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1.  Mass inviting friends – C’mon I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but inviting a bunch of people from your area to be your friend because it’s going to benefit you at your new job is just lazy.  Once you send them a message about your “new job” that “remove from friends” button just got a lot bigger.

2.

Did you leave caps lock on?  Is it your first time on Facebook?  Yes, you want to get our attention, we can see that, but typing in all caps makes it sound like you’re yelling (go on, try reading a message in all caps with a small voice, it feels weird) Most people upon seeing a message in all caps chuckle to themselves then ignore the message.

3.  Creating a group or a fan page for the sole purpose of creating a group or a fan page. –  If you don’t have a clear idea or goal in mind about why you are starting a Facebook group or fan page then don’t do it (or do it and don’t invite anyone).  Nothing is more mind-numbingly obvious that you have no clue how to market to people then inviting me to your fan page to give me updates about your company that I do not care about.  Before you create a fan page or group please ask yourself, why?

4.  Excessively bothering people who are a part of your group, fan page, attending your event, etc. – If I join your group you’ve obviously peaked my interest in some way.  Don’t ruin it for yourself by bombarding me with messages.  Plan messages out and have a purpose for even the simplest ones.  The best way to get me to leave your group or fan page is to keep bothering me with messages that do not pertain to me.  Update all you want, you’ll end up in my news feed, that is fine, but sometimes all it takes is one meaningless message that loses the trust I once had in you, leaving your group never to return.

Did I forget any?  Please let me know what YOU think people should never do on Facebook in the comments below.

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Word-of-Mouth of course.  If you disagree, please, I’d love to hear why in the comments below.  Word-of-mouth is the most authentic and effective because for it to occur successfully, there must be more than a minimum level of trust established.  Let me explain.

If I don’t trust you I will never take your advice on anything, let alone a product I will be purchasing.  On the contrary, if I trust you a lot (an influencer in my life) I will take your word on what I should buy over any marketing message no matter how clever it is.  

Trust = influence.

As fast as we can share our opinions on Twitter, Facebook, blogs etc. I can’t fathom why more businesses haven’t created incentives for customers to share their delightful experiences online for others to see.  EXAMPLE: Foursquare is becoming a very useful tool for me, now that people are sharing their opinions openly when checking in.

Your brand isn’t your website, store, logo or your OWN perception of your company.  Your brand is what other people say about you and the internet makes it much easier to say anything about your company, positive or negative.

This is your warning, it’s only going to increase, how are you encouraging positive word-of-mouth?

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A long, long, time ago advertisers would interrupt people to get their message in front of them.  Commercials interrupting your favorite show, coupons in your mailbox, awkwardly placed billboards, branding of anything and everything, commercials interrupting the top 10 countdown on the radio, telemarketers trying to sell you something, sales people showing up at your door, and video billboards promising even more interruptions than static billboards.

There was no permission established so eventually these were bound to fail once the market was saturated with messages competing for the next chance to interrupt you.

Enter Seth Godin coined term “permission based marketing“.

I need to be friends with you for you to show up in my Facebook newsfeed or to be able to post on my wall.

I need to be following you on Twitter to receive your tweets.

I need to subscribe to your e-mail newsletter to receive it.

I have never been forced to watch a Youtube video, I choose what I want to watch.

I can’t force you to read my blog, it’s your choice.

Notice a trend here?  To communicate with people you must have their permission, no matter what medium you use.  Marketing hasn’t gone anywhere since “social media” took over, it just got smarter.  The winners now will be the ones who understand permission based marketing and come up with the newest innovative way to acquire permission.  It’s the next generation of word-out-mouth.

On the other hand, I hate to hear campaigns talking about “mass-text-messaging” services and mass e-mail marketing.  Just further attempts at interrupting more people to tell them a message they don’t want to hear.

If you want to delve further into the topic pick up this book:

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1.  Volkswagen - The Fun Theory – Finally a car commercial that isn’t like every other car commercial

2.  Domino’s – The Pizza Turnaround – a longer video but worth a watch, tells a great story about how Domino’s is changing their pizza

3.  Aides – Graffiti – a different way to go about Aides awareness

4.  Coca-Cola – Happiness Machine – this theme is growing and it’s obvious why, making people happy and filming it works

5.  Bud Light – Clothing Drive – even online the beer companies can usually come up with very entertaining material and this one is no exception

6.  Burton – Shaun White Double McTwist – sports theme and an amazing feat

7.  Pedigree – Dogs – some amazing camera work

8.  Tropicana – Arctic Sun – great story

9.  Heineken – Men With Talent – again, the agency’s on beer commercials do a great job

10.  Nike – The Secret Behind Nike Air – must watch for any Nike lover out there, you’ll actually laugh out loud

11.  TomTom – Behind the Scenes of Darth Vader’s Voice Recording – the best part about this one is that you can actually get a TomTom GPS device with a Star Wars voice

12.  Toyota – Toyota Sienna “Swagger Wagon,” – I’m a big fan of car commercials that standout, this one sure does

13.  Arriva Movia – Mukthar’s Birthday – Better Bus Ride – a tear jerking story about the best birthday present ever

14.  Hi Tec – Walk on Water (Liquid Mountaineering) – a surreal moment when you watch this one, unbelievable

15.  Microsoft – Giant Waterslide – you will probably watch this again and again and still try to figure out how they did it

16.  Red Bull – Times Square Pit Stop – Redbull always seems to find a large audience, this is no exception

17.  National Geographic - Deadly Predator – an amazing story

18.  Doritos Canada - The Taste-Test Whistleblower – one of my personal favorites, be sure to turn the sound down if you’re at work

19.  Inspired Bicycles – Danny MacAskill – some of the most amazing biking I have ever seen

20.  Boone Oakley – BooneOakley.com – this may be the best video showcasing what a company does that I have ever seen

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