I listened to a webinar today on the topic of Social Media Optimization (SMO). I’d tell you who produced it, but there was a “private and confidential” notice at the bottom of the slide deck…despite the fact that it was free and anyone could register. Go figure.

The person doing the presentation, who works for a marketing firm, had a VERY negative view of SMO and concluded with saying that it should be the very last thing you spend your marketing dollars on, after you’ve done everything else. I couldn’t disagree more strongly, but before I explain why, I want to clarify that the term SMO strikes me as a hollow industry buzz word and makes me feel dirty even typing it.

Now that that’s out of the way, the thing that I really took issue with is they spoke as if the only worthwhile goal for a business in this space would be to try to increase sales, or to improve search engine ranks to, wait for it, increase sales. This is ENTIRELY the wrong kind of thinking, in my view.

While social media certainly CAN be used to increase sales, in the vast majority of cases I think business would be better off to aproach it as either an extension of their customer service department, OR as part of their PR efforts.

Note that I said PR and NOT marketing. Though often tossed together and handled by the same people, Marketing and PR are two VERY different things, and business would do well to remember that. Social Media will allow you to do things like strengthen your branding, get customer feedback quickly, and rapidly respond to public criticism of your products.

If you step into the Social Media space with the intent to sell something to people you will FAIL. Think 1) Brand 2) PR 3) Customer Service (not necessarily in that order). Perhaps even 4) Recruiting. All of these are a vital part of business and improving them WILL increase your sales, but it is NOT a marketing effort. Remember that.