Blog: our latest tasty thoughts

Social networking tools such as Facebook are great to build an online community around your business, and is a great way to keep your customers up-to-date and get your message out quickly.

But are you stopping to think about how your customers see your messages online?

Let's say you want to promote an upcoming event. So you get on to your Page (remember, your business should be built as a Page, not a Profile) and create an Event - that's a good start. You then put a post an update via your Page of the upcoming Event - still good.

So far your message has come across to your fans, and they're able to see the details, and even comment on your Post or RSVP to your Event. This is a great way to get people talking about your Event, and you know it's always in a single space.

But this is where some businesses start to go wrong.

Some businesses believe that by reposting their Event details on other Pages in the community, they are going to get their message out to a broader base. In reality, all they are doing is polluting the social network with their spam. Take your own Wall for example - when a visitor sees your Wall, all they will see is the same message posted over and over again.

Is this how you want your Wall to appear?

It's not a very welcoming Page, and has the power to damage relationships with your fans - their messages to you may get lost in your attempt to get your own message out there.

What does this result in?

Your Fans may not appreciate getting bombarded in your repetitive messages and end up removing their "Like" from your page, which means that they will no longer see any of your messages.

If your Event or offer is legitimately of interest to another business, then posting on their page may be suitable - but it is best to check with the Page's owners first - they too may classify your unwanted soliciting as spam.

Both individuals and other Pages can react to spam differently: some may just delete or block your messages - neither of which are desired - but others may report your messages to Facebook which can result in your account being permanently disabled as it is against Facebook's Terms of Use to send repetitive messages.

This issue is exacerbated when businesses use a personal Profile as their business presence - just another reason on the list of why a Page should be used.

The next time you want to promote an Event, page or idea on Facebook, step back and have a think about how your Fans will see your message.