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Self Promotion in Marketing: Good or Bad?

July 5, 2016 By Erik 13 Comments

Self Promotion in Marketing Good or Bad

Writing this first line, I already know what some of you are thinking. You most probably hate seeing other people shamelessly promoting themselves…

Why would anyone want to do that?

After all as bloggers and marketers, shouldn’t we let others decide whether what we preach and sell is actually worthy?

And… 

When it comes to bad marketing, self-promotion is on the top of the list for many folks out there.

But is that really justifiable? Should it be so? 

I will try to answer to all of the above questions in today’s article.

In the below paragraphs I will try to “persuade” you that not all marketing equals spam (as some of my Twitter followers believe it is when being asked) and that not all kinds (yes, there are different kinds) of self-promotion equal spam.

 

Why People Perceive Self-Promotion as Something Bad


First of all because for most it means spam. And that is certainly not a surprise for anyone.

One great example is Twitter and its userbase. I am almost certain (haven’t made any research though) that when it comes to the amount of spam accounts created, Twitter holds the number one spot among social media sites. Only those who haven’t used Twitter themselves don’t know what I am talking about. 

Even if you are trying to be selective with the ones you decide to follow on Twitter, you are sure to come across spammers – people (or bots?), whose only task is to annoy the hell out of you with worthless tweets, pointing to even more worthless offers (which often times aren’t even relevant to your interests)…

And although not as prevalent, examples of that very same behavior can be found across all other networks.

Remember, there’s a simple way to report SPAM on Twitter. Just click on the tweet and select “report“:

report as spam on twitter

 

There are Celebrities and There are People Like You and Me


Unfortunately although media sometimes tries to prove this wrong, the so-called celebrities are living in a different world…

KatyPerry Twitter account

Whenever a well-known face introduces themselves to something as foreign (to them) as social media, they tend to get thousands of fans and followers in a matter of days. They don’t have to put much effort towards this. They are already famous so there’s no need for fancy strategies. They already have that head start, which you don’t have.

Placed in that position, what do you do? How do you stand out? What is your chance to build an audience around a brand without a budget to begin with?

 

 

The Reality in the Marketing World Is That…


You’ve got to start somehow. You create the blog. You start writing and publishing content, but that’s just the first step.

What do you do next? How do you get other folks to discover that you are a guy, who shares useful insights?

At that initial stage, you probably won’t have much indexed pages, so search engines are not where visitors will flock from. One way to spin the wheel is guest blogging – it is both a legitimate way to gain backlinks and also a way to directly promote your blog… And although we are obviously talking about self-promotion here, that one is kind of a win-win – the guest blogger gets some fresh new visitors and the blog’s author gets free content.

As powerful as guest articles can be however, if you want to really spread the word fast, you need social media!

And social media is namely the medium from which self-promotion gained all the bad reputation. But anyway, let’s move on to find the answer to the question, posed in the title itself. Or more precisely, let’s see…

You may want to read: 12 Dos and Don’ts To Improve Your Social Media Marketing

 

How We can Make Self-Promotion Work for Us


Quite honestly I’ve been sharing my own content pretty much since I began blogging. Back then you could read lots of posts about how bad of a marketing approach this was (not that much has changed since then…). But then again reading is one thing and putting things to the test is something totally different.

…And thinking that you are making the most out of a social media site by simply adding a share button on your blog is a little naive. If that’s all you do, you are missing out on hundreds if not thousands of visitors! 

So, okay, let’s assume I finally persuaded you that self-promotion might not be a mistake…

Here are a couple of tips to do it right and not end up classified as a spammer: 

  • Quality – the difference between spammers and YOU – It’s a fine line really. The first factor, determining the success of your self-promotion campaign (interesting term, isn’t it? lol) is what you share. Scheduling each and every post you’ve ever written and expecting things to go right isn’t quite a wise move. Don’t include all posts in your campaign. Publish it, wait a week or two to see the reactions and if positive, add it to your to-be-shared articles list.
  • Engagement – Is it all you need? – No, not at all. It certainly isn’t a secret to anyone that one of your first tasks when you get into social media is to prove you are not a robot though. That approach however is more of a personal one and although it is important, a self-promotion campaign cares more about driving lots of visitors than building relationships (so that’s basically two separate things – neither to be ignored).
  • Variety – It’s not all about links and replies – Why would anyone want to like a fan page, which doesn’t offer anything more than links? Yes, you might find a thing or two useful, but social media is about fun as well. Especially when it comes to networks such as Facebook and Google Plus you need images – funny pictures, quotes, infographics and all kinds of visual information that you find interesting. It is a fact that those kinds of stories get the most likes. And although that doesn’t translate into direct traffic, more likes mean more people seeing that story and hence more potential followers and fans to click on your links.

 

Conclusion and Your Thoughts


It is a simple as that. It’s time to give it a go if you still haven’t!

Now on to you guys!

I’d really love to hear your two cents about self-promotion – what do you think of it – do you agree with the statements I’ve made in the post or is your opinion on the topic different?

Let’s discuss! 

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Comments

  1. Mark Eaves

    July 5, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    It always seems to be a fine line, doesn’t it. And we talk to ten people and get ten different answers (suggestions), right? I think we have to self promote ourselves, but learn what works and what doesn’t, just like you said. Test it and if you get good results, share to another audience. Thanks for the great post

    Reply
    • Erik

      July 7, 2016 at 9:40 am

      There’s should be a balance, Mark.
      Just the right dose of good sense and you don’t have to worry to be labeled as spammer.

      Thanks for checking the post.

      Reply
  2. Krysten (

    July 6, 2016 at 8:13 am

    I always feel spammy when I’m super self-promoting, I think I only do it once a day at the most. I try to give a good mix of photos, other people’s blogs, and blog tips. Is this right?

    Reply
    • Erik

      July 7, 2016 at 9:40 am

      Correct, Krysten.
      There’s so much interesting content around worth sharing!

      Reply
  3. abiya

    July 7, 2016 at 8:39 am

    It’s interesting that many of the bloggers your tips helped to clarify a few things for me as well as giving.Most of ideas can be nice content.Sometimes you just have to yell at people and give them a good shake to get your point across.Being new to the blogging world I feel like there is still so much to learn.Your tips helped to clarify a few things for me as well as giving.

    Reply
    • Erik

      July 7, 2016 at 9:41 am

      Thanks for the positive feedback, Abiya.

      Reply
  4. Asif

    July 9, 2016 at 12:11 am

    Hi Erik, Thanks for shared helpful knowledge, these knowledge is most beneficial and informative on my career. Thanks again Erik.

    Reply
  5. dhanunjai

    July 11, 2016 at 2:51 pm

    Yes,the content uniqueness and quality is what makes difference from a good blog from others.You have really shared a very nice tips and thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  6. George Hudson

    July 19, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    At times even fair promotion is considered as spam and that does affect self-promotion. Great tips you have mentioned to keep in mind during self promotion. . Thanks a lot 🙂

    Reply
  7. Narinder Kumar

    November 30, 2016 at 5:18 am

    Thanks Erik Provide a Important Information for self promotion in marketing its really a good idea to promote your blog own. social promotion its realy a good techniques to share our blog content in social media website.

    Reply
  8. ravi sharma

    December 20, 2016 at 6:36 am

    Thankyou so much for sharing this article.Thankyou so much Erik.

    Reply
  9. Patrick Cox

    January 5, 2017 at 8:20 am

    I tend to use to 60/30/10 method when posting. 60% of my posts are curated and come from other influencers and respected sites that are in my field. I’ll post a link, comment on it and engage the reader with a question about the article. 30% is created posts like blog posts, images and presentations I’ve made using sites like Canva or Adobe Spark that offer useful advice and tricks of the trade. Only 10% is self promotion, and that’s usually something like, “Like” my page and Comment below for a chance to win a month of free consultation.

    Self promotion is necessary to grow any business, just make it useful and fun and you’ll stand a greater chance of gaining more followers and clients.

    Reply
  10. Rudy

    November 11, 2017 at 8:55 am

    Thanks Erik for sharing thus an informative post. You told an important things that true a self-promotion campaign cares more about driving lots of visitors than building relationships.

    Reply

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