Social Marketing vs Generic -SEO - What's The Difference?

By Dave Talbot (c) 2010

There are many different methods of marketing your business
website, on-line shop or e-commerce website, but for many
business owners there seems to be a bit of confusion between
what is considered generic back link building and what is a
true social marketing campaign, and more to the point what
is the aim of each marketing strategy?

Different SEO and web marketing companies will of course
employ different methodologies to promote a site and more
often than not you get what you pay for so to speak. Equally
there is bound to be a crossover in campaign strategies the
debate of which could go on for months, but the purpose of
this article is to highlight the key differences and aims of
each type of campaign not what any single campaign should
contain.

Generic Search Engine Marketing

Typically the aim of a generic search engine marketing
campaign (SEM) is to develop relevant and targeted anchor
text back links to specific pages on your website to
increase your site's link profile and authority in the eyes
of the search engines.

This of course is all aimed at improving your website
ranking and to ensure your website becomes "known" in the
search engines for the particular key phrases you are most
interested in ranking for.

Low level or cheap link building services often include
article marketing, content distribution and directory
submissions, although most professional SEO practioners will
probably dismiss directory submissions as the quality of
these links is generally very poor at best and sometimes
dubious also.

Low level or cheap link building services can also take
advantage of what have become known as social websites;
typically these are in the form of blogs and other Web 2.0
properties and even low level social bookmarking sites.
Forum posting just for the sake of links would also fall
under this category.

The quality of budget link building services can vary wildly
but they are not to be sneezed at though, as in many cases
especially in less competitive or tight niches, they can
prove to be very effective indeed and are often all that is
needed to rank a site well.

Social Marketing Campaigns

Social marketing campaigns are quite different to generic
search engine marketing campaigns although there can be a
degree of crossover in many cases. A true social marketing
campaign is much more focussed to generating leads and brand
awareness as well as meeting the targeted marketplace in its
own backyard.

A social marketing campaign however is also generally
considered to be much further up the evolutionary tree of
link building so to speak and while it will still develop
and reward you with good quality back links to your site,
social marketing campaigns are generally of much higher
quality in both their make up and also can require a
significant amount of planning and preparation.

Typically social marketing campaigns will take advantage of
prime and highly focussed Web 2.0 properties and business
networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Ecademy and so on, as well as other complementary
web sites and social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon,
Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us to name but a few.

The aim of a good social marketing campaign is not to
specifically develop back links per se (although this is
bound to happen) but to develop either brand or business
awareness in a defined market place where the products or
services you or your company supply will or could be in
demand.

It is also to establish you or your company as an industry
authority, go to person or trusted advisor, or even a
business that can help other people solve their own problems
or critical business issues by the provision of quality goods
and services.

The Downside of Social Marketing Campaigns

While the advantages of a social marketing campaign are
undeniable, there are a number of downsides which it pays
to be acutely aware of.

The main downside of social marketing campaigns is the sheer
amount of time and work that needs to be maintained to
develop a business's authority or profile across many sites.

These types of campaigns are very hands-on and involve
ongoing social networking and subtle promotion of a business
or brand as well as the generation of useful/helpful relevant
content either for general publication or for posting on your
own site as quality information pages or blog posts, or as
donated content for other complementary sites that are not
in direct competition to your own.

It may be for example that you want to develop a profile on
forums relevant to the markets you are trying to penetrate
by posting quality useful help and advice (not just a link
post), but if not kept up-to-date or live these profiles can
quickly lose ground and your on-line identity will fade.

Most businesses pursuing social marketing campaigns as an
ongoing strategy will be spending at least 10-20 hours plus
a week in one form or another and although this can be
outsourced (often at considerable cost), typically this is
done in-house by either the business owner or the marketing
person, primarily because the business has the internal
product or service expertise to maintain a long term focus
and generate quality content.

What Is Right For Your Business?

The correct or most successful strategy required for each
business will vary tremendously which is why most SEO
professionals will not even conduct a web marketing campaign
without some form of initial consultancy or competitive
market assessment.

If time is not one of your assets or your budget is tight,
then a generic link building campaign may be all that is
affordable to you, but if you are in a competitive market
and serious about your on-line business then it simply does
not make good business sense to second guess your
requirements.

Bite the bullet and employ the services of an SEO consultant
even if only for initial consultancy as the advice you
receive more often than not will be highly beneficial to the
success of your on-line venture.
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Author: Dave Talbot: Search engine marketing and website
promotion is an essential ingredient for any on-line
business. For affordable SEO marketing and link building
services visit ==> http://www.advancedwebmarketing.co.uk
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