Social media is an important part of any marketing strategy. The problem is each platform has different optimization strategies. Techniques you’d use on Facebook, for example, aren’t going to be effective on Pinterest.
If you’re a business owner, you’ll get the best results online by working with SEO professionals. But even if you’re completely new to social media marketing, you’ll still want to be familiar with the basics.
Our Social Media Cheat Sheet has a quick overview of marketing moves for a variety of social media platforms:
Which Social Media Platform is Right for You?
Before we get started, you’ll want to make sure your brand is on the right social media platforms – and that might not be Facebook. Need help? Our beginner’s guide Hidden Social Media Gems will show you how to identify which social media platforms are best for your brand.
Once you know what platforms to go to, here’s what you want to do:
Almost every brand will want a Facebook page. Even if you have a more dedicated audience elsewhere, you’ll still need a presence on Facebook. Imagine you were researching a brand and couldn’t find them on Facebook. Wouldn’t you think that’s a little weird?
Fortunately, setting up a Facebook page is pretty simple. You’ll want to claim a vanity URL. This means your URL is your brand name instead of the default series of numbers.
Ideally, you want an exact match between URL and brand name. If your brand is used in another industry, you might want to modify your brand name for clarity. The first word on your page is the most significant.
Yelp
First, claim your Yelp page. This gives you control over your profile page, which you can then optimize with keywords and description.
Higher rankings in Yelp can translate to increased visibility in search. So you want to encourage good reviews. Following a purchase, you might want to send a thank you email which includes a quick link to your Yelp page.
Reviews are considered to be new content, and new content on a regular basis helps increase your ranking.
Unfortunately, not all reviews are positive, no matter how great your business is. Negative reviews are a fact of online life. Here’s more info on how to get positive SEO from negative reviews.
When building your Pinterest page, include searchable keywords related to your products or brand. You’ll also want to include search terms within headlines. Pinterest doesn’t have a huge amount of space for detailed descriptions, so you want to be as specific as possible.
Concentrate especially on making your board names very detailed. This strategy can help you stand out from the crowd. For more details, check out our comprehensive guide on how to drive engagement on Pinterest.
Google My Business
Even if you don’t do much with this platform, you need to claim your listing. Otherwise, your brand won’t show up on local maps and listings.
You should also add pictures to your Google My Business page. In many ways, these profiles are created for users who are looking for a local business while using a mobile device. In other words, folks who are driving around town looking for a product or service nearby.
Put yourself in their shoes. If you’re looking for a business you’ve never seen before, what would you want to see? Most people want a picture of the business. Even if they have step-by-step directions, a recent photo of your physical location will draw in shoppers.
Etsy
The Etsy platform isn’t for everybody. Crafts and handmade products can thrive, however, especially if your customer base is predominately female. Etsy’s had some good years recently, so know competition can be tough.
While the Etsy network does help promote traffic through the site, you also want to promote your Etsy site elsewhere. Many sites will use Etsy in connection with Facebook and Pinterest.
Also, you’ll need to optimize each product. Etsy recommends detailed product titles. There are four parts of each product page you can optimize:
- Title description
- Tags
- The first 160 words of the product description
- Categories and materials section
Great photography is important when displaying physical products. However, search engines can’t see. They create your product listing’s title tag from your Etsy product title.
What social media platforms do you have for your brand? Are there any platforms you’re considering? Tell us a bit about your business, and we’ll help you identify the best social media strategies for your needs.