The Expat Files: Can SMO help you grow?

It’s clear that the marketing game has changed a lot over the last few years. Not just how your organization communicates, but where. Custom media such as e-newsletters, magazines and microsites are now common practice, and many businesses, especially in the U.S., have already taken the next step: focusing on social media optimization (SMO).

Ever since interactive marketing guru Rohit Bhargava coined the term and wrote his five rules a year ago, SMO has become a hot topic in the marketing world. But what does it mean and how can you decide if it’s something your organization should use?

Hot tools that are here to stay
Social media is different from traditional media because it’s interactive, with user-generated content. According to Wikipedia, “social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives and media themselves…including text, images, audio and video.”

SMO, it continues, “is the process of trying to get one’s content more widely distributed across multiple social media networks.” Put simply, it’s about using interactive online sites, from blogs and MySpace to FaceBook and YouTube, to get people talking about your product and company.

MySpace for toilet fixtures?
It may not seem that social media techniques (podcasts, message boards, video logs) or social media sites (MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, del.icio.us) would be useful for everyone, especially so-called “boring” businesses. But every company – large or small – with any audience – from Denmark to Europe and the world – can make use of these new tools.

Here are a few easy steps for any organization venturing into SMO:

1. Add a blog.
We can’t say enough about how this simple addition to your website will make your existing and potential customers know that you’re listening and responding to their needs. It adds a human touch, especially to conservative companies. See more reasons why you should blog.

2. Think outside your site.
Allowing others to use your content (as long as they cite you as the source) is a great way to increase the number of links back to your own website. If you don’t seem to have content that others want, create some – your website should always provide current, audience-targeted, original and helpful information. You can even submit your content to other sites yourself.

3. Use business networking websites, such as LinkedIn or Ryze (more businesses are even using FaceBook now).
You’ll not only increase your network faster and easier than through traditional means, you can also post network-wide notices.

4. Be yourself.
No matter what steps you or your organization take to make the most of social media, there is one rule to keep in mind at all times: present yourself honestly and stay consistent with your company voice.

 

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For more information and advice about SMO, here are some helpful links:

• Read Rohit Bhargava’s original five rules for SMO, as well as at least 10 more rules added by others in the know. Or read a recent interview with Rohit.
• Check out our blog entry about social media.

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