A Guide To Optimizing Your Social Media Marketing Campaign- Jason DeMers

I felt this article was very relevant to the class as a whole since we just launched our social media campaigns last week.  This article really highlights useful information such as the importance of the headlines we post to our social media platforms.  DeMers gives five basic suggestions to increase a post’s ability to be read and shared.  He also discusses optimizing one’s profile and refers to the importance of a consistent voice across all of one’s social platforms so a follower can identify better with the brand.  He emphasizes a need for strong calls to action.  In class we discussed easy calls to action were essential to our campaign.  However, DeMers states that in order to gain the engagement numbers we want to see as marketers we need to explicitly state that we want our followers to like, comment, and share.  It is interesting because he is saying we need to prompt our viewers through our website or in my group’s case, our Facebook page.  After reading his fifth suggestion, I feel more confident in our campaign on Facebook because our group is utilizing a lot of hashtags, and “according to Buffer App using 1-2 hashtags will increase engagement 21% than if you use 3 or more hashtags.  Our group is only using one hashtag a day to promote our content. 

This article discusses the importance of Social Media Optimization, or SMO. In addition to this it also lists five tips that you should follow in order to increase your visibility and reach of your social media campaign. These tips include;

1. Don't underestimate the importance of your headline

-Headlines are what grab the readers attention and can make the difference between people opening and sharing it and having it sit and collect dust

       - rules for headlines:

            - use numbers, use a clear, tangible benefit, use a powerful and  timely hook

2. Optimize your social media profiles

- make sure you include the URL to your website is in a clear and obvious place

-Complete every field available on your profile

-Ensure images and text are consistent

-have a network specific landing page (one for FB, one for Twitter etc.)

3. Include strong calls to action in your posts

- make sure your fans and followers know what to do next

4. Images must be part of your strategy

- on Facebook: share funny or inspiring pictures that fans will want to share

-on Twitter use Twitter cards to incorporate media in your tweets which will raise interaction and retweeting

-For all social networks; anything you can share via text you can share via images

5. Hashtags are a great way to reach new audiences on social media

- use relevant keywords in your hashtags to allow those who are searching for that topic to find your post

-don't use hashtags on Facebook

I found this article to be very useful. In addition to this some of the tips that were discussed here we have also been discussing in class. When we discussed creating websites and e-mail copy we talked about having a strong call to action. If the consumer/viewer doesn't know what to do next then odds are they will just abandon your post. Make sure that whatever you post has a clear call to action that directs the viewer what they should do next. In addition to this we also discussed having a good headline to capture the audience's attention. Using numbers, having a clear, tangible benefit and using a strong hook were some of the techniques we used when designing our own email headlines. I also agreed with the author when he said to refrain from using hashtags on Facebook. When i think of hashtags I think of Instagram or Twitter. When people use them on Facebook I'm immediately turned off by what they are posting regardless of the content.

Social Media Optimization (SMO) is all about creating awareness for your brand. Awareness is the base of success. In order to create awareness, that brand needs to be producing quality, engaging content for their social media sites. In order to maximize your brands visibility in todays cluttered social media buzz you will need to stand out.

You can start by grabbing their attention through a well thought out headline. You need something to catch their eye and make them want to look further. Another thing to remember is to not neglect your social media profiles. We all know you are tweeting and posting constantly, but the actual profile needs to tell your story, be clear, and not be a distraction. Make sure users are able to find your website with ease when looking on any social media profile.

When the time is right and you are posting a call to action for followers, make sure that it is strong, bold, and clear. Do not expect them to figure out what you are trying to say because they won’t. Also, if you aren’t using photos in any of your posts, then you need to start as soon as possible. A visual is more lasting in the consumers mind than a sea full of words. Lastly, if you are going to use hashtags, make sure to do your research on what that hashtag is being used for. Understand what hashtags mean and what your hashtags are doing for your posts.