Just because you have 600 Facebook friends and 900 people in your personal email address book, that does not mean your marketable audience is the same size. As social media lessons have slowly but surely shown us, marketing needs to be directed at a segmented/targeted audience who are relevant to your message, able, and ready to listen. Other efforts are not only wasted, but recognized and quickly identified as annoying.

As a marketer, I subscribe to numerous feeds, newsletters and emails to see what is out there. I don’t mind receiving those notifications because I asked for them and I opted-in to listening. I have a vested interest and do not feel like I am being sold, but merely informed.

The unsolicited “sells” and information I receive are the ones that peeve me. After taking a look to see where these sells are coming from, I drew the conclusion that they aren’t coming from corporations or companies who received my name from a purchased list, they are coming from none other than my network and friends. Honestly, it makes me feel used and annoyed. I do not want to be pitched on the phone, in-person or via email from people whom I allowed into my networks for reasons other than their services. Now don’t get me wrong, I am the first person to let you know I know someone who does [fill in the blank], but not because they asked me to sell them. I do it because I trust them and stand by what they have to offer and most likely experienced their services first hand.

So before you decide to import your personal email list into your email service, think about the following:

• If you have to ask for a referral, you aren’t doing your job. If you blatantly have to send an email telling people you are looking for referrals and why they should refer you, then you aren’t marketing by your product, service or results, but merely by association. On occasion, this will pay off. More often, the direct solicitation (via email or in-person) will not make a lasting impression. People believe more in what you do or deliver than what you say.
• If you market irrelevant information to you family/friends they will just get annoyed. If you add people to your email list to send them offers, that is one thing. If you send them offers on products or services they don’t need, that is another. If I am in your network because we worked together on a marketing project, don’t send me a letter “formally” offering me a free marketing consultation. I don’t need it and now you’ve showed me you don’t respect my work (even if you didn’t mean it that way).
• Don’t assume all addresses in your personal address book would also like to receive your marketed email blasts. First, that is in violation of the CAN-SPAM regulations, which requires opt-in. Second, you are spamming your friends and that is not nice. If you absolutely want to send everyone you know an email, segment the list and create more than one version to apply to each.
• If you send a holiday card, don’t use it to solicit business. If you send a direct mail card, an e-card, mass Facebook message, or any other form of communication, it shows you care and are thinking of your network. That is great. If you end your nice gesture with a plug or plea to work together, you just ruined your effort. Holiday cards are to wish others the best and should not be selfish in anyway. You can add your logo or contact information, but do not direct sell. It is just wrong.

So in conclusion to a long-winded (and almost ranting) post, use your social networks to socially interact. The end.

Jen Cohen is a social media and marketing maven knocked down many times in 26 yrs. Something Creative http://somethingcreativemarketing.com

Tags: community, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, the right way