Social Media Optimization and Social Media Marketing

Oct 2, 2006 Michael Brito

I realize that some have opted to call Social Media Optimization something different like Social Media Marketing and vice versa. Given that this is somewhat of a new concept, I understand the friendly debate.  Based on a recent post from Rohit Bhargava, he states that SMO is simply “tweaking” a web site by “adding quick links for tagging, syndicating content through rss or submitting content to relevant sites”. Based on this definition, which I completely agree with, I believe that Social Media Optimization is a more appropriate definition.

However, I would also say that Social Media Marketing is somewhat of a different practice within the same space; where firms aggressively target the social media channels (like Myspace, Friendster, Hi5) by creating profiles (Nike, Cingular, Jack in the Box, Aquafina); and engaging in conversations with consumers in places where they frequent.

Technorati Tags: social media optimization, smo, socialmediaoptimization, social media, social media marketing


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  • Hi Michael,

    Thanks for the link.

    Your distinction between SMM and SMO makes sense to me - in the same way that most marketers would know the difference between website marketing (using website as a marketing tool) and website optimisation (making a website as effective as possible).

    cheers,
    sw