The rapid growth of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, is bringing about a shift in focus for the online presence of businesses. The new focus is being dubbed as social media optimization (SMO) by industry experts. Some feel that SMO may become more important to businesses than SEO (search engine optimization).

1. Social Media Becoming More Important Than SEO
The rapid growth of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, is bringing
about a shift in focus for the online presence of businesses. The new focus is being
dubbed as social media optimization (SMO) by industry experts. Some feel that
SMO may become more important to businesses than SEO (search engine
optimization).
A future where the number of hits on a website is less important than the size of
the network an organization has built on sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
and LinkedIn may not be that far off.
That is not to say that SEO strategies will not be important as well. People are still
going to go to Google and search for products and services they want or need.
However, there are some distinct advantages that SMO holds over SEO.
The use of social media gives organizations a chance to change interactions online
from having mostly a transactional nature with no personal touch, to ones that
build a relationship between a business and their clients or prospects.
People are more likely to buy from someone they know, like, and trust.
With so many people using sites like Facebook and Twitter, people are almost
expecting that a company has a presence on these sites. The advantage for a
business owner is that those who do use social media sites tend to use them on a
very frequent basis.
For example, statistics show that of the more than 140 million users of Facebook,
over half of them use it on a daily basis. With the creation of applications that
allow people to log on to these sites right from their cell phone, users today have
such easy and convenient access to these sites that it seems unlikely that those
trends will decline anytime soon.
Video marketing sites like YouTube and Vimeo can give an organization a chance
to put a face with a name. Many business owners today are recording short
messages about their products and services to share on these sites. These videos
give them all the benefits of a television commercial without the high cost. In fact,
Using Social Media For Business

2. some research is showing that many people trust a simple video shot with a
handheld camera even more than a corporately produced, high priced
advertisement. There is something about simplicity that people like and trust.
The use of these social media sites can easily be intertwined. A video shot on
YouTube can then be embedded into a Facebook page. A Twitter account can be
used to broadcast a message to followers and let them know about the new video
on the Facebook page. All of the sites will have links pointing visitors to the
organization’s main website. In this way, organizations can stretch their reach
farther than ever before.
Another advantage to business owners is the viral nature of social media. A user
of Twitter may “retweet” the broadcast of a business they are following. Now
instead of a business just reaching its followers, it is reaching the followers of their
followers. Some of them may pick up the message and decide to send it on to their
followers. A message on a Facebook page may attract comments from the “fans”
of the page or they may choose to share the message with all of their friends. The
activity of those fans will be broadcast on the news feed of each of their
connections. It may attract interest from those connections. They may choose to
visit the organization’s fan page and become a fan as well. Their activity might
then peak the curiosity of their friends, and so on.
In this way, social media can give a business organization a super-charged version
of word-of-mouth advertising. There is no more powerful form of advertising than
hearing an endorsement from someone you trust. People may not talk to all of
their friends and family on a weekly, monthly, or even yearly basis. However, if
they post something on a social media site that they are a member of, chances are
all of their friends and family who are one of their connections on the site will see
it within a day or two.
The business organizations who embrace this change and start to really invest in
their social media presence will find themselves far ahead of their competitors who
jump in much later.
If you want to be one of those organizations who stay ahead of your competition,
visit Spartan Online Marketing and notify us that you would like to have a free
Using Social Media For Business

3. consultation on how you can best take advantage of using social media for
business.
Spartan Online Marketing, York PA website design and online marketing
professionals, can help you business to maximize its presence online.
Using Social Media For Business