I love all things social. Apparently I have been a social butterfly since I made my grand entrance into the world. To this day, my mother would swear that after my first breath, instead of crying like “normal babies,” I looked around the room and said, “Who?” As if to ask, who invited all of you to my party! (Let’s just say that the account could be exaggerated by her extreme joy of my arrival after 18 hours of labor.) All that said, if it involves communication, both written and verbal, I am on it!
Last evening while managing my Facebook page, I noticed that I was invited to an event that started at 8:30pm. My first thought was who invites someone to an event 2 hours before it starts? Don’t they know I have to have the right outfit and right shoes?
Upon closer investigation, the invite came from someone who isn’t on my friend’s list and the event’s title was Congratulations** JetBlue Airlines Have Chosen You!
“Awesome!” I thought to myself. “I won! All have to do is click this link… but wait I don’t fly JetBlue, how would they know to choose me? And wait I don’t get to wear sparkly shoes to the party?!”
I recognized that the sneaky social media marketers where looking for unsuspecting users that would click the link, input their email addresses, so they could blast offers that have nothing to do with airlines or tickets.
As a marketer, I know having customer email addresses are extremely valuable. It allows you to connect with you with your ideal clients, both prospective and current. Obtaining those email addresses however must be done with integrity.
Effective social media campaigns will seek first to serve, develop relation and then offer what their fans are asking for. Businesses that follow this model will see long-term brand loyalty.
Consumers have been trained to be skeptical of marketing tactics that are too good to be true. Unfortunately, some companies have not been ethical in how they generate their revenue and misuse marketing and positioning leaving customers jaded. While this may make it tougher for high-quality brands, it doesn’t make your marketing efforts impossible.
Your authenticity and integrity in marketing will boost your brand’s reputation and attract the right clientele. Ensure your social media marketing campaigns are focused on ethically showcasing your company. Doing so will allow your brand to shine!
Talk to you soon!
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Frederika – this is a great article! We are all tired of people advertising to us when we really aren’t interested in their brand. That said, what are your recommendations for “obtaining email addresses with integrity?”
Integrity is number 1
Great post.
Integrity. Whatever happened to it? It is not only absent in many major corporations(think Wall St) but it seems to be utterly lacking in many areas of government as well. Sadly, from the top down. It is a wilful suspension of conscience, an abandonment of honesty, a calculating decision to take unfair advantage and it is spreading like a virus.
Abandon Integrity Destroy Society (AIDS) – It is indeed like an immunodeficiency disease because it destroys the very premise upon which people co-operate with one another to ensure a civil and civic society.