SMM and SMO: Is there a difference?

Social Media Marketing (SMM) and Social Media Optimization (SMO) are two new phrases that popped up last year to define marketing through social media and social networking sites. There is a lot of confusion about what each of them mean and what exactly they define, which is bound to happen with any new phrase.

The terms SMM and SMO are frequently used together, and there is a little confusion around the difference between the two. SMO, standing for social media optimization, is a term that has been getting increasing mentions since it was coined in 2006. The term is often used in conjunction with SMM; so much so that you could be forgiven in thinking the two are interchangeable. This is not so. While there is a little debate about where the two concepts cross over each other, social media marketing and social media optimization are two different techniques that can be used separately.

Social media optimization is a term coined by marketing writers who came up with the term when struggling to define the techniques many businesses were starting to use to promote themselves through the many social media networks. At first, the SEO world was happy to label these techniques as marketing, but it soon became very clear that this was a misnomer. When it comes to social media networking, .marketing really doesn’t work as per definitions.

Almost as soon as SMO was labeled, people began to disagree with it. Those who had been participating in social media networking for a while disliked the idea of trying to hide promotional techniques under a relatively innocent acronym. Marketers were confused about the whole idea being linked with search engine optimization. Hence, the term social media marketing, or SMM, was invented. Despite its creation, the two concepts are different. Social media marketing, as the term implies, is a far more aggressive set of strategies that actively make use of social media to push an idea. Social media marketing techniques can include viral, catchy content and promotions. Social media optimization aims to maximize the possibilities that viewers will visit the business website by nurturing links and mentions in social media networks. This can mean optimizing the business’ site’s content so that it can easily be picked up in social media networks. Both techniques aim to use social media networking to draw more traffic to the home site. SMM and SMO are both excellent supplements for a search engine optimization campaign, and you should contact us at SEO Consult if you wish to work these into your SEO strategy.

The specific techniques for SMM and SMO do cross over, hence the continuing confusion about the terms. There are those who define SMO as solely the techniques implemented within a website to make it more compelling for social media users, but this is too restrictive a definition. Similarly, SMM is not solely used to refer to off-site social media activities. The difference is more in the intent than specific techniques. There is no doubt that the two terms run on very similar lines, and there continues to be confusion about their application. As it stands now, the use of one term over the other is a simple indication of the angle the campaign is likely to take. If your consultant talks in terms of SMO, it’s likely that the strategies will be aimed to draw people into your business area. If SMM is mentioned, a more pushy approach is likely.

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