Social Media Marketing - What Not to Do!

As both a user and promoter I get to see the good and bad uses of social media. Recently I’ve started to get emails sent to me under the guise of a Facebook message. When opening the email there is a product sell for Viagra or some other medication.

This really annoys me and I instantly delete the email, the unfortunate part of this, is that one day, I will get a genuine message from someone on Facebook and I’ll instantly delete it, thinking it is a spammer at work.

That got me to doing some research and I’ve noticed a lot of new comers to social media blatantly promoting their product. On Twitter.com for example, you’ll see real estate agents using it to promote open homes or new listings without adding any content or information that will create a following.

The smart way to use the media is to provide the user with good quality content that compliments what you do as a business. Create followings based on your expertise not on your product.

I use Twitter only when I have something worthwhile to say or I have read an interesting article then I’ll share it with my followers, I Tweet on updates to my blog or podcast, but as these are information sources and are not selling anything they provide my followers with good quality content. I apply the same strategy to this blog, it only promotes content and technology relevant to real estate professionals and hopefully they find it a great resource, the numbers of readers and the comments I receive from these readers would indicate to me that they do and that’s why they keep coming back.

So if you are a new company using social media, put in place a good solid communication plan built on providing good quality content before you start to use it. Be smart about how you plan it and how you use it, don’t listen to the ever growing numbers of “Social Media” experts out there who will promote the use of social media as an advertising platform, it is a lot more than that and used strategically will repay your efforts in droves.

But please no more Viagra adds, I’m starting to get paranoid!!!

Follow Mike Andrew on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mikeandrewre