Term: Social Media Optimisation (SMO)
Definition: Social Media Optimisation (SMO) refers to the use of a number of strategies and best practices to generate publicity or increase the awareness of a product, brand or event through social media outlets and communities.
Alternative Names: Social Media Enhancement, Social Media Improvement
Expanded explanation: Social media optimisation, usually shortened to SMO, involves a range of activities such as strategically creating, building and maximising your social media plan to connect with your audience. It also involves strategically and creatively improving your social media profiles, increasing visibility and reach, promoting social sharing and integrating social media and SEO strategies.
Benefits or importance: SMO can lead to improved brand reputation, increased visibility and traffic, better customer engagement and superior audience insights. It also helps in increasing the organic search results, providing a greater reach to the content and increasing the chances of your content becoming viral.
Common misconceptions or pitfalls: A common misconception is that SMO is just about posting content on social media. However, it involves a range of other activities like social media profile optimisation, network building and active engagement. A common pitfall is not tracking or evaluating the performance of social media activities.
Use cases: Social media optimisation can be used for brand building, product marketing, content promotion, customer interaction, online reputation management, increasing website traffic and lead generation.
Real-world examples: A business may increase the visibility of its content by encouraging social sharing features such as social share buttons, polls or quizzes, user-generated content or influencer marketing.
Calculation or formula: While there isn’t a specific calculation for SMO, metrics such as engagement rate, social shares, comments, likes, followers and website traffic from social media can be used to measure effectiveness.
Best practices or tips:
- Integrate social into your website: Ensure that your website supports social media integration.
- Consistency is key to SMO: Ensure that you are consistently posting updates and consistent in your branding and messaging.
- Focus on networks that deliver value: It’s better to dedicate your resources to the networks where your core audience is and will yield the best results.
- Use SEO keywords in your social content: Your social media strategy should include an SEO strategy.
Limitations or considerations: SMO takes time and a consistent effort. The results may not be immediate. Also, each social platform has its unique audience and works best with specific types of content, so a one-size-fits-all approach may not work.
Comparisons: Social media optimisation can be compared to search engine optimisation, but instead of optimising your website to rank higher on search engines, you’re optimising your presence on social media for greater visibility and engagement.
Historical context or development: With the increasing use and influence of social media, SMO has become a fundamental part of digital marketing strategy.
Resources for further learning:
Related services:
- Social Media Optimisation Services – Our agency helps businesses optimise their social media presence by leveraging social media for business growth.
- Social Media Marketing Services – At Bird Marketing, we have years of experience in social media marketing (SMM) to share with you.
Related terms: Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing, Social Sharing, Influencer Marketing, Social Engagement
