Businesses often have problems deciding which type of online marketing to focus on, especially when it comes to new product launches. Without sales or ROI statistics to analyze, it’s hard to decide if you should invest more in SEO, social media, or content marketing when implementing a new offering.
The truth is, SEO and social media have many areas that overlap, so this makes your choices easier. Combining the two is the best tactic for any business, not only for boosting its presence online, but for introducing new additions to its product line, as well.
So, the real question is, how do you use them together to get the best results for your new product launch, as well as for your long-term business marketing goals?
It Starts with Content Value
Valuable content is the foundation of everything on the internet when it comes to marketing. People are looking for information, resources, in-depth guides, help, advice and entertainment, so make such content the basis of any form of internet marketing you carry out. When introducing a new product, demonstrate how it provides at least one, if not more, of these things people seek online.
Google has always encouraged websites to publish information-rich content, as it clearly states in its
Webmaster Guidelines, and it’s the same when it comes to content marketing. Content with value has become important in recent years following the
Panda algorithm update, as well as the numerous other updates that have followed, and are upcoming.
As search engines become better at determining which content is really worth reading for their users, low-quality content is losing out. Use this fact to leverage your marketing aims. For example, if you plan to present a new home improvement tool for finishing floors, provide quality information to website visitors on how to replace, repair and maintain flooring.
One of the most important factors in determining the worthiness of content is how much people share it online. If more people are sharing the content and linking to it, this suggests to search engines the content is valuable and the publisher is trustworthy. This is where social media can play a crucial role, because liking and sharing tells search engines that your content has value.
Social Media Has More Influence Than You Think
Google has claimed that social media activities, such as likes and shares, don’t influence search results and have no effect on algorithms, but social media is intrinsically linked to SEO because of the ability of social platforms to distribute content effectively.
High-quality content is what people share the most, and this increases brand awareness, leads to more links, and drives more visitors to your website. All of this influences your visibility in the search engines over the course of time.
How does this translate in terms of new product marketing? By supporting your new product with value-driven content, you raise product awareness, as well as brand awareness – which is a win-win for your business and for any new product launches, both now and in the future.
The good news is, social sites like Google+ are adding the business element to their social platforms. In terms of SEO and marketing, when you sign up with
Google My Business and get positive reviews, it can improve your company’s visibility in search engines. This is powerful marketing, because it’s far-reaching social-wise and marketing-wise.
More recently, Google announced a partnership with Twitter where tweets will soon start to appear in search results. This is good news for any businesses active on Twitter, and it shows just how important social activity is becoming for SEO. For new product launches, simply tweeting about all the excitement around a new company offering can cause it to bubble up in search results almost instantaneously.
Marketing Techniques are Blending into One
SEO and social are blending together as one entity, because here is less definition of where each one starts and the other ends. Search engines look at the quality of the content, as well as the overall user experience to rank websites. Because social media allows consumers to interact with brands, it can help signify the popularity of websites, which suggests to search engines which sites are authoritative and trustworthy.
Produce valuable content and people will share it, and in turn you will become a stronger authority and develop trust, which can help your SEO. With greater consumer confidence, new product announcements will be met with higher anticipation and a more positive buzz, guaranteeing success for future launches.
Using Social to Improve SEO
The effectiveness of social depends on how you create and distribute your content. Social networks allow you to listen into conversations and find out what people talking about, as well as what interests your target audience. Use this information to make better decisions on which new products to introduce and more importantly, when and how to introduce them.
Timing is everything when it comes to marketing and product launches. A new swimsuit line will fare much better when it’s available to consumers in the warmer spring months instead of the dead of winter. Social media can give you the insider’s view on what people want and when they want it. Remember Grumpy Cat – when the sour puss was first embraced by social media fans, stuffed Grumpy Cat toy sales skyrocketed.
SEO and content marketing is something all businesses should understand and keep up on, even if they plan to hire a marketer or team. If you are starting a business, take a course like the one offered at
BuildPath to get your skills are up to scratch. You can learn to take advantage of the combined power of SEO and social media, rather than seeing them as different and unrelated marketing activities.
Social Media and SEO: A Two-Part Strategy
Start by creating a content creation and marketing strategy that uses SEO strategies, like keyword research along with social marketing for distribution. You don’t need to focus on SEO or social, while ignoring the other. Instead, you will find the best marketers understand the connection between the two. This partnership is going to become more pronounced in the near future, so pay attention to both of these activities when developing your marketing strategies over the coming months and years.
Ian Mason is a performance marketer with over 10 years of experience delivering leads and sales to SMBs. He founded BuildPath to help entrepreneurs learn how to drive leads and acquire customers for their businesses with digital marketing. He also enjoys sharing his ideas through blogging.
