Three Ingredients to Break Through the Social Media Noise

March, 2010

How do you ensure your messages are heard online? Here’s a recipe for success: Quality Content + Engagement + SMO = Increased Visibility

But it’s not enough to just create content and post it online. Results come from posting content in the right place, at the right time, and when your target audience is most receptive. With this in mind, consider these three simple ways to boost the visibility of your messages:

1. Don’t add to the clutter. The first step to boosting message visibility is to produce high-quality, meaningful content that will energize, entertain and educate people.
2. Strive for a dialogue, not a monologue. Begin by showing up to the party. This means posting your content where and when people are having relevant conversations. Engage in platforms (i.e.,Facebook, Twitter, blogs) that allow a two-way conversation. In doing so, you gain recognition, credibility and authority.
3. Optimize content for search. People don’t just go to Google to find information. In fact, YouTube is now ranked the second largest search engine and Facebook has seen significant increases in search activity each month. This is where social media optimization (SMO) comes in. Think of SMO as search engine optimization…within social media platforms. By carefully selecting keywords and placing them in the social content, you can improve the chance of your content being found on both social media search forms and within traditional search engines. Here are a few tips for optimizing content for social media searches:
   • Select 1-2 keywords—or a keyword phrase—that people are using as search terms and use it within your social content
   • Write compelling titles that grab the reader’s attention and include keywords
   • Add descriptions that encourage a person to learn more
   • Categorize content using tags

Together, these ingredients will create just the right effect.