Working in the realm of Web 2.0, buzzwords are regularly cited but frequently the benefits arising from using this development in technology are not fully recognised or even understood.

Social Media Marketing is one such buzzword that has recently gained a lot of attention, but what is it and why use it as part of your online marketing campaign?

Social Media Marketing

Social Media is the term given to the various platforms developed from the benefits of traditional media and the interactive nature of the internet. Such platforms include blogs, social bookmarking sites, wikis and social networks like Facebook and Myspace.

Social media sites account for 7 of the top 20 global websites and with such a huge uptake marketers have been looking at these channels in terms of their potential for business promotion as well as the ability to create, distribute and share content and other marketing material within different online communities. 

How can it help your business?

Here at Mediaworks we can propose and manage full service solutions for your online marketing campaigns including Social Media Optimisation (SMO) which allows your business to utilise social media marketing to its full potential. Including SMO as part of your integrated online marketing campaign offers five main benefits for your online business activities:

1. Brand Awareness
   
   By investing in SMO, you can drastically increase the online visibility of your brand and achieve a long term brand relationship between you and your clients - often seen as one of the most difficult things to achieve with any small or medium sized business.


2. More Content
   
   Engaging in social media marketing increases the amount of fresh content available to viewers and also has SEO benefits in terms of relevant content which is an important factor for achieving higher search engine rankings.


3. Increased Traffic
   
   Social Media channels are the perfect means of gaining a new audience and can help to increase the total number of visitors to your website.  Given that Facebook alone has more than 110 million active users there is huge potential for increasing the traffic towards your site.


4. Increased Links
   
   There are potential benefits for SEO from establishing a social media campaign in terms of the numbers of links pointing towards your website. These inbound links can help drive traffic and have an impact on your position within the search engine rankings.


5. Greater Targeting
   
   As with other forms of marketing SMO looks to optimise your social media marketing in order to target niche markets and key consumer segments best suited to your business activities. Such targeted traffic can be based on age, gender or area of interest.

These five benefits highlight the benefits of using Social Marketing Optimisation (SMO) and highlight how including SMO as part of your overall internet marketing campaign can give a catalysing effect on SEO and achieve a much greater ROI.