created back in 2006. As to be expected, within the next four years the game has been changing dynamically — but the fundamentals have proven to be the same. The 16 Rules for Social Media Optimization as penned by five of digital marketing’s go-to professionals are an excellent springboard for review and innovation of strategies.
Rohit Bhargava, who has been credited for terming Social Media Optimization or SMO, outlined the bulk of the list with:
- Increase Your Linkability. The key performance indicator of any social media campaign revolves around link building. The simple commitment to maintaining a blog for one, can do wonders for increasing linkability.
- Make Tagging and Bookmarking Easy. Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon are names to be recited by online marketers as sacred. The easier it is to share your content, the likelier it is to be spread.
- Reward Inbound Links. Positive reinforcement works in most cases, but in building your credibility, also bear in mind that not all inbound links ought to be automatically reciprocated.
- Help Your Content Travel. Through RSS feeds, newsletters, social media updates, and downloadable files, content that can conveniently be communicated expands your reach.
- Encourage The Mashup. The fact is, your content will be available for most of the world to see. Encouraging your followers to add their own take on the matter will make for an entirely productive interaction.
Enumerating two important points, Jeremiah Owyang, emphasizes the need to:
- Be a User Resource, Even if it Doesn’t Help You. Well, doesn’t help “directly” — it will return in the form of recognition as the go-to authority for information on your field of expertise.
- Reward Helpful and Valuable Users. Following the Pareto Principle of 80-20, forming relationships with your influential VIPs are a valuable investment.
Four things that Cameron Olthuis shares never to underestimate are the value of:
- Participation. Being involved, belonging to a community to which you significantly contribute to — that is what social media is all about.
- Knowing How to Target Your Audience. To ignore this piece of advice would be folly.
- Create Content. Real content is different from space-fillers in being relevant, informative, and reliable.
- Being Real. Sooner or later the truth will prevail. Fakers, scammers, hypocritical identities will backfire no matter the short-term advantages.
Creating a difference is simplified by keeping in mind the two things contributed by Loren Baker:
- Don’t Forget Your Roots, Be Humble. Do not forget the people who have one way or another brought you where you are today.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things, Stay Fresh. Be critical, yet open-minded about opportunities to constantly improve.
Lee Odden completes the list by focusing on Social Media Optimization with the easy to understand advice to:
- Develop an SMO Strategy
- Choose your SMO Tactics Wisely
- Make SMO part of your process and best practices