Social networking sites have their own set of rules and it is important that you spend time on the site understanding the rules and decorum before starting any sort of campaign on that site. The Inman real estate news site recently wrote about some real estate agents who failed to read the rules.
One real estate agent fresh of a real estate seminar and in her words “I like real-world interaction, but I understand that’s part of what our business is becoming. So I took the advice I was given and began signing up on as many sites as I could.” And you can guess what happened next.
She went to Yelp, created a profile and asked clients to post unregistered testimonials of her real estate practice. That is where she fell afoul of the Yelp spam police. Yelp is a collection of user-generated reviews of local businesses and services. Unregistered visitors can search the site. If you want to contribute to the discussion or add a review you must sign up for a verified account. This rules of posting reviews on Yelp are pretty easy to find, this real estate agent just did not bother to look.
Inman Realty colorfully explained the fallout like this:
“Where its gangbangers proceeded to maul her like a Crip crossing over into Blood territory with brutal comments about her, her profession and her clients”
I love the visual of Yelp members being part of a gang!
The bottom line here is you need to view social media campaigns as you would an advertising campaign. Ask yourself whether this social network reach the audience that I am trying to reach? It is all about finding the audience that is right for you and your business. That is why people have mixed success on social networks. It is all about finding the right ones for your company or web site.
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