By Cas McCullough
Has your Facebook page inbox been spammed since the new timeline came into being?
My guess is “yes.”
Or maybe you’ve sent someone a message and are unsure if it was appropriate or not.
Here’s a key pointer to help you figure out how to use Facebook Page messaging to network your business.
Use messaging to make connections and share information that is valuable to the other business (and their audience).
If you particularly like a page and want to introduce yourself with an offer to connect, there is nothing wrong with that. What isn’t okay is to demand, guilt or oblige the other person to “like” you back, promote your business or even to visit your page.
So how do you introduce yourself without being spammy?
Go for meaningful over meaningless.
There is no point to throwing your seeds all over Facebook in the vague hope that some of those will grow and flower into relationships.
Examples of throwing seeds all over the place include: liking ladders, tagging games, spamming page walls and inboxes with your product/service information (if not invited to), and flagrantly self-promoting in comments and in groups (if not invited to). (Read about the consequences of playing tagging games here: Beware the Facebook spam police).
This is a waste of your valuable time and a weeding job for other businesses (and who likes weeding?).
Hot Tip: A better way is to do your research, look for connections in common and ask a mutual friend for an introduction if you feel the relationship is worth establishing.
If you do send a message without an introduction, focus on the other business and how much you love them and not on yourself.
What you could say is something like this:
“I love your page and wanted to introduce myself because……[how your connection is relevant or valuable to the other person]. If you’re interested, I invite you to connect with me via my Page/Website/Linkedin etc.. I look forward to interacting on YOUR page,” or this
“Hi, I’ve been following your page for a while. We’re running a charity auction for………… at the moment and wondered if you or your followers might like to get involved. If you’d like to know more visit here:…..”
Don’t ask for a shoutout in an introductory message. Business pages get asked for shoutouts every day. And don’t assume someone will want to “like” your page just because you like theirs. Most people will go and check out your page after an introduction anyway and if it resonates with them, they will “like” it.
If you don’t get a response from the other business or you don’t get the response you were hoping for, put it down to experience and move on. Not every seed you plant will take root.
If you’re on the other end of the stick, and have been approached by someone you’re unsure about, check back in with your goals and business plan (even if it’s just written on a napkin).
Ask yourself: Does this connection offer something valuable to my business and followers or are they just trying to sell me their stuff?
Over to you…. Have you ever asked a mutual Facebook friend for an introduction to someone you’d like to connect with? Give it a try and let me know if it works for you.
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