Digital marketers are likely to have heard contradictory theories at one time or another about the impact of social media on organic search rankings. Like everything else in the marketing industry, there is a wide range of opinions and little evidence to support either side.
Certain elements of social interaction would logically impact SEO value. Users sharing Content can increase page views and lead to more links back to the article.
In order to do this, we started researching what types of topics are inherently shareable or, in other words, what people are sharing on a href= “https://powerdigitalmarketing.com/servi “es/organic-social-media/”>social media/a> and how we can tap into” that market. To do this, our research focused on what topics people were sharing on social networks and how we could tap into that market.
Hootsuite Experiment
In order to answer this question, we experimented using Hootsuite titled “Project Elephant.” In their experiment, the researchers” promoted previously published Content on social networks and then measured the effect on rankings.
Project Elephant used three groups of articles: a control group that did not receive any promotion. This test group only received organic social advertising, and a third set of pieces received paid social media promotion.
The results of their study showed that there was a strong correlation between organic search rankings and increased social engagement. The articles that were promoted via paid social media ads saw the biggest gains in organic rankings. This makes sense, as the ads can reach a larger audience than organic posts.
The results convinced us that this test was worth trying on one of our clients.
SEO & Paid Social Collaboration
Our team was able to use our cross-channel expertise to add value to one of our clients. We could create a piece of information that would be useful for our client’s search engine presence and also for clients on social media.
This experiment gave our team the opportunity to learn more about other digital marketing channels and how they can affect each other. This experiment allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the SEO benefits that come from promoting Content on social media. We can also produce great material for social engagement.
We discovered new opportunities through other channels. We could use the same Content in a traditional campaign and the creative pieces of our social posts for search ads.
Designing Our Test
Step 1: Identify a suitable client client. We began by searching for clients who had content marketing, Paid Social, and SEO in their service portfolio. We realized that SEO and Paid Social were the most important services and that this test would be a good way to justify adding Content as an additional service.
Our search shifted to find opportunities for a client who needed help with SEO and could benefit from a well-crafted content piece in line with the brand voice. Our search was narrowed down to 10 potential candidates, then to three.
Each of the three finalist verticals was (very) distinct. We asked ourselves: Which client would benefit most from “value-added” Content that could be shared on social” media platforms and gain virality? We decided that the best way to be a thought leader and to provide emotionally valuable information to a client’s audience was to work with a client in the beauty business.
Client Identified
Find a highly shareable topic.
In order to complete our project, we investigated what Content people shared most often on social media. We found a book by Jonah Berger, who is a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The title of the book was Contagious: Why Things Catch On. This book, as its name suggests, looks at why people share things and what makes them so attractive.
Social currency is one of many qualities that make something more shareable. Social currency, at its most basic level, is the value that comes from being the first person to learn about something and to be the first one to share it.
We also decided to focus on virality (the ability for something to go viral) as it is a related topic. Social currency was just one element of virality that we chose, but we felt that this would be the best one to use in our experiment. We could generate social currency by creating Content that people felt compelled to share. This would be a valuable resource for our client.
What are people searching for?
We began our keyword research after deciding on a topic we thought people would be interested in sharing across various social media platforms. This helped us understand how people search for Content of this kind. Power Digital’s Keyword Mapping process factors, such as keyword relevance, Search Intent, and the ability to rank high in search results. We now had our baseline and a group of keywords we were going to target with our article.
We also targeted search terms with a high level of difficulty so we could determine the organic search rankings based on social engagement.
Crafting Compelling Content
Our entire strategy hinged on creating an article so compelling that people would want to share it as soon as they read it. Anyone who has written anything knows that this is much easier said than accomplished.
It is important to create compelling Content not only for virality but also for SEO and brand voice and to encourage people to act after they finish reading the article. We spent a lot of time researching the trends in beauty and skin care, how people search, and what pieces are shared on social media. Our paper had to be able to stir emotions in people to make them want to share it with their social networks.
We didn’t want to create a commercial, but didn’t something that highlighted the unique selling point of our client’s products. We wanted to make a client’s information that would also promote our client the right way. Again, we were aiming for an emotional response from our readers.
Our team created a video sales letter to identify with the customer’s journey and address emotions at various stages. We knew our topic would reach people. All we needed to do was get the message right so social media users could promote it. We used elements from the VSL to create Content that centered around our customers’ motivations without pushing customers’making a purchase. We wanted our customers to tell their stories and introduce our brand to new people.
