SMO Strategies for D2C: Monitoring and Responding - ORM Best Practices

Social media has become the new marketplace for businesses. A study shows that as of 2023, 4.9 billion people use social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest, etc. This figure is estimated to rise to 5.85 billion users by 2027. This makes social networking websites a crucial place to look for customers.

Various marketplaces are being created on Facebook and Instagram. Business owners can list their products on these marketplaces and sell them online. It is important not just to sell your products but also to engage with your customers by addressing them socially and sending messages of social importance.

Let’s dive into the world of Social Media Optimization (SMO). This blog will take you through the SMO strategies for business.

Understanding Social Media Optimization (SMO)

SMO or social media Optimization uses social sites to enhance the company or brand’s online presence. It is a strategic approach to increase brand awareness and inform customers about your products and services.

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, has been an important strategy used in digital marketing. It makes sure that the online traffic on websites increases organically.

Unlike SEO, SMO mainly focuses on social media. It increases the number of visitors on social media sites to generate leads. SMO strategies, like introducing campaigns to create awareness for a product, are common. They help in bringing potential customers to your website.

Thus, the main difference is that SEO strategies content to make it visible on top of search engines like Google. However, SMO focuses on developing content on its website that engages the target audience. SMO distinguishes itself from direct-to-customer (D2C) brands as it helps better understand customers.

What is D2C?

D2C or Direct-to-Customer is a term used for companies or brands that sell their products or provide services directly to customers. Brands like boAt, Mamaearth, etc., are examples of D2C companies.

Such brands engage with customers on social media. Let us learn how these companies built their brand through social media.

Building a Brand 101

Starting a business should not be the only purpose of any entrepreneur. The key focus should be on building a brand. A brand can be established if you consider the following:

• An important factor to learn about building a D2C brand is to establish a brand identity among the customers that is compelling and unforgettable.

• D2C companies eliminate the mediators to serve the consumers directly. Such companies must connect with the consumers directly. Social media serves as the best platform for communicating with consumers. Developing a social media strategy to connect is imperative.

• D2C brands are all about building relationships with the customers. Relationships are built on trust, so the brand must root for authenticity.

• Social media is also about influencer marketing. Choosing the right influencer to promote your brand is the key to building a successful brand.

• Sales is just an initial process of building a brand. The real work starts when the customer service department is on its toes to help your customers.

Incorporating SMO Strategies to Promote a D2C Brand

So far, we've learnt that D2C is all about connecting with the customers personally. This can be done if you incorporate the following SMO strategies.

Identifying Your Target Group

A thorough research needs to be done to identify your target customers. For example, MamaEarth sells skin care products, so the target customers are probably 16-45 years old. Your target customers change depending on demographic and behavioural conditions.

Choose the Right Platform

Social media sites are diverse. You must identify which platform suits your brand the most. Choosing the right platform for a D2C brand can be done by ticking off items from the checklist.

• Identify which platform your target audience is most active on.

• Check if the platform offers the features needed for your customers.

• Check which platform your competitors use.

• Consider managing your content on the selected platform based on your resources.

• Define your goals for using the social media platform that you've selected.

Profile Optimization

Once you have identified your social media platform, the next step is to build and optimise a profile.

• Use a consistent brand voice.

• Use relevant hashtags.

• Use high-quality images and videos.

• Respond to comments and messages promptly.

• Use analytics to track performance.

• Use ads on social media.

Building a Content Strategy

Your content strategy must align with your product, services, and company values. Let us see how to build a content strategy.

• Planning your content is the most important aspect of building a content strategy. Create a content calendar to plan your posts.

• Various forms of content appear on different social networking websites. For example, you will find formal content on LinkedIn, as it is used mainly by professionals and businesses.

• However, formal content won't work on Facebook and Instagram. Reels are the most trending form of content on these sites.

• Using visuals and storytelling to create high-quality content is also very important on any social media platform.

• Follow trends that are relatable to engage with your audience. Relatable content is the most talked about content on these sites.

Engage with Your Audience

Connecting with your audience is essential. Engagement with the customers gives you an edge over the others. Here are some tips to increase engagement with your audience.

• Respond to the comments and messages.

• Conduct live webinars and Q&A sessions.

• Use polls to get input from your audience.

Influencer Marketing

Identify the influencers that fall in your niche to promote your product. Influencers engage with their followers and promote your products, converting them into new sales leads.

Monitoring and Responding

While you build your profile and content strategies, monitoring your growth with the help of social media analytics and other tools like hashtag tracking and brand mentions is essential. Monitoring profile performance, such as your reach, engagement rate, etc., will help you understand which content is most consumed by your audience. With this, you can plan your future content ideas.

Responding to the comments is also necessary. Even a small “thank you” comment must be responded to with care. Your response should be appealing to make the user interact with you or even generate a UGC (User Generated Content) in your favour. As an example, you might ask your users to share your product on their profile in return for some giveaways or gifts.

Online Reputation Management: Practices to Maintain Brand Trust

ORM, or Online Reputation Management, is a practice of monitoring and maintaining a brand’s online reputation. It helps you track your brand’s reputation and strategise your next move to maintain a positive outlook on your products.

Like the real world, maintaining an online reputation is also important. A bad reputation may hamper the growth of the company.

Let us evaluate the best practices related to ORM.

• Googling yourself or your brand name will take you to the search results and give you a gist of what people are talking about you. Analysing the reviews on various websites will give you an overview of what your audience thinks about you.

• Build your good image content beforehand. Be content-ready to tackle any bad reputation result that may pop up on the first page.

• Increase your online presence. With this, you will be able to stay on top and be relevant always. Posting more often is necessary to expand your online presence.

• Avoid controversies online. This may get you in an online feud and make you look bad.

• Monitoring online mentions is also important. If you know you are being called out, respond to the same carefully.

Conclusion

Crafting an SMO strategy for business is vital to handle the vastness of D2C marketing. Practices such as identifying your target audience, choosing the right platform, and profile Optimization need to be followed. Investing in professional guidance can help derive significant changes.

Growth Jockey can be your one-stop solution. With vast expertise in digital marketing, app development, and data analytics, we excel in SMO and ORM techniques to boost growth.

FAQs

1. Is it necessary to post regularly for a newly started business?

Yes, your online presence is a must. Even though you are a new business, you ought to gain more followers on social sites to present your products. Different sites require different frequencies of posting. For example, Instagram requires you to post 3 to 5 times per week or 2 stories daily.

2. Can a D2C brand be built without social media?

No, social media is where your potential customers are. For a D2C brand, interacting with its customers is paramount, and social media platforms are the best places to do so.

3. How can you improve our site visitors through social media?

Posts that contain your website links should be uploaded to direct your customers to visit the link. A post that builds curiosity in readers’ minds is more likely to get site visits.

4. Which D2C brands are most active on social media?

Brands like Nike and National Geographic have made their mark on social networking platforms. Their engaging posts are the most viewed and visited on the internet today.