Social Media As A Social Tool

Posted on February 21, 2011 in Search Engine Optimization, SEO

We’ve talked before about how important it is for you to integrate social media into your SEO plan, and we’ll talk about it again. Today. No really, as the world becomes more and more overrun with small businesses, huge franchises, chains, and direct sales companies, we can’t even turn around without one of them trying to sell to us. It’s overwhelming and annoying, so most of us avoid commercials, radio ads, ‘junk mail,’ and internet pop ups whenever possible. Even when we do see ads, we usually take no note of them because in our minds it’s just another ad. This is exactly why social media has become such an important SEO tool. However, it’s extremely important that you execute it correctly.

Consumers today tend to be defensive, skeptical and quick to judge. Believe it or not, it’s because of marketing being shoved down our throats year after year. We have so many businesses, local or global to choose from, that we don’t have time to do a lengthy assessment of each, so we make quick judgements. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter provide your business with an opportunity to combat all of that negativity. They are not a place to advertise, so drop sales pitches or to talk about your company. In fact, you should be doing the EXACT opposite and avoiding those 99% of the time. There are two reasons for this: One, if a consumer has already reached your Facebook fan page or your Twitter page, odds are they’re already familiar with your company and probably already a fan. Two, forcing more advertising down their throats will inevitably turn people away from your social media sites.

Instead, social media sites should be used as a SOCIAL tool for your business. Through proper SEO, you already have a strong website which sells itself, informative, high def videos which inform the consumer about your business/product/service, without selling it to the customer, and you have strong, relevant keywords that are helping to increase your search engine rankings. The final piece to the puzzle is social interaction with your customers and clients. Customer service always has and always will be a key aspect of business success, and it’s arguably the MOST important puzzle piece today. With so many options, the one thing that’s going to make you stand out among the competition is a smiling friendly face, accountability, a good reputation, happy customers writing positive reviews, and trust.

Facebook and Twitter provide your business with the opportunity to interact with customers and clients on a human level. You should engage in conversation with them, respond to their questions, encourage questions, respond to and resolve complaints, and give give give! You shouldn’t look at giveaways, contests and prizes as marketing tools, because you’ll get caught up in the sales aspect of it. Instead, you should look at them as a way to excite your customers and as a way to thank them. If you do that, you’ll build better relationships with your customers, which will keep them coming back and they’ll bring you referrals. It’s an exciting avenue of SEO and the most important part is to have fun with it!

Sara Beaudoin is the Marketing Communications Manager for SearchPro Systems