Participating in social media is all the rage at the moment, but you need to think carefully before jumping in. A social media campaign can be a great way to augment your off-page search engine optimisation plans. Deciding to run a social media campaign is only the first step in a very long process.

Before you do anything else, you need to decide which social media sites you’re going to target with your campaign. Different sites are suited to different types of businesses; it is important to analyse your business personality, the behaviour of your target user groups and the properties of each social media site. When considering a social media campaign, you can approach our experts at SEO Consult.

Twitter

This site certainly isn’t suited to every business, although it seems that just about everyone is on it. Statistics show that outbound traffic from Twitter tends to go to content-driven sites, rather than transactional sites. This is great news if you run a blog as part of your site. It seems that people who work in the creative industries often like to tweet.

Wikipedia

This may seem like an odd option for social media campaigns, but having a Wikipedia page can really get you places. The main block for most businesses is that items have to be of objective interest for a Wikipedia page to stay put. A lot of business pages don’t withstand the rigorous editing process, but if your business has ever done anything of note, it’s worth a try.

Facebook

This social media network has grown into a giant over the last five years, but businesses are still struggling to find their place. Internet users from all areas use Facebook daily or even hourly. If you can find a way to develop a network, it’s a great way to reach thousands of your target users.

Wikipedia, Facebook and Twitter all have issues when it comes to backlinks for your site. If links are your main aim, it’s worth discussing this with your SEO consultant.

Digg

This social bookmarking site is particularly popular with the technically-minded. If you’re involved in a technical industry, you might find it worthwhile to submit your pages to Digg. Regular participation is also worthwhile, as it opens the possibility of making some powerful friends. It has been shown that top Digg users have a lot of power on the site.

One major drawback of Digg is the DiggBar, which frames links and may affect link power.

LinkedIn

Another social networking site, LinkedIn has a strong business following. Many businesses are using the network just like a big real-world networking event. Participation can be beneficial when you want to forge industry connections.

Sphinn

Sphinn is another social bookmarking network, this time with a focus on internet marketing. Even if you’re in another industry, participating on Sphinn can be helpful for keeping tabs on the trends in internet marketing.

Delicio.us

Yet another form of social bookmarking, Delicious, covers all the necessary bases. It’s extremely popular with all kinds of groups on the net, making it highly attractive to the average business.

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