I was just discussing with one of my colleagues how noise levels increase exponentially on social media channels on any holiday thanks to the business marketers behind the social media control panel at their organizations. Today is Earth Day and already I’ve seen at least three dozen “Happy Earth Day” greetings assualt my Tweetdeck UI from various businesses that I follow on Twitter.
Advice: Refrain from posting holiday greetings to your social media channels. Your followers will appreciate your respect for their time and the permission they’ve granted you to interact with them.
Regarding respect for permission, I am going to modify a Seth Godin quote just a tad to make it more relevant to today since the blog post it originally appeared in is from 2007:
The result of Google Internet communication and the prevalence of search social media means that people are far more forgiving of things that need to be sought out, and less patient than ever with selfish marketers that insist on showing up in your face.
These may sound like harsh words, but they are far less harsh than the feelings your customers have when you do not respect the permission they’ve given you and instead invade their space with pointless chatter, whether it be their email inbox, Facebook feed, Twitter feed or even their snail mail box.
Before posting any Tweet, you should ask yourself, “What value will this Tweet provide to my followers’?” If you have to spend more than five seconds to come up with an answer, do not submit.
Apr 22, 2010 • by Jason Sherrill
