Debbie HarrisThe best motivational quotes ever are not what you are going to find in this article.
What prompted me to write this blog is the proliferation of these quotes I see on all the major social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and now even LinkedIn. I’ll be the first to admit that I start my day with two motivational quotes via email, one from Rita Sandler and one from Abraham-Hicks. I like to start my day that way and even enjoy Liking other motivational quotes I see on Facebook and sometimes even retweeting ones I see on Twitter. Please don’t get me wrong here – I am referring to the incredible amount of motivational or inspirational quotes coming from professionals and business pages on social media sites. If you choose to put motivational quotes on your personal social media platforms that is your choice and you may not care if people are “unfriending” or “unfollowing” you because they simply can’t look at another motivational quote from you.
When it comes to business, this is a more serious issue and here’s why: if you are putting up motivational quotes all the time on your social media platforms what does that say about you or your business? I see professionals and businesses that seem to need a Motivation or Inspiration 12 Step Program. They seem to be virtually addicted to pushing out these quotes (as pictures, of course) and not really paying any attention to what, if anything, it has to do with their product and/or service. It also leads one to think that maybe there is nothing else the business has to say or that they are spewing these out because they’ve hired someone to do their social media posting and this is all they can come up with. While it may be better than not posting or tweeting anything on social media, we are splitting hairs here. You may still appear to be in business but to what end. I am not trying to be harsh, I am just letting you know that you are not helping yourself if that is the approach you are taking to your social media marketing.
My last blog referred to National Something Day and adding that to your posting repertoire. It can be fun and you can even create an event or promotion around them. Using things like the weather and “This Day in History” can also provide some ways to change up your social media marketing. Sports is another way and with the post season of the baseball season and football on the horizon, you can shake up your social media marketing with some of this fun information. Sports is something that brings us together even if we don’t root for the same team. Set up Google Alerts and get some ideas that way.
Constantly posting or tweeting motivational quotes is not helping your social media marketing at all. In fact, you may find that you begin to lose Followers, Likes and Connections. The place this really annoys me is LinkedIn. Ever since LinkedIn allowed pictures and graphics, there is a constant barrage of motivational quotes on the Home Page scroll every day. Just how motivated and inspired do we need to be? I am guessing that other than the occasional quote that really resonates with you, you move on or you feel obligated to LIKE the quote because you know the person it came from. That is not the purpose of LinkedIn as I see it. It is a professional-to-professional network. It is meant to enlighten, educate and connect people to potential clients and strategic partners. I do not need to see one motivational saying after another when I log in to LinkedIn. That doesn’t tell me anything about your professional knowledge in your field.
It’s okay to have a Monday Motivation – Twitter has #MondayMotivation and #HumpDayMotivation and that’s fine for your social media marketing. In fact, engaging in those two conversations on Twitter will get you into the conversation. Having your Facebook business page do a Tuesday Inspiration is great as well, but that means one day per week and one motivational or inspirational quote on that day. Not every day, more than once per day. That way people know that on that day you are providing some motivation and on the other days that you post or tweet, it will be something else and hopefully often educating people about what you do and why.
You have to have fun with your social media marketing but the end result is to build a community of clients, potential clients and strategic partners. The end result is not to motivate or inspire people to madness. Don’t just follow the crowd, think outside the box and do something unique that will call attention to your social media marketing. I am sure the first few businesses that jumped on the motivational quotes bandwagon developed a following for it, now it’s just another one of those things people are passing over as they scroll.
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