Recently, a client asked me to help him build his business’s social media audience. I put his business Twitter account through my audience-building regime, and interested followers began flooding in. I also had my team ghost write regular informative tweets about his industry, to keep people happy and engaged. Very quickly, we had a large, interested, captive Twitter audience for his business.
Unfortunately, my client then fell victim to the inflated promises of a “search engine optimization” company, as so many good people do. They took over his social media accounts and began using them for direct marketing, insisting that this would generate more sales. They stopped allowing “useless” personal or informational posts, and instead spammed his feeds with product plugs and links to “buy now” pages. Needless to say, his once loyal followers began to flee in droves. This is not to slam reputable SEO firms. I know of many, but they are few and far between.
Social media is not for direct marketing, although many people try. Very few types of businesses can get away with direct marketing on their social media feeds, and even those would be better off not doing so.
Social media is primarily for connecting individuals to individuals. That’s why it’s called “social” media. People use social media almost exclusively to connect to others about topics that interest them. Businesses, from solo-preneurs up to multi-national corporations, can use social media to connect meaningfully with individuals, providing them with information about products and services in an intimate, immediate way that’s not available in any other type of platform. But abuse the privilege, and you could lose your once loyal audience.
The way to build your business’s social media audience is to connect personally with them and provide them value and entertainment. See my last blog “Amazing Fact: Providing Real Value Still Works!” for tips on what to post to keep people interested and engaged.
