Welcome to part two of our digital marketing glossary! We post often about social media marketing because it’s the most direct way to reach your customer base and build relationships. It’s likely you have at least a personal Facebook account, and maybe even a Twitter or Instagram. But maintaining social media for your business looks a little different on these platforms. Your online marketing can benefit from a big boost if you know the basics about optimizing your audience and followers on social media. Read on to learn some basic terms and how to grow your business through SMM!
SMM: Social Media Marketing
This is a broad term for everything to do with promoting your business on social media. The big three platforms that most people use are Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. But depending on your audience, you may find that LinkedIn, YouTube, or Snapchat provide outlets for getting customers involved. Posting often can create that human element in your brand, as well as foster connections and loyalty from your clients. Not to mention you can generate free word-of-mouth advertising by creating content your viewers can share instantly. Investing a little effort into your social media presence can go a long way!
SMO: Social Media Optimization
Similar to Search Engine Optimization, SMO is all about getting the most out of your social media marketing. It’s not enough to just set up a Facebook account and start posting. In order to see any increase in business or followers, you need to have a strategy to make sure your content is seen by people most likely to become new customers. The first step is to focus on platforms that fit your customer base. If you’re an accounting firm, you’ll likely see more success on Facebook and LinkedIn (professional networking sites). On the other hand, a skateboard brand would do well on Instagram and Snapchat (photo and video-based services).
Other common elements of SMO strategy address what type of posts you make as well as what ad content you run on sites. But overall the most important factor is consistency. If you start out making regular updates then fall off after a few months, your followers will trickle away as well. If you share professional financial tips on Monday and cute dog photos on Thursday, that content targets different kinds of people and neither will stick around if it changes often. A good digital marketer will have experience in tailoring SMO to your brand and client base. We manage our own content at Red Arrow Marketing and do the same for several of our clients, so if you find these resources helpful and are looking for social media management for your own business, give us a call!
Hashtags: #
Whether you remember this symbol from the YellowPages or you last used it to promote #winedownwednesday on Instagram, it probably looks familiar. It’s been called the Number Sign, Pound Sign, Octothorpe, and now it’s most common iteration, Hashtag. As a hashtag, it’s used on social media sites to attach keywords to your posts so people are more likely to see them. Hashtags are common across all social media sites, and they’re a great tool for boosting your business and content. When you add a hashtag, you’re linking your post to every other bit of content that shares that tag. Phrases like #business, #teamwork, #workhardplayhard are examples of broad keywords that are attached to thousands of posts daily.
Things to know about hashtags:
The more targeted and thoughtful you are with your hashtags, the more effective they can be to get your post out there. While generally your best strategy involves using hashtags that a lot of people already use to make sure your post is seen, sometimes the opposite strategy can be effective. Creating hashtags that are specific to your business can make it easier to set your posts apart in a category of their own.
#WixPhotography is how Wix and their users share content specific to one of their services. Dickey’s BBQ recently launched a summer contest asking users to post pictures with their iconic yellow cups, tagged #ShowUsYourCup. That tag is unique enough no one else is using it, and now it’s specific to their business. Just be sure to include other more common tags as well so your posts don’t get lost in limbo. It costs nothing to make a hashtag, and making one is as simple as typing # in front of any relevant words you plan to use. Check out the tags attached to this post and try clicking through them to see effective hashtags in action!
Regardless of the type of business you run, social media can be a valuable way to generate new business. It’s all about choosing the right platforms, and generating engaging content that will attract new customers. And keep current customers coming back of course! We hope this overview expanded your views on what social media marketing can do for you. And as always, we’re happy to field any questions you may have about how Red Arrow Marketing can help boost your online presence in the future! Give us a call or reach out on any of our social media pages, and we’ll look forward to connecting with you.
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