Don't Friend Us - We'll Friend You

Posted by Jeannine de Richemond on 9 June 2009 | 0 Comments

Tags: social media

The other day, I logged into Facebook and saw a Friend Request waiting for me. That’s always exciting, isn’t it? I wonder who it could be… I clicked through with bated breath, anxious at the possibility this request held.

“Acme Communities** has added you as a friend on Facebook.” Really? What a let down. I must have given my email address to a property management company during one of my endless apartment searches. To be honest, I was more than a little bit put off. I felt cheap. I felt used. And frankly, I was insulted. Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer to limit my Facebook friends to those I’ve actually met, let alone those who are actual people — I do have standards, thank-you-very-much. I clicked “ignore” and moved on with my day.

Now, I’m an advocate of Social Media — it’s a great new way to reach anyone under 30 like me. So while I do commend this company on their idea to utilize Facebook, I have to condemn the execution.

I think this Friend Request made me feel cheap because it crossed a boundary. There’s a time and a place for marketing. And these days — thanks to Web 2.0, Social Media and the advent of in-bound marketing — I get to say when and where. I’ve come to terms with brands crossing over into my personal world. But companies using Social Media to reach their audience need to remember that we don’t want to be stalked by you. If you really want to boost your Social Media status, what you need to do is become such a great brand that we’ll choose to be an admirer of yours.

An organization that’s done this well is the Pennsylvania Ballet.  I recently stumbled upon the PA Ballet’s page on Facebook after seeing that someone in my network had become a Fan. As a season ticket holder for years, I was pleasantly surprised to see the company had started to use Social Media. So I took the initiative on my own and became a Fan — no Friend Request fake-outs involved. Since then, I’ve received no unsolicited messages or emails. Instead, I’ve seen periodic updates with new performance photos, rehearsal videos or messages from the Artistic Director about upcoming shows. And if it’s something that interests me, I actively make the decision to get involved.

So to businesses using Facebook, please give your customers a little credit and remember the nature of our relationship. Sure, you can invite us to be a member of your Group, but you have to give us the option to be (or not be) a Fan. Or show us some cool app you created that we’ll want to add to our profiles. That way, it remains our choice to bring you into our world. Your payoff? If we do decide to bring you into our world, it only serves to make your company look that much better.

** Names have been changed to protect the innocent — even if they are guilty of Facebook solicitation.