We see it time and time again. Brands heavily invested in a paid ads and social strategy that has all the pop and buzz of an old fashioned launch party… but the results don’t seem to “stick”.
Even getting mentions on some serious brand social accounts and still… the impact is temporary.
Brand popularity and authority can be fleeting. The half life of an Instagram post I believe is sub 10 minutes. Does it matter if it’s 5 or 20? the point is you can get your time in the limelight, but it nowhere near means you’re secured atop your new found attention grabbing soapbox.
Website Authority Vs Brand Authority
The word “Authority” gets thrown around, misused and downright abused.
Brands, publications and celebrities have Authority in the eyes of their followers and onlookers.
Many, but not necessarily all, also have Authority in the eyes of platforms like Google, Facebook and Pinterest.
It’s easy to forget that when you do get your moment in the sun, that high profile social mention and more, that ultimately it’s the platform that will decide whether you “stick around” or not. It’s fine satisfying the audience, but you need to make sure you’re generating the signals that establish your authority in the eyes of the PLATFORMS like Google.
An Example Of Short Term Fame, Not Authority On A Platform…
You get a social mention, even an organic promotion in a big time magazine or online publication in your niche.
Your media buyer gets a pat on the back.
The social media agency you hired secure their contract for the next 12 months.
You soak up the dopamine hit of sales whilst they occur and give yourself, the ring master a pat on the back for a job well done.
Meanwhile the SEO guy in the corner is banging on about “links” and “anchor text” and some other stuff you don’t seem to understand…
The SEO guy see’s something you don’t.
He see’s the opportunity to secure that authority, like securing another step underfoot on your path to having “sticking power”.
Without taking this opportunity, the SEO guy KNOWS that it’s going to be a short term blip. But they also know that this is the easiest piece of SEO work that can be done inside a business with a social and collaboration strategy already in place.
You’ve already won the game!
You now need to collect ALL of the rewards – leave no link un-linked!
I’m of course talking about leveraging and earning backlinks from social media activity – and more.
Build Website Authority For Sustainable Brand Authority
The point here is that Collaboration strategies, whether for SEO or Social Media should seek to extract all possible forms of value from the collaboration.
More often than not the Social team will undervalue Do-Follow backlinks and the SEO team will undervalue the social benefits.
The game here is about keeping balance.
Balance between website authority (in the eyes of platforms like Google) and Brand Authority (or equity) in the eyes of the social consumer.
Without balance you have risk
Risk that your business doesn’t have the “sticking power” to be a long lasting brand that’s omnipresent in the eyes of the consumer. Instead, as with many brands in the social sphere, a fleeting success with a silent fizzle as the lack of authority in the eyes of Google prevents your brand from being taken seriously by the world of searching shoppers who will provide the solid base of sustainable fresh traffic and sales your brand will need to grow profitably and effectively on the global stage.
