There is not a morning I log into Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram that my feed is not bombarded with spam. From people begging for clicks, link backs, free shout outs to over the top self promotional automated messages and poorly written sales letters for black hat SEO and other junk marketing spam tactics.
I even recently had a social media agency CEO spamming and begging for support of their non-profit campaigns. Unfortunately his campaigns which he was charging clients for was based on a foundation of 1000's of fake RTs on every tweet. This agency is charging the client for campaigns based on fake followers and fake metrics. This is a true story my friends and these things are happening all around us every single day.
Think with me for a moment…
- Would you walk into a room of real human beings and start blasting the name and url of your business?
- When you meet somebody new at an event would you walk up to them and ask them to watch your video on YouTube before you had a chance to say hello?
- Would you tap someone you just met on the shoulder and asked them why they unfollowed you or if they would follow you, listen to you?
- Would you yell at people in real life asking them to pay attention to you?
- Would you keep sending people the same message over and over even if they already told you they were not interested?
- Would you keep talking to someone about a topic if they clearly let you know they didn't want to talk or hear about it anymore?
If you did these things people would think you were crazy. However, there are thousands of marketers and brands who are embracing these spammy tactics every day.
It's time we stop the spam insanity. It's time we put the human back in social media, marketing and business.
Attention is the most scarce resource digital marketers have. The lack of attention is a core reason brands and even smart digital marketers are falling to lazy social spamming tactics. They are desperate for attention. As a result they foolishly believe that by blasting junk into our social feeds they will grab out attention.
The thing many marketers are missing is that by spamming noise 24/7 they are quickly losing trust. They are hurting their business and personal brand more than helping. We all need to put food on the table to feed our families. However, that is not an excuse for any person or brand to fall to spammy, fake tactics. Build a brand that is built on authenticity, trust, integrity and serving others and success will be exponentially higher. Will it take a bit longer to get there? Absolutely. However, doing such will help build a brand that is sustainable and that will out last any campaign or Facebook news feed built on spamtastic nonsense. Yes I know spamtastic is not a word. I just made it up. ;)
Check out episode 149 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for some serious tough love to help you identify if you are guilty of these spammy non-human tactics. I also provide 10 solid tips and strategies to help you put the human back in your social media, business and life.
Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud!
In this 30 minute podcast you will learn:
- 10 tips and strategies to put the human back in your social media marketing
- Why we must keep our industry real, authentic and filled with integrity
- How to identify if you are guilty of spam tactics
- How to balance automation with being human
- Why you must be open to a new perspective and way of building your brand to delete the spam
- Why you must be patient in building relationships and not just go for the sale at hello
- Why you must be aware of your own digital body language
- Why your intention is at the core of how others perceive you and your brand
- Why trust is key to earning the right attention and building relationships
- How a mentor can help you get real with your own digital and social behavior
- How to know if you may need to get help from an external social media digital agency or consultant
- The importance of knowing your audience
- Why spam will not build your business for the medium and long term
Resources mentioned:
- Digital Body Language: 105 Factors Impacting Your Personal Brand (white paper)
- Power of Intention and Trust in an Attention Starved Digital Economy (episode 148)
- It Only Takes a Seed: 7 Fundamental Steps to Build Your Personal Brand (episode 147)
- 15 Tips to Zoom Your Online Brand (white paper)
- Brand Humanization in a Nutshell
- Social Media Authenticity vs Transparency (episode 16)
- Top 10 Mistakes Brands are Making with Influencer Marketing and How to Fix Them
- How to Not Be a Twit on Twitter (podcast)
- Why Personal Branding is Required, Not Optional (podcast)
- Audience Analysis Worksheet (worksheet)
- Personal Branding Keynote Presentation (SlideShare presentation)