Social Media Marketing is the current craze in online marketing. Bravo to the many small businesses that have jumped in head first and just given it their all. Now that you’ve made your Facebook page and Twitter page, are you using it effectively or are you falling into the trap like so many businesses and can be categorized as social media spammers?

Social websites are designed so people to follow the postings of other people and businesses they are connected to. As businesses, however, when people choose to follow us, they are giving us a very short leash. If we continually post “buy this product” and “buy that product” we are going to be blocked faster than you can say broken record. Current statistics of actual sales from twitter and Facebook are less than .1% of followers will purchase from a post. Don’t be tempted to play the numbers game here and fall into the trap of becoming a social media spammer. The more posts you have does not mean the more sales you will get. Perhaps redefining the purpose of social media will better serve you.

Social media is not a direct sales tool; it is a tribe building tool, a loyal follower building tool, a branding tool and a customer cheerleader tool. Your initial follower will follow you because they know you, know your product or brand, and they already like you. Then there are the second tier followers that follow you because their friends told them to follow you. Next their friends will follow… and so on. The second and higher tier followers are the reason for getting into the social media world. These people don’t yet know you, but they already trust you enough to follow you. What are you going to give them in exchange? A constant sales pitch? No! You need to woo them, romance them, and court them with intriguing information, tips and secrets to getting the most out of your industry. You have to be of value to them first.

Don’t be a social media spammer and risk your followers blocking your marketing message because of too many useless posts. Give your followers a real reason to follow you. Information is king and when people who don’t know you yet are willing to say “I’ll give you a shot” don’t disappoint them.