Over the weekend I reread Rohit Bhargava’s original article on Social Media Optimization (SMO). Rohit wrote that:
The concept behind SMO is simple: implement changes to optimize a site so that it is more easily linked to, more highly visible in social media searches on custom search engines (such as Technorati), and more frequently included in relevant posts on blogs, podcasts and vlogs.
Rohit’s original 5 rules/guidelines for SMO was expanded to 16 rules:
- Increase your linkability
- Make tagging and bookmarking easy
- Reward inbound links
- Help your content travel
- Encourage the mashup
- Be a User Resource, even if it doesn’t help you
- Reward helpful and valuable users
- Participate
- Know how to target your audience
- Create content
- Be real
- Don’t forget your roots, be humble
- Don’t be afraid to try new things, stay fresh
- Develop a SMO strategy
- Choose your SMO tactics wisely
- Make SMO part of your process and best practices
The point that struck me was how Facebook and Twitter have co-opted social media marketing. When was the last time you read about someone talking about Del.icio.us, Digg, StumbleUpon, or MySpace? Even blogging and YouTube has taken a back seat to the dynamic dual of Twitter and Facebook.
Has social media marketing “evolved” to the point where all that matters is Twitter and Facebook? Or is it a result of all the mainstream attention on these two sites that anything else gets drowned out in the noise?
If you are developing an SMO strategy today, does you strategy include any tactics other than using Twitter and Facebook?
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I think that all other social media is being drowned out by the mainstream attention on Facebook and Twitter…and to NOT include other channels is downright irresponsible.
I am using Twitter and Facebook, but they are definitely not the only social media sites I use. I use Youtube, Squidoo, Hubpages, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon as the main sites.
If you want to include blogs (which you should) than those should be added to the list also.
I have build a system to link these sites. That way I can manage them without wasting my entire day on social media and at the same time give my readers valuable content.
I agree that those sites get the most buzz, but I try to find the “social media” in all facets of social interaction…and take it beyond the computer screen as well.
I was listening to NPR the other day talk about Social Media like it only consisted of Twitter and Facebook and I wanted to call in and say, “YOU, the radio station/hosts are social media right now! You are broadcasting content, inviting responses, asking questions and engaging in dialogue.” That is what happens on blogs, Twitter and hundreds of other online venues each day, not to mention in face-to-face interactions as well.
My boss and I hosted an event at the office trying to achieve a similar level of interaction with our friends and clients but IN PERSON. We invited comments and questions, shared our opinions (on social media marketing mostly) and we had a thoroughly enjoyable and informative evening.
I think that trying to re-define the accepted boundaries of social media is the best way to keep this trend fresh and exciting. Great post and good insights!
Twitter & Facebook are definitely the most visible, but what’s interesting is that other smaller networks, like mentioned Digg and Delicious, which are specifically designed to push 3rd party links/content, aren’t focused on. Even more so, international networks are hardly ever referenced. Orkut & Mixi are two of the worlds largest social networks, but I can’t remember the last time I saw them integrated anywhere in english speaking content (they shouldn’t be mutually exclusive based on language).
I believe a companies strategy needs to include this larger set, but also not be so dependent on it. Have some IP internally that you can use to be ’social’ within your organization or for your customers, and integrate nicely with those other parties, and you’ll be able to move towards a more encompassing online presence.
I work for a prominent association, and we are only implementing Facebook and Twitter at this point. For one, Facebook has the largest user base of any social media site, and with the Pages option they’ve done a pretty good job of catering to businesses. Twitter is still growing, and because of it’s ease of use, it makes sense to use alongside Facebook.
We have considered LinkedIn, but are not implementing it at this point because A. We’ve heard it’s on the decline, and B. We’re not sure it will be beneficial for the audience we’re trying to reach. We’d love to be on several other sites, but there’s only so much you can focus on and dedicate time to.
I’m directly in charge of the implementation of these mediums, so it should be interesting to see what does and does not work for us.