7 Social Marketing Strategy Mistakes That Cripple Your Reputation
Social media is an excellent way to market yourself as a freelancer. It can also be, in my opinion, entirely overrated and often misused. Every day I see professionals tweeting and updating Facebook with spammy posts and self-important chatter that makes my skin crawl. I also see inspiring social champions who inform, empower and serve their audience.
Here’s a quick rundown of mistakes you want to avoid at all costs when using social media channels for finding work (whether in your marketing/branding or in your personal life), along with a few pointers to kick start your social marketing strategy.
Mistakes to Avoid
- Don’t RT (re-tweet) or copy and paste testimonials or compliments you receive. I see this less often now, but some people think that lightly veiling these with “Oh how nice! Thank you so-and-so for your kind words. RT: [COMPLIMENT]” is a good idea. I know it sounds like it could work, but such tweets don’t sit well and can lead to complaints and an ‘unfollow.’
- Don’t blast your Facebook friends list with a fire hose. Be selective about the events and fan pages you invite your Facebook friends to join. Most people nowadays will un-friend anyone who sends too many invites and messages to people they don’t know that well.
- Try not to quote yourself unless it’s a seriously epic quote. Technically quotes are phrases in books, speeches or letters that someone else thought was important enough to mention. They are not “quoted” by their author. Yet I often see budding authors and thought leaders quoting themselves online, complete with attribution. This often comes off trite and has the opposite effect they were shooting for.
- Unless you’re a social marketing ninja, don’t blindly implement social outreach software, tactics or systems that automate friend requests, posts or other rapid-growth techniques. I’m not saying you shouldn’t use these at all… just make sure you know what you’re doing and you always tie any tactic you want to employ with your strategy. Because what we do not want to see happen is that you dive into a rapid growth strategy that feels spammy to your audience, or that pings them too often with your messages and marketing. This will destroy your reputation.
- Don’t assume anyone cares. Ouch this one hurts… but with all good marketing you always have to ask yourself, “What’s in it for them?” Make sure everything you post in your social outreach has benefit for your target prospect. That doesn’t mean you can’t post about your personal life… that’s actually one of the best ways to gain traction with potential clients because they get a feel for who you are and find points of common interest and resonance. However if an update or blog post doesn’t reinforce your personality, brand, or in some way empowers, equips or informs your target prospect… consider letting that one go unsaid.
- Blasting clients or others online. This is a massive one. I know a lot of freelancers who blast clients who don’t pay them, or colleagues who cross the line. The most juvenile form of this is blasting the competition but I doubt our venerable readers here would stoop to that. If you do… DON’T! Blasting anyone, for any reason, never looks good. Be the bigger person here and just find another outlet for your frustration. Anything you post online, whether it’s a tweet, an update, or something you quickly delete… it all gets cached and it’s there forever. Anyone with a mind to find it will.
- Try not to talk without first listening. Follow the people your target prospect is following. Pay attention to the thought leaders in your industry and engage in the conversation. Most importantly, listen to your prospects. What do they talk about and what fills their thoughts most of the day? Social media gives us access to a level of data mining we could only dream about before. You can get inside your audience’s head! Use it! What kinds of things do they re-tweet and “Like” or “Share?” What gets them to take action? This is priceless information for the discerning freelancer.
What To Do Instead
- Weigh in on current events and industry conversations. Freelancers who build 100% referral-based businesses often get there by positioning themselves as thought leaders. To do this, subscribe to Google Alerts for the phrases tied to your industry or services. Also search Technorati for top blogs in your industry to keep tabs on what other authorities in the market are discussing. Get involved, mention useful blog posts in your updates and on your blog, and hop into the conversation with your own opinion.
- Mention statistics and link to resources. Be the go-to guy or gal for bite-sized morsels your prospect can use to maintain a leading edge. For example if you’re a graphics designer, get into the habit of tweeting (and Facebook updating) links to free icon sets or templates your audience would enjoy. Mention statistics for how specific graphics tweaks improve site conversions and achieve other results your prospects want.
- Think of your social marketing like you think of ad headlines. With such limited space what you say matters and you have to pique interest quickly and with few words. Most importantly, your chief goal is to inspire action or to build rapport. So create curiosity. Research how to write great headlines and incorporate that into your social marketing. And as always – don’t blatantly pitch yourself.
- Focus on serving your audience. I find that when I align all my marketing activities with my mission to serve and I maintain integrity with my audience’s highest good I rarely steer wrong. Aim to be of benefit, to enhance and enliven your audience and they will love you for it. Get revved up about what you’re doing and the things you talk about online and others will get revved up about it too. You’ve got to be so in love with yourself and what you’re doing that others can’t help but do the same.
So go get ‘em tiger… You’re a social rockstar just waiting to smash that first guitar onstage!
418,579
With over 100 weekly comic strips and counting, Freelance Freedom is an institution around here. Check out of all NC's brilliant work in the archives.
Freelance Freedom Archives
Interested in contributing to FreelanceSwitch? Write for the foremost freelance community and help share knowledge for the benefit of all!
Become a Guest Writer
Excellent tips regarding social media/marketing.
Social media/marketing also needs to be managed, and you need to be careful. Many people don’t care and say whatever they please.
As said by the author, this could cripple your reputation.
Just started getting back into Twitter-life. I’ll follow up on what to avoid doing and what to do instead.
I have seen quite a few people lose clients and jobs because of their twitter/facebook/blogs. I don’t personally use Facebook or Twitter so it is hard for me to grasp getting online and ranting to the world about a client/co-worker/project… just seems like pointing a loaded gun at your foot! maybe if I setup an account I would have a different opinion
Just because someone has a fb or twitter account doesn’t mean that they need to make it client-accessible. I set up a fb page just for my business. My personal fb account is for friends and family only. The business page is for clients and potential clients. My twitter account is business-only.
There’s no harm in having these type of accounts if they are managed properly.
yep, i understand the privacy settings of Facebook and Twitter and have absolutely nothing against either of these (actually think they are great tools, I just choose not to use them), when i said “its like pointing a loaded gun at your foot” i was referring to the people who rant and the wrong person finds it and there is a negative repercussion for their post. I just think people have to be more careful
the local newspaper just ran a little series of stories about a bunch of different people in the community and how they lost their jobs because of social networking sites and most of them admitted to having forgot that they added their boss or co-workers that saw the post! …just seems like a foolish way to lose your job! they should take some tips from yesterdays “Unstressed for Success: 5 Stress Relievers for Friction Free Work” post!
I have a slight objection to #6.
Sure blasting clients publicly is out of line. Belittling colleagues is childish and even going after the competition by name is no good. That said, I think there can be some benefit to distinguishing yourself from your competition in general (not any specific competitor) especially if you do something particularly better or just differently from your competition.
Let’s say your main competition doesn’t start a job without 2 weeks lead time. I don’t think it’s out of line to say that you work faster than the competition, you don’t make clients wait to get started on a project, you can handle rush jobs, etc. In doing this, I wouldn’t mention a competitor by name. But I don’t see any harm in taking a shot at your competition if it sets you and your services apart from them.
I’ve had clients come to me from competitors, especially agencies, and say that they previously had problems with lead times, attitude from agency staff, outrageous management fees, rush procedures, things like that, and specifically ask what my policies were regarding some of these things (excluding attitude). I think it can be refreshing for potential clients to hear up front that you operate in a different way. And I don’t think it’s out of line to say something like, “At XYZ Studio, we don’t slow the process with standard lead times. If you need something fast, we do everything we can to start your project as soon as possible.”
i agree with you – i personally post and preach that “i use a non-proprietary content management system, unlike a lot of bigger firms”. but would never say “XX uses a proprietary CMS that locks you in to using them exclusively” …even though I would love to haha!
I try to focus using Twitter only, this post really useful for me. I must immediately fix my mistakes.
Thanks
Try not to talk without first listening – that is a point that more freelancers need to understand.
Nice article. There is a fine line between using social media effectively and being completely annoying at it. Learning where that line is might cost you a few prospective clients if you’re not careful. Keep up the great articles.
This is a very useful article. When it comes to Facebook “oversharing”, I am guilty, completely… but that doesn’t mean I am not aware of the impact it has on the bigger players on my friends list… actually, I think my raw honesty-sprinkled-with-self-effacing-humor approach gets quite a positive response, and is viewed as a valuable trait as opposed to a detrimental one. I know that there are some personal subjects that should never, ever be shared.. especially the “poor me” or “stupid client” posts that so many people seem willing to spout…
Really great and specific things to avoid. I think it really boils down to the last thing you mentioned and that is to “Focus on serving your audience”.
Your goal should be to give so much they can’t help but want to check out what you do. In an always-on, always-connected world, people want to feel like you are communicating with them and for them.
Couldn’t agree more about the self-promotional retweets. I’d rather hammer nails between my toes and remove them with a porcupine’s tongue than read those.
They’re insulting. Just reply to those and say thanks.
All good points, in particular number 5. Can hurt the ego but very true.
Great social media marketing tips! Definitely agree with serving your audience.
I also agree with avoiding self-quoting and blasting people with links and invites to pages and other stuff on Facebook. It’s really annoying when people do that.
I have always thought that social “media” is more for connecting than advertising. As we build relationships on and offline it opens doors to more project. Be yourself. I think that it is a better idea that trying to “promote”. There is a time and a place for advertising and I don’t think social media is that place for freelancers.
Oh crap! Some of the pointers that I shouldn’t be doing is what I have been doing… and those that I should be doing, I haven’t been doing.. pfft.
Great article, Jaime. Thanks for tips!
Good article, I need to get more of this stuff into me and get involved in online discussions a bit more.
Another common mistake I see is setting up social media presences, building some followers and then suddenly going dark. Nothing is more of a “turn-off” to a company than to stumble on their website, Twitter account, or Facebook page to see that regular updates stopped back in 2008.
If you have an intern, freelance consultant, or even a staff person set-up presences for your company, make sure one of the *first* things they also do is to set-up a quick policy and procedure.
In other words, as soon as you have a new online presence, you need to have written down: how to do it, how often it needs to be done, who will do it (and who will do it in their absence), and what it is to be used for.
Your policy and procedure may evolve over-time, but having a draft written out and approved in advance or at the outset will ensure continuity and sustainability once that intern graduates or that helpful volunteer moves on.
Glad you all enjoyed the article! And those of you who realized you’ve done a few things we caution against… hey we’re all human! Some of these things I learned the hard way myself!
Also just had a great sit down with Tim Ferriss this past week and got some great social media tips from him I’ll be sharing in an article soon. Thanks for the great conversation that followed here.
I’d also say stay out of politics when making posts. You can alienate/piss off literally 50% of your user base with something as simple as “OBAMA RULEZ” or “OBAMA SUCKS”.
Great article. Having just launched my various ‘presences’ I am struggling a little with what everyday content to put it there. I like the fact that this outlined not just the Don’ts but also the Do’s.
It is a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media networks.