Don’t Be a Turnoff – Or Why You Are Failing at Social Media: From Yahoo Small Business Advisor:
8 Most Annoying Personalities on Social Media
#7 The Hard Selling “Friend”
Understand that sometimes it is difficult to reject a friend; but if the friend has the intention of profiting from you, then he or she cannot be a true friend. This is because a true friends will never hard sell anything to one another; so, just ignore these hard selling people online.
If you’ve spent anytime on social media, you’ve seen these types of “friends”. You’ve probably been annoyed by these “friends”. So be extremely careful of what you send into the social media stratosphere. Or your friends will curse you, or better yet, ignore everything you write.
And then you will be that “friend”.
Remember social media is a networking tool. Ever been to a networking event and met someone that only talked about their business? They went on and on about their amazing product. And you either nodded politely or you made an excuse to walk away.
Don’t be that guy either.
Be Effective, Not Annoying
I’m not the biggest fan of social media for micro business marketing. But it can be useful when it’s done effectively. And effectively means adding value to your followers online experience.
If you try to hard sell every time you post, people will never pay attention. Think about what you do when you’re wasting time on Facebook or Twitter. You skim over most of the ads. But you’ll read or share something that you believe is valuable information.
Adding Value
So what constitutes value? Useful tips, insightful posts, testimonials, community events, or credible information. And then throw in something about your business. At least fifty percent of your social media updates should have value information that will help your audience.
And value is not information from your sales page.
If you want to build up your likes or followers, be likable. No one wants to listen to your sales pitch. You will build brand credibility when you add value, instead of sending out continuous sales info.
The bottom line:
If you want to use social media in your marketing strategy, remember to add value to your followers online experience. No one shares sales information, they share valuable information.
