Glen
09-18-2007, 11:04 PM
You can have a web site that is solely dependant on generating traffic from one source, search engines. This is the traditional online marketing model. Through PPC and SEO you use the “super highway” of Google, Yahoo and MSN to drive people to your site.
Now using a brick and mortar analogy, consider for the moment that your web site was not in a single location online, but instead had multiple locations. While your store (ie web site) gets a lot of walk-in traffic from one main road (your SEO and PPC strategy) you have noticed some new neighborhoods have began to spring up with a demographic that matches your target audience.
What would you do? You would probably consider expanding your business and building more stores in these new locations and that is where your audience is. The concept of social media optimization is similar. You want your web site and message to appear where your audience is congregating online.
In any city there are good and bad locations for your store. Sometimes it is very obvious from your research whether one neighborhood would be better than another. Same with social media. Not all social media sites are appropriate neighborhoods for all businesses. That is why research is very important, and just like in the brick and mortar world, sometimes a neighborhood doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would.
The best social media site for your company depends on your target audience. For example, if you sell a technology product or service, then Digg might be a perfect site for you to target. If you sell women’s apparel, then sk*rt is a much better neighborhood than Digg.
Not all sites are right for you to 'set-up' shop and use to help spread your brand and build traffic. I certainly wouldn't use Digg too market my barbie doll's I have for sale unless I could put a spin on it like 'How to Create a Remote Controlled Barbie Doll for under $1' (LOL You get what I mean). Sometimes you have to mix things up if you really do want to mix with another audience.
I read this over at SMO Blog (http://social-media-optimization.com/2007/09/should-social-media-marketing-be-part-of-your-internet-marketing-campaign/) and thought it was one of the best examples / analogys (is that even the word I'm looking for) to help explain things a little clearer.
Please share your thoughts / examples aswell :)
Now using a brick and mortar analogy, consider for the moment that your web site was not in a single location online, but instead had multiple locations. While your store (ie web site) gets a lot of walk-in traffic from one main road (your SEO and PPC strategy) you have noticed some new neighborhoods have began to spring up with a demographic that matches your target audience.
What would you do? You would probably consider expanding your business and building more stores in these new locations and that is where your audience is. The concept of social media optimization is similar. You want your web site and message to appear where your audience is congregating online.
In any city there are good and bad locations for your store. Sometimes it is very obvious from your research whether one neighborhood would be better than another. Same with social media. Not all social media sites are appropriate neighborhoods for all businesses. That is why research is very important, and just like in the brick and mortar world, sometimes a neighborhood doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would.
The best social media site for your company depends on your target audience. For example, if you sell a technology product or service, then Digg might be a perfect site for you to target. If you sell women’s apparel, then sk*rt is a much better neighborhood than Digg.
Not all sites are right for you to 'set-up' shop and use to help spread your brand and build traffic. I certainly wouldn't use Digg too market my barbie doll's I have for sale unless I could put a spin on it like 'How to Create a Remote Controlled Barbie Doll for under $1' (LOL You get what I mean). Sometimes you have to mix things up if you really do want to mix with another audience.
I read this over at SMO Blog (http://social-media-optimization.com/2007/09/should-social-media-marketing-be-part-of-your-internet-marketing-campaign/) and thought it was one of the best examples / analogys (is that even the word I'm looking for) to help explain things a little clearer.
Please share your thoughts / examples aswell :)