Watering social media once a month won’t keep it alive like your grandma’s cactus. In reality, it’s more like a delicate orchid that requires consistent care. And that’s great news for us since we make a living off of social media. If it could be set and forgotten, there wouldn’t be much use in having it.
However, due to the time-consuming nature of our work, it sometimes feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week to do all we’d like. The answer lies in SMO, or optimisation for social media: SMO is a hybrid between a cactus and an orchid, requiring ongoing care in an ever-changing social setting. It’s a simple technique to improve your results in the end game without putting in a lot of extra work.
Boost your SMO right now with no effort, consider using these 9 suggestions
Make the most of your social media identities and accounts
We prefer to go down to fundamentals, and there is nothing more fundamental (or crucial) than fine-tuning your social network presence. Here, we’re talking about relatively minor tweaks, such as making sure your name/company name, bio, profile shot, and cover photo all match and tell the same story about who you are and what your brand stands for. This improves your search engine rankings and encourages people to follow you on social media.
Use social media in tandem with your website, blog, and other marketing materials
Build it and they may not come; social media is not a field of dreams. If you want your social media to really take off, you need to connect it to your website. This refers to the publication of “follow buttons,” which are streamlined, simple buttons that allow users to follow a user’s social media accounts with a single click. Upload Instagram photographs to a blog post’s margin. You should put follow buttons in your email signature. There is an almost infinite number of ways in which you may integrate your social media into your daily online life.
Focus on keywords
There is a need for keyword research because it is not always obvious how people will look for your content. In this respect, keyword analysis sheds insight, showing the plethora of potential approaches and permutations of search terms. So, conduct keyword analysis and use it in your writing: Include keywords naturally in your content, including posts, hashtags, and meta data.
Use hashtags liberally
Use hashtags to your advantage, but don’t go overboard. We’ve all seen those who repeatedly break the rules and upload photos with only three lines of explanation followed by a thousand hashtags, some of which are completely irrelevant, such as “#blue” or “#shiny.” Try not to be like that. Be specific, useful, and restrain yourself while using hashtags. (If you want to learn more about how to make use of hashtags, have a look at our piece on Twitter’s hot hashtags.)
Make your content search engine friendly
In a similar line, make sure your postings are properly optimised for real-people search using keywords and hashtags: In addition to employing the appropriate phrases (keywords) and meta information (including hashtags), it is also important to have a strong post anchor—a central, look-at-me subject that makes your post worthy of the time and attention of a real person.
Include visuals
When it comes to reliable post-starters, images and videos are always a safe bet. Brilliant visuals are always well received. (Did you know that Tweets including photos get 18% more clicks, 89% more favourites, and 150% more retweets?) Proof by example.
Fortunately, adding appealing images is quick and easy; in a matter of minutes, you can crank out aesthetically exciting shots that will capture social eyes. There are at least 50 excellent free image makers made for marketers.
Know Who You’re Talking To
Yes, we repeat ourselves all the time. But it’s true that you need to consider who you’re writing for. Optimisation for social media is not completely mechanised. The human aspect prevents your measurements, tools, or a machine from doing a good job in this regard.
Because actual people make up your audience, you should refrain from thinking like a robot and instead: Learn about their backgrounds and habits, but also observe their relationships and the tastes they’ve already shown. Which of your blog entries has traditionally attracted the most views? What made them so well-liked? What is the most popular? Do people adore it when you reply to their comments? How are you tagging them? Act naturally, and you’ll get a better response from your listeners.
Pay attention to timing
The greatest time to post on Instagram is not always the best time to publish on Twitter, making it difficult to determine a consistent posting schedule across all of your social media accounts.
That is to say, the optimal time for your brand’s Facebook posts may differ from the optimal time for our brand’s Facebook posts. However, there are apps that can analyse your social media platform analytics to tell you the optimal time to publish for your company. Do that without hesitation.
Promote participation
The point of social media is communication, after all. We are marketers, and this is marketing, but at heart, social media is a two-way street. It centres on communication between individuals. Therefore, you should promote talk.
Make inquiries. Make a remark. Boost motivation. However, you shouldn’t limit your social activity to the platform itself; expand it off-platform and into your site. To get users to share your material on their own social networks, use share buttons. Include vote buttons so readers may express their opinions. Include a link in your newsletter to Instagram contests. That is to say, don’t restrict yourself to the confines of individual social media sites. Then, simply enjoy the expansion of your fan base.