For some reason I seem to be getting a lot of spam on this blog lately, and it occurred to me that sometimes I feel looking through Twitter can be a bit “spammy” as well. Please note that I only use technical terms here for your sake. I thought that I would take a moment to go over the spam aspects of Twitter. Please note: I also do have a few accounts that are run automatically, so I will take a look at both sides of this coin.
Pros of Spam:
1. Someone will always click on the ad. It is funny that people talk about the fact that they do not understand why Spam is still around. The fact of the matter is that someone will click on the ad and buy. It has been happening for over 100 years effectively this way, and will continue to work for at least another 100 or more as long as someone clicks. I am guilty of clicking occasionally myself, because there might be a product that I wanted or desired. Play on someone’s emotions correctly and you will have people approach you.
2. Ads are smart. The funny thing is when we went to school, our teachers told us that we had to work harder to get ahead. Then we got into the business world, and when we started a business we were told that we had to work smarter, not harder. Sometimes marketing people en masse is the smartest way to move ahead. That is why I do it, because I can control 30 plus twitter accounts without having to sit at my computer all day.
Cons of Spam:
1. You annoying S.O.B. why would you think that I would want your product after you made my phone buzz in a meeting and lost me a sale. I once was in court (I was the plantiff), and my phone went off, because somebody decided to email some great marketing offer. The judge actually asked for my phone, and I had to go back to the courthouse 2 hours later to get it back. I am now not a big fan of the marketer (who I unsubscribed to afterwards) and the judge.
2. It diminishes in value the more people do it. You walk out on the street and there are ads everywhere. I love how buses and trains now even have ads on them. I am sitting at my computer now staring at ads for intel, microsoft, ideapad, and dolby among others. They have entered ever phase of our life, so why not social networking. It is like the last great frontier of advertising. A wild west of ads and pitches that have changed the game.
So I started out this post by talking about the spam that comes across on social networking today. Maybe it should be considered a good thing given today’s economy that companies have found a way to make money, or maybe we should be focusing in on building relationships, not sales. I have given my pros and cons to the matter and actually have not come to a conclusion of which is better. Looking forward to your opinions.