Are You Guilty Of Promo Bombing?

Ok, time to fess up! Have you ever done this?

You see a conversation on Facebook or LinkedIn and it fits beautifully with a product or program you offer.  You either do one of two things.

You don’t do anything because you don’t want to overstep your bounds and seem salesy.

Or you promo bomb them! 

Promo Bombing is when you reply or comment with a link to your sales page and that’s it.

It’s just like a photo bomb…when someone pops into your photo unexpectedly with no invitation and often no connection – just to be visible.

Either way…when you do nothing or you promo bomb you aren’t marketing with integrity and authenticity.  And it’s not going to help sell or enroll or let people know about you.

Not saying anything and waiting for permission or just holding back because you don’t want to be salesy is keeping your business small.  You actually are keeping people from finding the help they need that you can offer. It doesn’t work for you and it doesn’t work for your potential clients.

On the other extreme just splatting a Promo Bomb out there doesn’t help either. Even with good intentions people do feel like you just intruded. The impact of a sudden promotional announcement in a community conversation feels like it’s all  about you and not them. You intruded into their space without a connection.

What’s the answer? 

The answer is to share your program or product in communities and conversations on social media where it directly relates AND (this is the key) include a personal note.

This creates a connection.  It makes you seem like a real person who cares and has a solution instead of just a sterile link. It also connects the dots as to why you are sharing your program or product. 

You might think it’s obvious but it isn’t always obvious to members of the community.  Spell it out for them and invite them to come gather more information if it speaks to them.

That’s gracious, authentic and smart marketing.

We had an inadvertent promo bombing the other day.  This happened in one of my Facebook groups: The Art of Creativity in Business (which by the way…if you aren’t a member…you might want to join us – it’s an open group where we talk about and share creative ideas and inspiration in biz.)

In the group there was a discussion about a member who is offering an art workshop in British Columbia.  Another member got excited and posted her logo and link to her upcoming art program in BC.  Ouch…promo bomb. 

Even though it was relevant, it felt very in your face and promo-y like. It hurt her reputation more than helped.

I asked her to share with us why she felt compelled to share her workshop and would she make the connection for us even more obvious.

She wrote a beautiful comment about what art means to her, the transformation she has seen, how people are flying in from all over the world for her program and then when she saw we were talking about art programs in her area she felt compelled to share.

Let me tell you her personal comments made all the difference in the world in readers being able open to “seeing” her promo because they had a connection. They also got really excited at hearing more about the bigger picture and they got a glimpse of the person behind the promotional banner.

As you are on social media – don’t be shy…if you have a product or program that would help out someone, please share it, for THEIR sake (and yes, for yours) but do it with a personal comment and make the connection for the reader obvious.

You’ll see a huge difference in your social media results, conversions over to your sales pages and in making real connections with people.

Let me know what you think about this article and Promo Bombing. Have you ever done it? (Come ‘on, I know you have…I just inadvertently did it last week! I went back and cleaned up my “slip” by making personal comments and saved it!).

I’d love to hear how you avoid this and your thoughts about Promo Bombing in the comments below!