Social media is about relationships, not marketing

How many times have you seen a friend on Facebook plugging their own products or services? Did you avoid them at the next BBQ?
For me it brings back memories of friends telephoning and saying the words “Sue, I have this great business proposition for you…”, immediately I knew they were selling Amway or another similar pyramid product and the next time I saw them at a BBQ I avoided them. Why? Suddenly I didn’t feel like a friend anymore, I felt like part of a demographic they collected to earn money from.
The word ‘social’ is characterised by friendly companionship or relations. Being social is about forming a relationship with another person.
A market is a place to meet people to buy or sell. When I visit Facebook I am not expecting that my friends use it as a market place to sell me their products or services. I expect it to be a place where we socialise, like we do at a BBQ with stories and questions that lead into a deeper friendship of trust and sharing.
Does this mean that business pages on Facebook are a paradox? No I don’t think so, but I do believe that marketers need to understand the environment that they are entertaining their customers in.
It is easy enough if you visualise yourself in an offline venue. I am meeting a customer for the first time at their office at their request, I am formal in my sales presentation and we enjoy an honest and authentic conversation with an agenda that is understood between both of us. To me the online version of this is the business website where I formally pitch my products.
If however I invite them to a BBQ in a relaxed setting then it would be wrong of me to begin a formal sales pitch. Even worse, if I invited them to my home to meet my family and then started a hard sell, I would immediately alienate them and make them feel uncomfortable.
I believe a successful business page on Facebook is about being relaxed with your customers and inviting them to a place where they can interact with you without receiving a hard sell, a place where you both enjoy getting to know each other and build a relationship based on knowledge and trust.