May 30 2011

Working Towards Synergy: Social Media for Local Business Search Engine Marketing

All this talk about utilizing social media for local business search engine marketing has existed for quite some time now. However, quantifying the level of success that social media integration brings to a business is a different matter. Up till now, people knew that using Twitter and Facebook helped. But exactly how it impacted businesses, people were not so sure.

The marketing firm MarketingSherpa has just released the results of its Search Marketing Benchmark Report. This study included 2,200 survey respondents and aimed to assess businesses’ most effective practices with regards to improving search engine marketing and integration of social media. In a nutshell, the result of the survey suggests that “search and media have incredible synergy”.

According to the same survey, 64 per cent of the organizations that were part of the respondents actually integrated the use of social media with their search engine marketing campaigns. This result suggests that organizations which are still in strategic phases are much more likely to incorporate the two together.

Organic search performance is also improved with the help of social media. The report cited that “search marketers who integrate social media achieve a 59 per cent better rate of conversion”. This is a very reassuring statement for any person who is involved in local business marketing.

At the same time, social media utilization helps in the production of relevant and helpful content which passes the standards of search engines. At the same time, businesses can work towards branding and establishing authority. What logically follows is customer loyalty to the brand due to the business’ credibility.

Social media integration also helps to increase traffic to company websites. This is because social media allows businesses to post links to their respective local business websites. Search engine listings for a business are also expected to increase with the help of social media.

So how can a business take full advantage of social media to reap the best possible results? MarketingSherpa has singled out content, keywords, consistency and profiles, and suggest that local businesses pay close attention to these elements.

Content must be fresh, new and helpful. To help with content, hiring a content writer is often necessary. Keywords should also be included in all published content but they must be used as naturally as possible to keep readers interested. It is recommended that businesses blog (and possibly guest blog) regularly or at least every weekday. Finally, in order to establish authority, it is crucial that businesses have complete and professional profiles and pages.

Chris Marentis writes from experience about lead generation, closing the sale and leveraging social media. He is the founder and CEO for a local internet marketing company Surefire Social, a resource for local search marketing

2 Responses to “Working Towards Synergy: Social Media for Local Business Search Engine Marketing”

  1. Gabriella - The Stepford Wife says:
    May 31, 2011 at 7:28 am

    It has taken some people a long time to realize that social media is the way to go. It opens up your brand to other people whom would normally not even know about what it is you do. I think that every business should try to utilize it in some way

  2. Dresses says:
    June 10, 2011 at 8:46 am

    I think social media as a great way to spread your brand, create awareness and personalization and customer engagement