Facebook Prospecting Can Be Creepy
I just published this article about prospecting with Facebook to the Multichannel Merchant site. When I was covering the session at the CognitiveData Summit on Friday, I was gung-ho, ready to try it out. Now I’m not so sure.
From a marketing point of view, using Facebook as a page and then finding prospects on your business rivals’ pages seems like a so-brainer. But as a consumer, I’d be creeped out if, say, McDonald’s liked a comment I made on Burger King’s Facebook page.
As a marketer, too, I’d be a little put off if the competition was on my Facebook page, sniping away at the people who like my product or service.
One of the biggest issues we face in Multichannel Merchant’s LinkedIn group is members posting articles from outside publications. We’re pretty sure the group members don’t realize we don’t want to send our followers off to read the competition’s views and insights on multichannel retailing, and just figure they’re doing everyone a favor.
And when I send out warning messages to those group members posting links to the competition – or for that matter, plugs to bring our audience to their own company’s websites – they are very apologetic and understanding.
The irony there is editors from competing publications who are members of our LinkedIn group are not the people doing this. They understand that sniping is really not an acceptable practice. And they also understand that our reader is already most-likely their reader as well.
But if the competition was sniping away at my fans on Facebook, I’d do everything in my power to make them stop. Even if it means having the competition blocked from my Facebook page.
But if it’s working and it can drive proven results, great.
