Social media marketing secrets and tools: Expert advice, tips and learning guide to SMO business plan success

Social media marketing secrets and tools: Expert advice, tips and learning guide to SMO business plan success

As search engines and social media converge, engagement becomes significant. Social networking services are outpacing search engines in terms of traffic growth. Spent time on social networks has also decreased dramatically. According to Nielsen, in December 2009 Facebook users spend an average of 6 hours and 24 minutes. Search engines differ in the sense that the less time spent searching, the more efficient the search engine. Since search discovery takes a shorter period of time given in the advances in search tehnology, Google and Bing continue to diverify their product offerings in order to participate and profit from the socialization and collaboration taking place, making engagement a key success metric indicator to be reckoned with.

While organic search engine results employ complicated algorithms and present a barrier to immediate entry, the social web is quite the opposite. You could reach almost any customer at literally zero cost. Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to connect and engage with potential customers. You can build your entire business using social media tools and strategies of engagements. However, in order to maximize your returns, conversions and click-through rates it is imperative that a compelling social media business plan be devised in order to reach your goals and be successful.

There are many tips and strategies to optimize your SMO plan for your self, company, brand or business.

1) Begin marketing using popular social networks first. Then move to niche social networks.

The top social networking sites are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube. They all have a different demographic and should be targeted differently based on how members interact and their demographic breakdown. Conversions can increase if you look for niche social networks that pertain to your business and interact with users in those networks as well. Diversifying and customizing your approach based on the demographic  and psychographics of each social network is integral. Start with your friends and network and then make new connections.

2) Try to create discussions to initiative conversations and engagement. Ask questions.

The objective is for you to become part of the conversations with friends, fans or followers. Discussions are based on interest, trust and learning. When users engage in conversations with you or your brand others can see the conversation and may choose to participate. Asking questions and thought provoking discussions are great ways to get the conversation going. It is imperative to reply to your comments in a manner that invites continued conversation. Never leave a conversation when there is potential for further discussion and getting newcomers involved. Getting others involved is the key determinant of success in social media marketing. Remember every discussion is displayed in users feeds inviting new possibilities for engagement with others.

3) Engage in buzzworthy and thought-provoking conversations. Make others interested in what you have to say and what you do.

There is nothing worse than someone constantly pitching their company, product or brand. Participation in conversations that enrich others in regards to learning, education, breaking news, observations and thought provoking comments make a huge difference. Others begin to trust you. You become an athoratative source of compelling information and feedback. Remember, it is not about you. It is about what others find valuable. Always make sure to reply to your comments in a manner that invites continual conversation and opinion exchange. Do not be self-serving. It is human nature that friends, followers and fans will be curious to find out what you are all about. Make sure you have your website URL on your profile.

4) Be subtle when you pitch about your product or services. Make there as compelling story attached to it. Make the story buzzworthy and sharable.

Pitching your products and services on social networks must be made with a subtle approach. Do not seem spammy or use language that sounds like an advertisement. Make sure you create an interesting story about your product or service. What makes it different and what is the underlying story that is so compelling that others must find out about it? Remember, you are also the brand. Be trustworthy, credible and offer something of value to your readers and potential customers. Never ask yourself what is in it for you but what is in it for others. Contribute and others will open up their wallet. Make sure your product and services have an underlying theme that others can associate with when you talk about what you do. Sell the "big picture" of your services and how your product adds value to society. Make a difference that matters and social influencers may get your story and help your story get viral status.

5) Remember the golden rule of engagement: Listening is more important than talking

In business it is crucial that you understand what your customers want. What are their unfulfilled needs? What gap can you fill in the marketplace. When people talk make sure you listen. Customer is king and many forget that the customer is always right. By listening to what others are talking about, you will immediately find out useful information about your customers and their perspective. More importantly, you will find out how the marketplace sees you. What is your position in the mind of the consumer when they think about your brand? How do you improve upon this positioning, improve sales and make customers into clients. Recurring customers and customer satisfaction goes a long way in regards to brand identity and loyaltly. Make them believe in you and your product and become evangelists for your cause.

6)  If a message was shared or retweeted many times then do not be afraid to share it again. Rewrite the message with a new twist and engaging headline.

One thing to keep in mind is that most of your followers will not read every post you have made. If a message you send out becomes popular and is read and shared or retweeted multiple times then make sure you post it again. This will give the opportunity for others who have not read your message to join the conversation. High converting messages are integral to creating value for your readers. Do not be afraid to re-spread it. The ones who did not read it in the first place will thank you for it, but remember not to overdo it. A tracking tool such as bit.ly can help you figure out how many times your message was viewed. Also check how many times your mesage was shared. For example, in Twitter click on @yourusername to see how many messages were shared or retweeted using the symbols "RT @yourusername" or "via @yourusername." Remember: give your friends, followers and fans the content they want. It will most likey turn into new followers. If the core of your followers are your fans because of the kind of content you offer them, then do not disappoint them. Be relevant and focused. Noone wants to hear about what you had for breakfast anyways. Content matters. Feed your followers appetite.

7)  Turn both positive and negative news into an opportunity. Be human, honest and trustworthy.

It is commonplace that positive news about your company or products is optimized to increase sales and build further brand awareness. The biggest failure of positive news not making a significant impact upon readers is that in most cases it does not resonate with them or make them interested to find out more and how that positive news can change their lifes in a positive manner. Make sure that you associate positive news with a compelling story and value proposition to your customers. Make sure you initiate a call to action and make it simple to understand and how to execute it. Customers executing now is more profitable better than them executing later. So what are you offering that would compel them to make the buying decision now?

Another opportunity that nearly all companies or individuals never take is turning a negative news into a new opportunity to build their brand identity as well as improve upon their existing relationships with their customers. Reputation management can be handled effectively using social media. Be thankful, honest and sincerely apologise for your mistake. Want to go a step further? Create a video of your public apology and post it for everyone to see. It will go a long way for your current customers and it might invite new costumers. Furthermore and more importantly offer them something they can talk about as a reward. They will thank you in loyalty in return.

8) Use all types of media to engage with your audience: comments, blogs, articles, ebooks, audio, podcasts, instant messaging, SMS, apps and video.

Leverage the power of video, blogs, ebooks, articles, SMS messages, instant messaging (Yahoo Messenger Google talk, AIM, Skype, MSN Live Messenger), apps and podcasts to capture new audiences. Post on multiple networks to increase exposure of your message. Make sure that your media is optimized in regards to search so others can locate your content. If you are using video, make sure you use the YouTube keyword tool to research what keywords users are searching for and what their corresponding keyword phrase volumes are in regards to popularity. Make sure your title and content is keyword rich and descriptive. For articles and blogs you can also use the Google AdWords keyword tool to discover what keyword terms are searched for in the search engines and which ones are the most popular. However remember, the higher the volume, the more competitive the keyword usually is to rank for. Also the lower the conversion rate. Choosing less competitive terms that fall in the long tail of the search terms will fair better and have a higher conversion rate. Remember each website has its own demographic. The goal is to fit into the demographic and figure out how members of those sites are searching and finding content. Matching their search behavior and implementing it to make your content more search-friendly is the ultimate goal. The Google search engine has a different search algorithm than Twitter or Facebook. Some elements weigh more than others. Twitter for example is optimized for real-time search as opposed to Google's static search results that are primarily based on external variables such as page link popularity.

9) Syndicate your content to all the major social network sites, use social bookmarking and build your email list.

make sure you connect your social networking accounts together. Sending a message from Twitter can now be syndicated to other major social networks such as Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn. Also make sure you have an RSS feed to syndicate your blog content to targeted and popular social sites  to attract new customer prospects. The goal is to send them to your main site and convert them into buyers. Make sure you have a way to collect emails of visitors. Your email list is probably your most important tool and most effective way to reach those who have opted-in and are interested in what you have to offer. Make sure you make it easy for others to add comments to your content and engage in conversations with you on your site. Have social bookmark buttons on all the content you make and make it easy for others to use a quick "share" or "embed" button to deliver your message to their core audience.

10)  Make sure you adopt key performance indicators as success factors that can be measured and aligned with your overall market strategy as well as lead to decisions.

There is no secret ingredient or guaranteed formula to social strategy success. Being successful in social media depends on numerous factors such as who your audience is and your network, what type of product or service you offer, what industry you are in as well as the external environment that changes. Adapting to the changes of the business landscape, environment and behavioral patterns of both users and search technology is a critical issue and is often overlooked. Remember search is not only limited to Google and Bing. Each website has its own search algorithm. The new types of search include real-time, universal and local search. Those are 3 new types of search which if you bundle with a strong social media and traditional search engine optimization strategy can make a world of difference. Diversify and enjoy the benefits. Choosing what tools you should use to manage all your accounts and websites is another issue. Does your website have a content management system? Is there analytics attached to each page? Do you make it easy for others to spread your word? How do you manage all your social profiles? Do you use tools that help you manage multiple profiles and that help you target your audience, measure as well as track your performance?

The most important component of social media optimization (SMO) is adopting key performance indicators (KPI) that will help you make decisions in the overall strategy of your business. Tactics do not mean anything unless they are integrated with the big picture: your strategic goals.  An example of an effective KPIs include the conversion rate, visitor loyalty, visitor recency, traffic referred by site. Remember they underlying theme of making an impact and social interaction: communication.

Any thoughts and additions to these points?

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