When building a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, it is very important to consider a number of factors like PageRank, keyword density, and backlinks. Social media optimization (SMO) works very closely with SEO. Many tactics for running successful campaigns benefit both. One of the main things Google suggests is to build content for your reader, not search engines, and build high-quality content. This benefits both SEO and SMO by giving your reader something interesting, which makes it more likely to be passed around. As it gets passed around, more backlinks are established benefiting PageRank and weight, key pieces in Google’s algorithm. High-quality content also benefits by adding keyword rich content to a site which helps increase relevancy to search terms, another big piece in the algorithm. If people begin talking about your content (i.e. posting your content on their site), the content benefits by the PageRank of their page. Social media optimization is a process by which viral growth is ignited by moving quality content past the initial negative inertia which prevents the success of most content and sites.

A great SMO tactic that benefits SEO is using a paid campaign to begin viral growth. If you are starting from scratch, then it is very easy to begin an SEO campaign, by using paid search to give yourself some traffic and a few links so that you will be indexed quickly. Sure that works, but try running a StumbleUpon campaign in addition to paid search. The one problem with paid search is if you start a campaign then stop your links disappear. When using something like SU you can begin the viral push, but more importantly, SU gives you links, permanent links. Every time someone thumbs up your content piece, you get a link placed in their profile. If they thumbs down your content, you get a link in their profile. When someone visits your site, you get a link in their profile. That’s about $.05, per backlink, even if no one likes your page, and as everyone knows, links are one of the big keys to SEO.

Mike Palmer
Analyst

Traditional site design typically consists of building features, focusing on usability, or creating a cool feel for a site.  While these elements are important, they are secondary to a few other key aspects that will promote viral growth of a site.  Sites are designed by people familiar with the site, who set goals based on what they think their existing users will like, not focusing on how the site will spread or whether people will talk about the site.

When thinking about social media you have to design the site around a viral element.  A key video, tool, piece of content, or even the product itself, possibly.  This is the hook.  This is what captures the audience.  When identifying the viral element, you have to take an honest look at your site.  Will anyone really care about what you are trying to push their way?  It is a tough pill to swallow, that most of the time, if the site is not growing quickly, the site isn’t really interesting.

If the site is interesting and has some sort of viral element, then you have to look at sharability.  This how easy it is for someone to share your viral element with their friends.  If it is hard for someone to share it, that limits viral potential.  It could be something as simple as adding your article to StumbleUpon, immediately after it is posted.  This helps get the ball rolling on your content because visitors will be less inclined to write an article about your site than they would to just add a Thumbs Up. 

Another issue that affects sharability is the value proposition.  If people can’t quickly ascertain the purpose, function, and benefit of your site, they can’t tell people about it.  In addition, value proposition and it’s clarity is key to the success of a site.  If someone shares your site with their friends, but their friends visit your site they aren’t engaged because they don’t know what it is for there is really no net benefit.  The most difficult part of this is that, for a viral campaign, your homepage is more often than not a secondary or tertiary entrance point.  The people sharing your viral element will share the element itself, and if that isn’t your homepage, then people won’t see what’s on your homepage. 

It is a difficult task to design a site for social media, but it can be done with some careful planning and careful thoughts on these elements.

In a mid-morning brainstorming session, I was discussing the difference between Viral and Word of Mouth marketing with one of my colleagues. My colleague was convinced that they are the same thing, and I felt that they were wholly different. We began to iron out some solid distinctions between them and realized that, in some ways, they are also similar. The main conclusion we agreed upon is that the most effective marketing strategy is somewhere between them both, fine tuning a message to have some of the aspects of each.

Viral marketing, as the name implies, is much like a virus that spreads quickly from one person to another. When compared to WOM, it has a lower engagement. This lower engagement is what allows the message to transmit quickly. It is easy to forward an email, or post a YouTube link, but it is much more difficult to show someone how well a new tractor can plow a field, even if it is exceptional. The problem with viral marketing is that the audience hears the message then moves past it. It is a trend or a fad, then it’s gone. When was the last time you saw Star Wars Kid?
Word of Mouth is a little different from Viral Marketing. The increased engagement of WOM, makes it a much more effective form of marketing because the audience to the message is open and receptive. A person is more likely to buy or act upon the information if they are referred by a trusted source. The person receiving the message listens and retains the information. One problem with WOM is that it is difficult for the message to receive wide-spread exposure, since it usually requires a reasonable understanding of the message. Calculus and Philosophy are broad ideas that have little opportunity to pass from one person to the other outside of educational institutions. The other problem is that it requires a personal interaction. Viral videos or links, lack the personal touch and specific recommendation that WOM implies. Your best friend telling that you will like a CD, would prompt you to go buy it, but a video from them that is about the CD will likely be less effective.

Both forms of marketing are more effective than typical display advertising, like Banner ads, TV Commercials, or Billboards, since these offer virtually no engagement or means to spread their message. The main way WOM and Viral Marketing are similar is that they both rely on a highly polar message. Someone must feel either very strongly for or against the message to relay it to their friends. Mediocrity and blandness is the biggest enemy to both Viral and WOM, since people just don’t tell each other about things that are ok. The community around the idea must be excited to achieve either Viral or WOM.

The funny thing about this conversation was that, while analyzing Viral marketing and WOM marketing, we came to a greater understanding of Social Media marketing. When we looked at the weaknesses in Viral Marketing and Word of Mouth, we realized the importance of striking a balance between the two. Social Media marketing fills that gap. With Social Media, it is important to create a high-level of trust by using credible sources so that the audience is receptive. By analyzing and optimizing the message, it is possible to increase the interaction with the audience. It engages the users like WOM. The engagement should be easy so that someone can be fully-engaged and alert early in the message. That being said, it is important to make sure that the message can be spread easily. If the audience is too caught up in the engagement or overwhelmed by the information, then they are much less likely to spread the idea. Social Media is an interesting balance between the two.

By: Mike Palmer
Analyst

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