SEO vs SIM
Search engine optimization (SEO) is about maximising a search engines’ search results through unpaid means so that a website appears near or is at the top of the results, and therefore, drastically improving the volume of traffic flow to it. SEO, as an internet marketing strategy, is used to increase and direct traffic flow to a specific website with the aim that sales volume will increase as a result, to gain visibility for the website, or other such similar means. Social influence marketing (SIM) is about combining and harnessing the power of social media (blogs, podcasts, social networks, wikis, etc.) and social influencers (people who write content for these social media and have considerable influence among their peers) to meet marketing and business needs.
The evolution of social networking online has progressed so swiftly that a transition from SEO to SIM methods of marketing online is, I believe, to be warranted. A decade ago it would have been feasible to use SEO methods to push a website’s rankings up on a search engine so that more traffic will travel to it and hence, to have increased sales. This is under the assumption that people are making their purchasing decisions alone or with a very limited number of sources. This would have been the case then as social networking online is still in its infancy and there are not as many peers and social influencers on the Internet for the purchaser to share information with as compared to now.
Actually, in my mind, the way of purchasing has come full circle in a way. Say we want to buy a car. Naturally, we want to buy the car that is right for us, so to find out more information about the type of car we want, we’d probably consult our friends, family, experts and other trusted sources for their driving experiences. We don’t simply pick up a car magazine, look at the car that is on the cover, and automatically buy that car. Here lies the crux of the matter; while SEO might bring in the traffic and people to your site, that doesn’t necessarily translate into good sales. The way people make purchasing decisions in the real world is finally being realized on the Internet; they consult with each other on Youtube, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms before making informed purchasing decisions. What this means is that people are relying less on search engines and more on their social influencers when making purchasing decisions. Indeed, it is quite ironic that search marketers are now receiving more traffic from links that are on other websites than they do from search engines.
In conclusion, the online marketer must take into consideration not only the consumer, but also the social influencers of the consumer when planning marketing campaigns to influence purchasing decisions on the Internet. SEO marketing techniques rely on only one channel, search engines, to market their products and make their presence known. SIM harnesses the networks of social media platforms to effectively reach out to hundreds and thousands of people through many different channels.
