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Search Engine Marketing Minus Search Engines Equals Social Marketing

Does a new online business have to incorporate search engine optimization strategies to be successful? Is Google the only environment that everyone has to be involved in before they can find any sort of business success?

If that is so, then it is a very volatile and dangerous business environment to be involved with. Your success and failure could depend on the algorithmic whims of a very large and complex company and their search engine.

If you take the time to think about that, it can become a little distressing.

And depending on your market, competition for the top spots in Google can be intense. Many companies believe that the only way to reach the top of the searches is to employ some sort of trick. And tricks can be... tricky. They might work sometimes... and sometimes they might get you banned altogether.

The point of this article is not to say that there are ways around search engine optimization. In fact, as long as the search engines provide so much traffic you should always build your websites to be search engine friendly.

The point of this article is to say that there are some things you can do that are independent of search engines  things that will form a strong Internet presence. These are techniques that can work without the search engines and also build a foundation for superior search engine marketing.

The answer is Community. Believe it or not, the Internet does exist without the search engines. And this has become more and more evident with the development and popularity of social networking sites, the blogosphere, and other user generated content sites.

Social marketing isn't, by an stretch, a new idea. Marketers have been trying to leverage word of mouth and viral marketing techniques for years. But with the Internet evolving the way it is, we have been given new opportunities and means to do so.

Social marketing on the Internet can be very rewarding and productive. However, it can take a lot more time and effort than a standard SEO campaign. The first step, then, is to evaluate whether or not your product service, or information can actually benefit from a social marketing campaign. Otherwise you will just be wasting a lot of time.

How do you know if you can succeed with social marketing? Simple. Ask yourself: Do you have anything to offer the community? More than that: Do you have anything you can give the community?

If you go into social marketing you should not do it with the intention of mining a community for what you can get or take from them. That's a difficult concept for many marketers to wrap their heads around, but it is absolutely necessary.

One of the defining characteristics of a community is its ability and desire to protect itself and its members from outsiders or perceived threats. And people who are trying to infiltrate a community to take something away will be perceived as a threat and dealt with accordingly.

The next step is to become a valuable part of the community. This means active participation. It does not mean spamming forums and blogs. It means becoming a trusted voice in a community of knowledgeable members.

This leads to another problem for marketers. A marketing company doesn't always get to choose its clients. How do you get involved in a community that centers on an industry or product they have no personal interest in or use for? How, then, can they become and honest member of the community?

Every problem is an opportunity in disguise.

I think I've heard that said somewhere.

What could be better than to enter a community from the standpoint of someone who is new to the industry and honestly looking to get involved? Communities may react badly to someone trying to take advantage3 of them, but if you enter it with an honest desire to learn and become a contributing part of them, there will always be those who are willing to teach you. And as you learn about the community from the ground up, you will learn what you can really offer them.

Then when you can offer something of value that you know the community wants, you can do so while still being seen as a trusted and valuable source.

But remember, social marketing will take time and consistent work. It is like PPC in that way. It requires long term management to see success. Discontinue your campaign or stop participating and your marketing success will significantly drop off.

So is it worth it? Most definitely. Search engines can drive traffic, but communities can drive customers. Which do you think is more valuable.

Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, an Internet marketing and development company. If you'd like to learn more about Search Engine Marketing or social marketing, visit http://www.main10.com or http://www.main10.com/internet_marketing.php

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