Successful Social Media Marketing requires a completely different skill set and level of service than proper SEO. Both are critical to your success, and it is equally critical for you as a business owner to know the difference.
In short; one is transient and temporary advertising, the other is permanent and long-term community building.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Social Media Marketing are both designed to bring more attention to your brand, but they function in very different ways. Knowing the differences and how to use them will help you build a better reputation for your product and attract more customers.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
When you search online, do you often go beyond the first page of search results? Most people do not. In order to get more eyes on your brand, you want to be on that first page of search results. A good SEO expert will ensure good keyword ranking through professional link building strategies and placing relevant, highly searched keywords into your website content.
In the past, SEO has been an effective way to get free and organic clicks into your website to buy your products and/or services. As the Internet evolves, we have seen the emergence of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and changes in search engine algorithms that make it more difficult to rank highly in the search engines. Your business’ most profitable marketing method may involve focus on social media rather than search engines.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Who do you know who isn’t on Facebook? There aren’t many. Even family pets have Facebook profiles! Facebook and other social media websites are what your clients use to connect with friends and family. They share baby photos, latest family updates, new job announcements, and more. More importantly, at least to you as a business owner, is that they also talk about products, services, and discounts they’ve found. This is where you come in; your social marketing campaign can help you engage with your customers in the midst of their other social media activities.
With social media, it’s easy to get the word out about your brand through word-of-mouth buzz. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others have made it easy to help your happy customers share your message with their friends. Your role is to build an amazing product and/or service, and encourage your fans to talk about it. How do you do this? You develop your voice for your brand, and use that voice to build the relationship with your clients. This is something that SEO has always lacked.
The key is to develop an interesting and informative voice for your followers. In turn, they will share your content with their personal social media networks. Relating and interacting with your followers is vital. People tend to choose products and services that they trust. That trust can be built through developing a relationship with the consumer.
Frequent interactions also keeps your brand on the radar for your followers, which also increases your business. Search engines don’t deliver brand awareness for two reasons. First, search engines are impersonal; there’s no interaction with another person or a simple point and click way to share. Second, people don’t spend time on a search engine results page. If they’re not spending time there, it’s difficult to build a relationship. Your clients are on Facebook more often than they are running a Google search, and social media marketing allows you to market to them where they like to play.
The skills sets for successful SEO and Social Media Marketing are completely different. You’ll need a different mindset for each activity. With SEO, you compete against others in your space for attention of shoppers. With social media marketing, you compete for attention against baby pictures, birthday wishes, and personal notes within a trusted friends and family space. With SEO, you’re playing a game of percentages; throw more money at SEO, and you can deliver more views. With Social, you need to be interesting and attractive to your followers. When done right, your fans will ensure that you get attention, and the benefits of your social media marketing campaign will be far more cost effective and powerful.
Ready to add social media to your online marketing strategy? CONTACT US for more information on how Total Social Solutions can help grow your business through effective social media marketing.
