© 2007 - 2010 Allan Cockerill All Rights Reserved
Now that everyone in the world seems to have discovered discovered the value of using social media for business, I wonder if anyone has realized that they could be doing more harm than good for their image (brand)?
Armed with the good news that social media is where the next marketing frontier is located, many businesses are diving in boots and all, not knowing that there are snags there that could affect their business.
Many don’t bother to check the Terms of Service of different sites, assuming that Facebook and say, Twitter must be the same, right?
As I’ve said before, the key word in social networking is social!
That means that the majority of people are there to hang out with friends!
While it may be pretty cool (for some) to follow high profile folks like Britney Spears or Ellen DeGeneres, it doesn’t necessarily follow that they want to get sales messages all day from businesses.
Your offer may or may not be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if you turn your followers away with to many updates and links, you’re only hurting your self!
Tege and I are putting together a social media course to show small business how to use these sites effectively, without harming their image.
Like to know more? Contact us here!
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© 2007 - 2010 Allan Cockerill All Rights Reserved
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Allan, your article is an important post for everyone.
I see people linking to celebrities, yet they don’t know them — they only *want* to know them. As you say, this can hurt credibility, particularly if the celebrity is known for endorsing unsavoury products and habits.
Social-networking is and should be about networking with the purpose of endorsing our own self-worth and/or the product we are selling.
~ When our product is our mind, our speech and mannerisms on the internet need to imply our mind is open to learning, not closed to specific ideals.
~ When our product is online (ie. _Photographic-art available upon a web-gallery_), we need to be able to both discuss and promote the product. Plus endorse the work of others. Reciprocal advertising can be quite effective.
~ When our product is both online and in the real-world, we have to remember that friends and family may choose to read through our online activity. For some people this could prove disastrous when they use inappropriate language and back-chat to seemingly talk-the-talk with online friends.
So I am all for reading your suggestions on how small-business can use SocNets without harming their business!
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