610.432.2600You may be wondering — does social media impact SEO? Search engine optimization and social media “best practices” are constantly changing. So, it can feel almost impossible to drill down what strategies to implement and which ones to toss down the drain.
That’s why we’ve narrowed down some of the most efficient and most profitable tips of 2019 to effectively boost your brand and maybe even increase your rankings.
Does social media impact SEO rankings?
Neil Battle broke it down when he stated, “…the authority of a social account doesn’t impact search rank, however, links published on social media could be marked as credible back-links and thus influence a page’s rank.”
It’s also a fact that “…social profiles influence the content of your search results.”
So the point of the matter is it’s a grey area. We know that Google updates can change everything in a swift minute. Even if social links don’t directly help with ranking now, it’s not impossible they won’t in the future.
Tip #1: When creating and managing a social account, it’s crucial to understand how your audience consumes content and what kind of content they consume.
If your audience identifies with more short-length video content than blog content, it’s imperative you create a YouTube channel, share Instagram stories and create Facebook videos. Utilize your analytics data to understand where your content strategy lacks.
Tip #2: Focus on having a robust social media account where you create content not with the hopes of it becoming viral, but rather by focusing on “consumption ratios.”
What ratio of your followers are clicking through to your blog post? What ratio of your friends are watching at least 60% of your latest video?
Don’t try to change the masses. Focus on the people that are already showing an interest rather than trying to convert people that aren’t interested.
Tip #3: Create Remarketing Audiences from Engagement Audiences
The age-old saying “it’s cheaper to keep a customer than to find a new one” reigns true in the social media world.
This might seem like a no-brainer. But you would be surprised by how many marketers fail to create remarketing audiences off of people that engaged with an ad, post, or clicked a Call-To-Action.
For example, create a short tutorial video on educating your audience. Then, create a remarketing audience from the people that watched over 50% of your video. Engagement audiences will have lower CPM’s, increased CTR and in some cases higher conversion rates.
Tip #4: Use Hashtags to Own a Niche
This may seem counterintuitive but starting with unique hashtags that aren’t popular can work in your benefit. 
Rome wasn’t built in a day and becoming an industry expert can take time. Don’t expect to gain 100 authentic followers in a day. Instead, focus on a select few that will follow you in the dark. Every journey begins with the first step.
Map out where you want your brand to be positioned in three months, six months, and a year, then take micro-steps to achieve that status.
Use a combination of existing influencers and unique hashtags to land your brand on the radar and over time you will become the influencer within that particular niche.
Tip #5: Change is Consistent — Don’t Rely on the Algorithms
Creating ad content that is actually interesting will go a long way, especially if the ads don’t look like ads. You may be promoting a tutorial, blog post, discount offering on your site, or any other piece of content for that matter. Whatever the case is, use unique messaging while cross-promoting and target with intention.
Do not rely on the algorithm to get you in front of your audience. Follow this social media marketing tip even if you’re just sending out basic messaging. Unfortunately, Facebook offers boosted posts for a reason — it doesn’t cost a huge amount and can make all the difference in terms of if your message being received or not.
Keep in mind that just because someone follows you on Twitter does not mean they follow you on Instagram. It is not enough to be present on these channels you need to create unique content for each platform, diversify the messaging, and adjust how you connect with your audience.
Tip #6 Don’t Reinvent the Wheel – Use Tools
The biggest reason humans have advanced the way we have is because of the use of tools. The same goes for social media and awareness. Try using tools to make your life easier. Sprout is a great platform for Facebook and Twitter monitoring. You can watch certain hashtags and get notified when people discuss products, ideas, or comments on your brand.
Sprout has a more expensive version of their product for Instagram if your target audience is more active on that platform, it could be worth it to connect in real-time and stay ahead of your competitors.
The days of posting the same content across all mediums, sharing stock images with cute little quotes and having a one-size-fits-all presence are out.
It is much more imperative to create hyper-focused content and share it with unique audiences while being adaptive. It is no longer even important to be on all social media channels. Authenticity reigns supreme in 2019 and we don’t foresee that changing any time soon.