The Worst Marketing on Facebook I’ve Seen

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May 4, 2011 By 27 Comments

Imgres

I went to update a client’s Facebook Page earlier today and there, smack bang in the middle of the Wall, was something that made me jaw drop. A spammy advert from one of the client’s competitors!

They had Liked the page and then gone in and posted a call-to-action with a link right there on the Wall. It was basically a “hey, check us out too” kind of post.

This is the first time I’ve seen this kind of thing on a Facebook Page we’re running, although no doubt it happens all the time. It frankly left me cold.

How incredibly naive. They might as well have put out a press release declaring “We’re running scared and pretty desperate”.

My suspicions were confirmed when I discovered that the “friend’s” own Facebook Page had one eighth of the Likes my client had.

Nuff said.

The obvious takeaway as far as I’m concerned is that if you’re a newbie, desperate business trying hard to build your name online and considering this kind of approach: DON’T.

I promptly binned the comment and banned the user. Forever!!!

PS. I think it’s great if people join the discussion or ask questions out of the blue. We’re here to be social, after all. But this kind of stunt is only destined to backfire.

Filed Under: advertising, social media
About Jon

Marketing and Communications Consultant. Head of Jontus Media. Podcaster. Life-long Liverpool FC supporter. Guarded by basset hounds.

  • http://www.ricardobueno.com Ricardo Bueno

    Re: “They had Liked the page and then gone in and posted a call-to-action with a link right there on the Wall. It was basically a “hey, check us out too” kind of post.”

    That’s the worst! And as Facebook Pages grow, it happens all the time. A friend of mine has 2,000+ Fans and runs a local community Facebook Page… Someone (almost daily) inevitably steps in with a “me, me, me” type advertising post on the wall. Ultimately, it becomes a time-intensive moderation task.

    But as you said, I don’t recommend it. There are much better ways of getting traffic. This just screams desperation in my opinion.

  • http://twitter.com/TheGreatDanaJ Dana J.

    That happens so often! It’s ridiculous. Why people do that, I have NO clue.

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    I find it so infuriating !!!

  • http://www.jontusmedia.com/ Jon Buscall

    Isn’t that just so depressing! If it wasn’t enough having to juggle email spam and spam followers on Twitter. I can already see Facebook thinking up ways to filter spam – at a price.

    Thanks for stopping by!

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…

  • Michaangogo853

    First time hearing it, what a nice surprise! Spam is never anything anyone would love to receive… Often I just block them but can never delete them entirely as they come back one way or another…