How to lose friends and irritate people: abuse social media

Could it be that abusing social media generates the antithesis of Dale Carnegie’s classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”?

For those businesses diving into social media, you have probably realized how easy it is to set-up a Facebook or Twitter account. In my earlier post I cautioned against, Taking the plunge into social media without a plan. Today, I caution against falling into the trap of blatant self-promotion. Contrary to what appears to be a growing craze, a business Facebook page and Twitter are not the places to “pimp” your products or services.

Alex Marcoux on Social Media

Often, I see people getting frustrated when they don’t see immediate results from their business social media efforts. They wonder why no one follows them back or why they haven’t seen an improvement in their sales. Face it – who wants to follow someone who repeatedly pitches their products or services?

Social media venues are to build community with your followers and develop relationships with existing and potential customers. Social networking is to integrate technology and social activity, by sharing words, videos, and articles. Keep blatant product-messaging to other marketing arenas, like PPC (paid-per-click) campaigns or your website, but use social media to build community and become a trusted advocate within your network.

As hard as it may seem – nobody cares about your products – except you. In social media, it’s not about you – it’s about how you can be a value to your connections. This isn’t to suggest that you shouldn’t occasionally post a promotional message, but don’t keep regurgitating the message.

Here are some simple tips to build community on Twitter and Facebook:

• You’re an interesting person – share interesting things happening at your business or line of work.

• Retweet or post articles or video links that you find interesting or helpful.

• Tweet or post tips that your followers may benefit from.

• Share interesting quotes that may involve your area of business.

• If you blog about your area of interest, tweet or post a link to it.

• Respond to your followers’ direct messages and send direct messages to your friends or followers.

Social media is about relationship building. It’s not about quantity – it’s about quality. I’d rather have 100 good followers interacting with me than 10,000 people in which I haven’t a clue who they are. Use other marketing tactics to sell your products and leave Twitter and Facebook for building community.

Social networking is one of newest and best tools to promote your company. But, if it’s abused, you’ll quickly learn it’s a sure way to lose friends and irritate people.

Learn more about Alex Marcoux on Our Team page.  Follow M-Squared Public Relations & Marketing on Twitter.