I notice the big brands don’t do it. But a lot of small businesses certaintly do. And frankly, I think of it is SPAM and I immediately delete it. It drives me further away from your brand and devalues what you’ve invested in.
What am I talking about? Facebook inbox messages!
I’ll assume these private messages were created for long-lost friends to exchange information they wouldn’t want to put out there on their walls – phone numbers, addresses, juicy details about their personal lives, etc. Yet as with most technology, marketers (myself included) found a way to make it work for us, too! Yet most small business owners use Facebook inbox messages as an en masse way to blanket everyone with a sale message who likes their brand. I’d hope you wouldn’t send an email to your entire database with this type of message often. So why would you send a Facebook message like this? It just feels impersonal.
Studies have shown that the average person on Facebook likes 5 brands. And you can bet they unlike brands, too, who aren’t giving them what they came for when they ‘liked’ them! The reason they like that brand isn’t just to get discounts. They want to be considered a VIP and get early access to the latest news about your business. They want the inside scoop. And while they may not mind having their inbox SPAMMED with the ‘sale’ of the week, you’re doing long-term damage to your brand by teaching your clients to watch for a sale and never to pay full price for your products and services.
While this might sound like a rant (and in a way it is), I truly believe that the practice of small business owners sending sale emails through Facebook inbox messages needs to stop if you’re trying to build a strong brand. The big guys don’t do it. And there’s probably a reason for it.
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