Spamming is no longer just a concern in email marketing — social media has become closely associated with spams, amplified even more so by its constant and personal nature. This doesn’t mean that businesses shouldn’t use social media. In fact, according to studies done by Ambassador, 71 percent of consumers are likely to recommend a brand after having a positive experience with them over social media. Businesses just need to be educated and aware of the right way to engage their audiences without annoying them. Here are a few quick tips to avoid spamming your followers on social media.
Post Consistently But Not Constantly
As a business, the amount of times you post on social media is vital — you want to post enough times to remain prevalent in your audiences’ mind, but not too much that you start to become invasive and annoy your followers. Companies with a successful social media presence, such as Amway, post on their platforms about once a day. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or any other site, posting once a day ensures you are being consistent with you social media presence and engaging with your customers regularly so they don’t forget about you. Anything more can seem like a nuisance, and people may start to unfollow you just to get some variety on their news feed.
Ensure Your Content is Valuable and Interesting
Even if you post rarely, content that is boring and too sales-focused will most likely always be considered spam. The great thing about social media as a marketing tool is how personal it can be — businesses have the opportunity to really relate to their audiences in a unique way and communicate directly with them. Therefore, take advantage of this opportunity by not just posting content about your sales and promotions. Try sharing industry-focused ideas on topics you know they will find interesting. For example, Nike knows how much its consumers love sports and fitness, and therefore often posts on its Instagram about successful athletes and how to stay on track with your fitness goals. This is great way to create a unique relationship with your followers and ultimately keep them engaged with your brand.
Do Not Bulk Message
Despite how easy it is to send bulk messages on social media, it can be extremely annoying for consumers — nobody really wants to receive sales messages in their inbox without asking for it. Plus, by sending out bulk messages, you are crowding your inbox and sent messages folder, which can increase the likeliness of your company missing a message from a genuine customer who is messaging you about a product or customer service concern. Instead, try and adapt your bulk messages into a valuable post as this is a less invasive technique that still ensures visibility to your followers. If you’re finding it difficult to adapt, try and be creative by using different tools like videos, gifs and photos.
Social media is a valuable tool for businesses to communicate with their consumers. However, it can be a slippery slope between trying to engage followers and spamming them, so try to follow these easy tips, and see the advantages of effective social media use.
