There has been a lot of talk about Social Spamming recently. I stumbled across an article on Mashable, “Social Media Spam Increased 355% in First Half of 2013” that I think Small Businesses will find relevant. After all, many of you are using social media marketing (in addition to email marketing, of course) to grow your businesses.

I don’t think you should let the growing Social Spam rates scare you away from social media marketing. There are still many opportunities to create and blossom relationships using Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Google+, Etc. However, I think it’s important to 1) Not be a spammer yourself 2) Not attract spammers into your community.

Some Social Spamming Tips:

Avoid Being a “Spammer”

  •  Produce Good Social Content – Release valuable, relevant content to your social networks will want to like, comment on, and share with their friends.
  • Add Supporting Visuals – Rather than always sharing links, try mixing it up by adding in videos, pictures, and stories to supplement your marketing.
  • Post Within Reason – If you notice your new blog is not getting any views/likes/comments/or shares, it is probably not a good idea to continually blast it to your community. Re-evaluate your content and scrap content that yields little to no response rate for the risk of annoying your community.
  • Finish A Conversation – If others are engaging in conversations in your community, contribute to it! Don’t let your network think you only care about distributing content, and have no intention to interact with them otherwise.

Avoid Attracting Spammers

  •  Have a Mutual Engagement – Too often I see businesses adding anyone and everyone to their social networks (paying for likes – you get the idea). A mutual engagement ensures that your connections want to hear what you have to say, and you want to hear what they have to say. The idea here is quality over quantity!
  • Look For Real People – The idea behind social networking is to start conversations. Despite the growing social spam problem, real people do exist in your communities. Seek them out, and start the relationship building!
  •  Edit Permissions – If you have a large Facebook following, you can enable posting permissions. This can help you block out spammers who make post bad links, use profanity, or tag you in inappropriate pictures. I encourage you to check out: https://www.facebook.com/help/255700674532721

Don’t let the rise in social spamming statistics affect the way you interact on social networks. Go forth – start more conversations, build more relationships, and contribute great content to your community!