Facebook is NOT for Blind Email Marketing

October 24, 2008 · Comments

I’m not a fan of the whole “fail!” thing, but that’s exactly what came to mind when I received this in my Facebook inbox:

facebook marketing

If this is what you think Facebook and social media tools are about, go back to school, son. Do I really have to educate on this post, or can you just read it, shake your head, and go back to making genuine connections?

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  • Wow. I don't know whether to be exasperated or just feel bad for people who just keep missing the point...


    R
  • Haha, "go back to school, son" - you sound just like my dad, Chris :)

    But yeah - some people just don't "get it" at all - and they call themselves professionals...
  • Can't tell you how many people I've let in as Facebook friends, only to be bombarded with hooey like this. I used to give folks the benefit of the doubt and keep them on, but the stuff continues. Now, it's the one-strike law in Michele Land! :-)
  • Faceboook is becoming what MySpace was, an aggravation useful only because of its huge userbase. This is unconscionable.
  • Joe
    Fail.

    Whenever a spammer does this, it totally gives marketers a bad reputation. This is the perfect way to burn relationships as well as look like a complete marketing newb. Srsly. Fail.

    ~Joe
  • Reading it was enough, no need for you to waste any more time!!! I do have an idea for Dad-o-matic, however...would love to chat...
  • Head shaken, returned to making connections. :)

    Examples are always important though, so thanks for the example.
  • Does this mean I should cancel my mentoring subscription to John Carlton? ;)

    (old school copyright & marketing) + new social media = fail
  • UGH! I love unfriending people after emails like that :(
  • Um. Ew. I will take your "fail", and raise it to "Epic Fail" for the high Cheese factor.
    My favorite part is that he signs off as Million Dollar Mike.
  • Chris Lugo
    Guess permission goes out the window now. Fail, indeed.
  • Facebook/MySpace are not channels to market in at all unless you've built permission.

    I've been using them since the beginning and it has never been effective at that.
  • I would unfriend that guy in a hot second. It's too bad - he could have built legit relationships through Facebook instead of dousing it with flames and striking a match.
  • Wow, some people just don't get it! What is the value of blasting who knows how many people with useless crap.

    Reminds me of the many MLM people that have tried to tackle me at Borders. Seriously, get a clue people.

    Hopefully everyone on the list deleted and blocked the guy!
  • Amen to this Chris. Also applies to Twitter and other micromedia where I get this a lot through private/direct messaging. That's an immediate un-friend.
  • Ed
    FAIL! Happened to me recently too, but not that badly.

    Expose the sender. Report them, etc.
  • You don't need to educate on this post but I think you should take Million Dollar Mike to school with a reply on Facebook.....then of course, post here for all to read, comment and chuckle about!
  • Mary Danielsen
    I generally don't friend anyone on Facebook unless I know you or you work in the housing industry. I do give people the benefit of the doubt, but I've been spammed by this junk too. And then there are always the people - men and women - who are just looking for a hook up. Heeeellooo, anyone at home upstairs? My kids are here. My cycling and cancer advocacy buddies are here. My boss is here. Get lost.

    I'm taking on Michelle's law. One strike rule.
  • Social media needs to be based on personal relationships, trust, and giving. Attorneys who try to use Facebook marketing in such a manner will be sorely frustrated.

    Bentley Tolk
  • Jon, I don't agree at all that old school copywriting & new social media are a bad combo! They can be a fantastic pairing if they're done in an intelligent way.

    Cluelessness, however, very very bad combination with new social media. Viral cluelessness just isn't pretty.
  • Yikes. Million Dollar Mike, eh? More like ten cent timmy.
  • That's ridiculous! Spamming someone doesn't create a real connection or, more of what all SocMed marketers are after, real engagement. By using a social network to spam inboxes and promote your products or services, I think you violate what the social networks are about - a free and open exchange between real people. A mass email to me doesn't equal real people unless I happen to know who sent it personally (there are some out there). My email inbox is crowded enough, don't violate my social network.
  • andrewcareaga
    If ever there were a legit reason to shout "FAIL!" this would be it.
  • It seems like facebook has become a competition of who has more friends. I constantly get invites from people I don't know "because I seem like a nice person"
    Ughhhh
  • Thanks for writing this! I reserve my inbox for one-on-one conversations. To be honest, the first thing I do when i see a bulk message in my inbox is delete it. If it's not addressed to me, I don't even read it.
  • Sooooooooo disappointing to see.
  • Sadly, this is the dominant perception of what it means to use social media for marketing. By the time attitudes change we'll be up to, what? Web 3.0?
  • Radames
    the fail thing? I think you will soon find yourself having to explain something to somebody, because if you know of a group of people intentionally plotting against online marketing and haven't report it you are in big trouble

    you better make another post and explain to us what the fail thing is because I want to know immediately
  • stevenimmons
    It's examples like this that reinforce a perception of the industry as being full of cash grabbing opportunists with little social finesse. As a professional engineer I get grumpy when treated like a time share salesman - but I can understand business seeing this negative example as something of a norm. IT used to be full of cool clever people, now it seems to be full of wide-boys. I sometimes despair!
  • Spam to me.. One shot Gone!!
  • I'm not quick to un-friend but in the last two weeks i've had four or five "spammy" things in the inbox. It's frustrating mostly because I didn't see it coming and I approve pretty much everyone. Hate to go to a One Strike rule, but the busier I get the more of a necessity it becomes.
  • the really interesting thing that this person doesn't realize, perhaps, is that w/one click you can/will 'de-friend' them and then, the permission based relationship is finito...they don't exist anymore.
  • Tiffany
    Check out what this guy thinks...(scroll down)
    http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Artic...
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