Facebook Marketing…?
Facebook marketing and ‘relationship building’ seems to be many an online marketer’s ‘mantra’ these days. But there seems to be a fine line between really socializing with people, making new friends and building mutually enjoyable (and potentially beneficial) relationships… and marching into the gentle personal space of others wearing heavy boots and carrying a huge advertisement placard on a pole.
And it seems that sometimes good people fall victims to bad marketing advice and create annoyance and instant rejection instead of what they hope would be “building profitable relationships” for them.
I got a private message on Facebook this morning from someone I didn’t know. Neither did they know me or have communicated with me before. We were not “befriended” on Facebook. Surprisingly, the message thanked me for “Accepting their Friendship” and included an affiliate link. I followed some tracks and discovered a Facebook ‘event’ created by that person and dedicated to promoting the above mentioned affiliate program.
What I read on the event ‘wall’ cleared my initial confusion – apparently, this was a recommended tactic of promoting that program… But it also made me wonder about certain things. I tried to leave a comment on the wall, but it didn’t fit into the set number of characters. So I have decided to post my comment here on my blog, without mentioning the person’s name.
Dear S.,
I received a message from you saying,It’s a Pleasure to meet you…..The reason for the contact is to Meet new people and to Network….Thank you for Accepting my Friendship Request….
[your affiliate link for TeamBuildingProject/?ref_by=xxxxxxxx]I was surprised as your name did not sound familiar. I went to your Facebook wall, and found that we were not ‘friends’. And yet you were “thanking me for Accepting your Friendship Request”??
Your post on your event wall explained it all: “Here’s a Phrase I’m posting on these Group Sites (Real Estate, MLM, Job Seekers Ect) “Thank you for accepting my friend request. Facebook is a great resource for expanding your circle of friends and sharing thoughts and ideas. I look forward to learning more about you in the future” Of course Add your Team Building link to this!!!”
May I suggest that you (and anyone else who is promoting this opportunity) read your team leader’s advice that you copied and pasted further in your message:
“Be sure to establish a relationship before promoting your Team Building Project partner referral link. The worst mistake you can make would be to promote the Team Building Project before you have exchanged a few pleasant messages with your new online contact. Also, ask them if they have any opportunities they would like to share with you as well.”
If I may please also add… establishing a relationship is a little bit more than hitting your “prospects” with your affiliate links, even if you have “exchanged a few pleasant messages with your new online contact”. A ‘relationship’ is not a mutual pitching of opportunities. It’s putting the other person first, showing genuine interest in getting to know them, listening to them, learning what makes them ‘tick’ and what makes ‘their world go round’, finding out if they need any help and if you could be of any assistance to them. That’s a relationship that is built on respect, trust, generosity and gratitude, and inspires reciprocity. Sending mass blanket messages with affiliate links to people you don’t even call by name is spam and has the opposite effect.
Thank you for reading!
All the best,
Natalia
