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With the rise of media access, human attention spans have fallen and the brain is now able to process visual content in as little as 13 milliseconds. With such fast media intake speeds, it is crucial to create attention-grabbing content that will drive brand awareness and connect with your consumers. Learning social media optimization (SMO) strategies will help guide the creation of effective content.

What Is Social Media Optimization (SMO)?

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been the primary focus of digital marketing for over a decade, increasing a website’s visibility on web search engines. SMO is broadening the scope of digital marketing to incorporate brand usage to generate leads and expand a company’s online presence. Ultimately, SMO utilizes social media platforms to post content that displays a specific brand and connects users to that company or organization.

The following are some of the most popular social media platforms used in 2024:

• Facebook with 3.05 billion monthly active users (MAUs)
• Youtube with 2.49 billion MAUs
• Instagram with 2.04 billion MAUs
• TikTok with 1.22 billion MAUs
• Snapchat with 750 million MAUs
• X (Twitter) with 550 million MAUs
• Pinterest with 465 million MAUs
• LinkedIn with 424 million MAUs

It is important to note that while TikTok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms after its launch in 2017, this platform caters to a younger audience. Just under 50% of US TikTok users are aged 10-29 years old. So, TikTok will be helpful for businesses with a younger target consumer.

Additionally, Pinterest is mainly useful for promoting a business relating to fashion, beauty, home, garden, and DIY.

With the high likelihood that your consumers are also avid users of at least one of these social media platforms, learning SMO will greatly enhance your ability to reach both existing and new consumers.

What Are the Best SMO Strategies to Follow?

The primary goal of SMO strategies is to increase brand awareness and encourage users to visit your website after viewing your social media content. There are a number of ways you can improve your current approach to content creation, most of which relate to learning unique graphic design strategies.

Clear, Concise Content

Content designed to be pleasing to the consumer’s eyes is crucial to effectively communicating information. Symmetry, repetition, and emphasis within posts make digestible content. Visualizations, like graphs or charts, are also a great way to make complex information more straightforward for your audience.

Additionally, having consistency across posts will support brand recognition. Posts should consistently use the same colors as the business to tie the brand into your social media. When diversifying posts, consider using a monochromatic scheme in which different shades of the same color are used. Users will begin to associate specific colors with your brand, boosting brand awareness.

Show, Don’t Tell

Visualizations are the key to content creation, but breaking through the clutter of other posts can be challenging. Photos, words, and other visualizations must be uniquely designed to grab the attention of and instill curiosity in your audience. An intriguing photo with limited text is a great way to engage a viewer with your post and encourage the viewer to read a longer caption and/or click on your profile for more information.

When considering the content to include in your posts, it is important to take on a “small screen” perspective. The most important information to convey your message and call to action should be clearly displayed in the post and easily viewed on a variety of devices, such as a mobile phone or personal computer.

Shareable Content

A distinct benefit to SMO is that users can help with your marketing efforts. With a viral marketing strategy, content aims to be easily shareable by a user. So, your business has the opportunity to reach both your current followers and new users. For example, encouraging users to repost your Instagram posts to their Instagram Story means your post will be viewed by your following and your follower’s following. Hashtags with keywords are another great way to boost content visibility.

Cater To Your Audience

Having a consistent posting schedule will facilitate an expectation among your audience for new content, making your audience feel connected to your business on social media. Simultaneous content scheduling across multiple platforms will uphold a uniform brand image.

Messaging creation should be tailored to your audience, so posts should consider your followers’ geographic and demographic information. After the initial post, remaining engaged with your audience will also support your brand image because you will be building a relationship with your users. Specifically, it is important to respond to comments and consider content that can be interactive for your following.

A few popular tools to manage social media include Loomly, Agorapulse, PromoRepublic, Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social.

Why Is SMO Important?

As technology continues to advance, digital marketing is also evolving. Having SMO, in addition to SEO, is critical to ensure your business is reaching the maximum number of potential customers. Without an understanding of SMO, content creators risk damaging a brand image with posts that are too busy or unappealing to the eye and lack clarity or a call to action. Following SMO strategies will most effectively increase brand awareness, build customer relationships, and develop stronger customer loyalty. Work with BluShark Digital to learn more about creating a digital marketing strategy that incorporates both SEO and SMO.