Online is like offline, really, when it comes to friends. Some are funny, some are always down, some are silent and some are too desperate. What could be worse than that?
A desperate social media marketer.
Social media marketing has it's own vocabulary. It includes things like engagement, conversation, sharing, and patience. The desperate social media marketer has a slightly different vocabulary that includes begging, wheedling, cajoling, quick-fix and "results right now!". She's The Desperado.
Signs You Might Be The Desperado
You might be The Desperado if you recognize any of these behaviors as a habitual thing.
On Twitter
- Begging for retweets. Every day. For everything. Everything is the best deal and the greatest ebook ever written ever so please retweet.
- Paying for followers? Still quasi-legal-ish, but pretty tacky.
- Follow churning is your most religious activity. (Twitter, by the way, doesn't like that. Seriously.)
On Facebook
- Turning a personal Facebook profile into a marketing venue, unaware all of your friends have quietly and politely unsubscribed.
- Visiting random pages and groups that allowed posting on the Timeline, and started marketing her products and services there.
- Sending weekly requests to your profile friends to like your page. And then bi-weekly requests.
- Using comment sections on posts for placing a link to her own site. Nothing at all to do with the conversation. (This counts for blogs, too.)
Impatience doesn't build firm social media foundations. Hard work does.
How Does This Happen?Building a tribe - a fan base - takes time. It's a process that is genuine. It's honest. And, it's hard work.
It's hard work because it requires dedication. It shares the content and success of others more than your own. It doesn't expect instant results. The Desperado becomes desperate because she has either been at it for a while and can't take the wait or she hasn't been doing things well and aren't seeing the success she thinks she ought to have by now. She's decided to take poor advice that promises quick results, and is going to try to make her brand hot by burning bridges.
Impatience doesn't build firm social media foundations. Hard work does. Using even worse techniques when faulty ones didn't give the desired results only cause damage (some irreparable). Leave desperation behind, and be patient and devoted to building a social media presence with a solid base.