People hate being "marketed at."
We turn the TV volume down during commercials and most of us don't notice
the advertisements on the side of Google search. We even have a morning
ritual of deleting nearly all the daily e-mails we signed up to receive from
various sites.
There's a lesson here for social media marketing and commercial activity.
Whether you use Google+ or Google Places for your specific niche advertising
or just blast everything out across your linked social media accounts, you
have to tell people something they are interested in. It has to be real and
authentic.
It's easy to find articles online talking about how "honesty is everything"
in social media marketing. These articles are common and popular, partly
because they're accurate and partly because people are happy to discover
even pros think this is true. But why?
What is it about marketing and interacting with partners and customers via
social media that makes them value honesty and "real-ness" so highly?
The answer has two parts.
First, the Internet is a brutal, cruel mistress. If you achieve any degree
of success, people who care will be scrutinizing everything you say. To be
active and stay in their minds, you'll have to post on Twitter and other
media multiple times a day. If you say something that seems false or is
outright dishonest, someone will catch you and you'll lose all credibility.
A policy of being honest, truthful, and upfront is a good way, both to avoid
mistakes and to prevent negative backlash.
There's nothing worse than devoting tons of time, attention and personal
effort to a campaign only to become an Internet joke due to dishonesty.
Secondly, people perceive social marketing as a branch of social
interaction. It's different from conventional advertising because there's no
wall. Readers can't see the people who made the huge Macy's ad in the
newspaper, let alone the characters within the company itself. But, when we
check in on a Facebook page regularly or follow someone on Twitter, a
personal relationship seems to develop. This is even true for followers that
number in the millions.
Your posts should be more like a conversation than a performance. That's why
bloggers who ask good questions and then participate in the Facebook
comments get so much attention. You wouldn't be misleading in a cordial
conversation about a great deal with an acquaintance at the supermarket. You
should maintain that same level of honesty with social media marketing.
Honesty makes the social media marketing community functional and
trustworthy. Don't forget to leverage a little upfront communication on your
Google+ account. Your customers and circle of contacts will appreciate it
and your efforts will be more effective because of it.
my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can
be done today."
If you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Regards Gerald
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
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