Social Media Optimization - SMO

Social Media Optimization or SMO is quickly becoming a marketing and advertising tool that more clients want and are taking notice of. SMO means generating publicity (whether for a product, a name, etc) through social media and online communities by helping your content travel and increasing your linkage.

We're seeing a rise in social networking sites like Flickr, YouTube, Digg, Twitter, Del.icio.us, Ning and more as well as syndication and RSS driven tools. Blogs are another big source of content sharing. Many photographers and some illustrators are creating their own blogs as a spin off of their traditional portfolio site. It's also a beneficial tool for people like myself to get a better feel about a photographer, their interests, their personal work etc. It's a wise choice to start a blog as another marketing tool for yourself and your work.

Understanding social media and the role it plays in the client's overall campaign can help you win the project. You'll know how your images can be used in this newer media as well as in traditional print media. The great thing about social media sites is people are visual beings... they want to see more images and less words.

It's about leveraging some of the simplest social media tools to connect with one another, engage users and reach audiences in a whole new way. The way we think and share information is changing so that means we have to adjust a little as well.