Tweet

Stop All Your Social Media Marketing Right Now

Guest post by: Gihan Perera

Article Overview: What would you do if you had to use social media every day, but weren't allowed to do any marketing? Social media marketing is about being social, not about marketing. You don't have to give up ALL your promotion or advertising; just don't make it the main purpose of using social media platforms. If you want a rule of thumb: Make at least 80% of your activity non-promotional, and at most 20% (preferably less) promotional.

Stop All Your Social Media Marketing Right Now

What would you do if you had to use social media every day, but weren't allowed to do any marketing?

In other words, no boasting about your new book, no promoting events (even free events), no publishing testimonials from happy clients, no affiliate links to other people's products, nothing that even hints of marketing or self-promotion.

What would you do? Well ... Perhaps you would go to Facebook and comment on somebody's photo.

Or answer somebody's question in a LinkedIn group.

Or comment on somebody's blog post, explaining how it was useful to you.

Or publish a blog post, sharing an answer to a question some audience member recently asked you.

Or re-tweet somebody else's link to a useful article.

Or write an Amazon.com book review for a book you read recently.

Or participate in a Google+ conversation about something that interests you.

Or "Like" or "+1" a Web page or blog post you enjoyed reading.

Or go to iTunes or the Android Market to give a five-star rating for an app you use every day.

Or publicly thank somebody who helped you recently.

Or add a positive comment to a YouTube video that made you smile, laugh, cry or think differently.

What's the point of all this? When you forget about "marketing", you focus on sharing your expertise.

When you share your expertise, you're more engaging.

When you're more engaging, you build real connections.

When you build connections, people want to spread the word about you.

When they spread the word, you build your reputation.

When you build your reputation, you become an authority.

And when you're an authority, the marketing happens automatically.

Social media marketing is about being social, not about marketing.

You don't have to give up ALL your marketing. Just to be clear: I'm not saying you must never promote or advertise; just don't make it the main purpose of using social media platforms. If you want a rule of thumb: Make at least 80% of your activity non-promotional, and at most 20% (preferably less) promotional.

Related Articles
  Social media : why should my business use this resource?
  Social Media Gains Momentum for B2B Marketers
  Where Are You in Social Media Adoption Curve?
  The Remarkable Growth of Social Media - an Infographic
  Is Social Media Killing Your Business?
  The Future of Advertising, Social Media & PR
  12 Tips for the Social Media Newbie
  Resourcing B2B social media
  Social Marketing Online
  How To Use Social Media For Your Business
  Legal Marketing: Social Media and Law Firms
  Engage: The Word of the Year
  Social Media Marketing for Accelerating Your Business
  Free Internet Marketing Strategies That Work!- FAST CASH MAGNETS
  10 Steps to a Sustainable Social Media Strategy
  Strategies For Utilizing Social Media Outlets
  “Should I or shouldn’t I”
  Legal Marketing: Blog opportunities
  Social Media as the Agent and Engine for Change
  Social Media is NOT about Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin

Article Tags: internet marketing, social media



Related Forum Posts
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff
Re: Kevin needs "social glue" ideas - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":gvtxsu7g]Hi, I like the idea of "10 items that could act as "social glue" because I am an internet marketer. But I agree with the rest that the 10 recent post is nice. Maybe we should open up a new section in the forums on Social Media...or Social Media Marketing. I will tell you that the world is about 1 1/2 behind when it comes to understanding social media. Building a section now will put EvanCarmichael.com is a great position a year down the road when people realize Social Media can produce more traffic than SEO. Jeff[/quote:gvtxsu7g] Hi Jeff, Thanks for the suggestion. Why don't you start a new post (with a poll) to see if there's enough interest in your idea for a social media section?
Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f - Hi, Online Marketing would be a great title, and having sub categories would make it even better, there would plenty of categories to choose from, Social Media, SEO, Article Marketing and yes even Affiliate Marketing to name just a few, great looking site btw Jeff, take care, Carol
Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f - Just as an update, Evan has extended the poll's expiration date and says he'd like to see at least 25 "yes" votes before implementing the new category. Moreover, it would probably be called "Online Marketing" instead of Social Media Marketing".
Kevin's Case Study #11 - A New Forum Category? - Hi Everyone, 2009 is a new year and I'd like to create a new forum category to jazz things up! In the past, there's been some interest voiced about adding a "Social Media Marketing", "Online Marketing", "Internet Marketing" or "Online Promotion" category. I'll implement [u:1g2tv6tf]ONE[/u:1g2tv6tf] of those new categories, but can someone first tell me what the difference would be between the existing "Marketing" section and one of those new options mentioned above? Thanks


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg

Quick Tips on Buying a Business

Qualities of Leadership Part 1

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.