Don’t worry. Lots of brands do it. You’ve been taught by an old world that it works this way. 

You’re focusing on the “media” in social media. You hear the phrase and immediately think, “Great! Another avenue to push our products and services on to people, just like TV, radio, and print.” If that’s your focus, you’re dead. These platforms are for conversation. Join it. Don’t make the pitch.

Picture a sports bar. The local team is playing. 50 TVs tuned in to the same event. The place is packed, everyone cheering the big play. You walk in. What’s the first thing you say?

If you answered, “We just released a new widget Click here for details: http://shortlink.com/abcdefg” you’re dead on arrival. You’ve walked onto their turf, into their social lives. Selling from the second you walk in is guaranteed failure.

The only question you can ask is “What’s the score?”

Introduce yourself, find out what the score is, get to know the crowd, buy some guy a beer. Join the conversation. Only after this—gaining trust, getting to know people—can you even think about selling to them (which we all know is the real reason you’ve decided to sign up for Twitter and Facebook). 

It takes time

Don’t expect to sign up for an account, respond to a couple customers for a week, and then be able to Sell! Sell! Sell!. Trust takes time. Loyalty isn’t built in a week. You have to show your customers you genuinely care. One thing social media forces is transparency. It’s not an option. It’s required. If you’re faking it, customers will eventually find out.

Maybe instead of Sell! Sell! Sell!, you should use social media to Care! Care! Care!

(Sports bar reference borrowed from Rocco who borrowed it from someone else. My apologies that I can’t provide the original source.)