Is this spammy?
Just a quick question I was hoping someone could help me with...
In our industry there is a new technology that has not only debatable, but possibly dangerous, drawbacks. Many of our competitors who are offering this technology (we are not), are making completely untrue and unrealistic claims about their product.
I subscribed to google alerts to find the blogs that mention this technology, and I've been leaving comments on these blogs warning consumers and readers that these products can be unsafe, and indeed some of them have been recalled. Nothing in my comment is untrue, and most of the time the only mention of our own company is the url link in the "signature". The comments are always relevant to the blog, but a lot of them are boilerplate text and so many of the comments are identical.
Are we hurting our website in any way by posting these comments? I'm afraid because of the identical posts it might be seen as "spammy" even though we're not really spamming anything (it's not like we're leaving these comments on random, high pagerank unrelated blogs). Any "link juice" we gain from our posts is only a bonus, though 99% of these blogs have no pagerank to pass along. The comments are posted genuinely to help the consumer. I can't count the number of complaints we've gotten from customers having to repurchase an expensive product because of this inferior new technology.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.
User Login
May be / May be not...
Aditi Sawhney 2 years 43 weeks 6 days 16 hours ago
Hi Stacy
I dont think they will be consered spammy as long as you manipulate them and make them more informative.
Rather than posting a default response / comments you need to customize them according the discussion that is occuring. If you will give a personal touch it will not be spammy. If you are copying and pasting same reply with your website link , it will be irrelavant.
Aditi
Not spammy
Adrian Chira 2 years 44 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago
I don't think that it is spammy but the links you get may not transfer any PR "juice" to your site. I also think that you should try to personalize a little more the comments and not have identical comments on too many sites.
Best,
Adrian
Is this spammy?
Ron Klassen 2 years 47 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago
I can identify very clearly with this question. We are a full-service remodeler, and are facing very intense competition with ex-employees of builders, remodelers, etc. There are some out there horrifically under-quoting projects. It's clear that many are working without permits, etc. It's also clear, thanks to a wise question from a suspecting client, that they are cutting corners in ways we can only partly imagine. We want to cry "foul," but it takes real care lest we come off as a "whiner."
One thing I believe is always true: negative-selling doesn't really work. It's tough, I know, not to want to slam or dig a bad practice or product. That said, I suggest (and we try to do this) telling your story in as positive a manner as you can. Don't criticize as much as highlight the facts and the best practices your company uses. Figure out the benefit to the customer/client, and highlight that. As in all marketing, it's best done when you put yourself in the customers'/clients' shoes. Before you send or post your message, proof-read whatever you might want to send/post from their perspective.
Good point!
stacyzara 2 years 47 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago
Good point! :) Thank you. Will definitely look back on that boiler plate text and try to flip it to sound more positive.
Not spammy ...
RickBurnes 2 years 47 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago
I dont' think this is spammy. I think the question is whether you're getting anything out of it.
Comments take a lot of time (that's why good, useful ones are so valuable). Commenting is important, and a great way to spend your time, but I'd only do it in places where you see a real opportunity to engage with people.
Thanks!
stacyzara 2 years 47 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago
Thank you for the advice. :)
The unfortunate thing is a lot of these blogs are being seen by potential customers, and we hate to see our valuable sales going to people making inferior, potentially dangerous equipment. The hope with these comments is that possible customers see them and make an educated purchase...and of course, we hope that purchase is made with us.
This is also why so many of the comments are boilerplate text. It doesn't take too terribly long, and because most of the misinformation is the same from blog to blog the comments are still completely relevant.
As long as it's not doing anything detrimental to our website we'll most likely be continuing in the hopes of educating the general public.
Thanks again for your valuable advice! It is much appreciated.
Can you take yourself out of the middle?
Steve Early 2 years 47 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago
I agree that negative selling is not constructive and it is always better to stay positive (and I don't believe you're being negative or that this is your intent). However, just in case someone else might possibly perceive it that way, perhaps you could take yourself out of the equation by using a neutral third party.
What would happen if, rather than you writing the same text and posting it in various places to warn potential consumers, you simply pointed them to a neutral third party blog/forum that was providing a warning themselves? The neutral third party could say what you say but in their own words. Perhaps even a previous customer that got burned could provide a quote or two on where they went wrong (without flaming or looking like they have an axe to grind.) Having a third party take quotes and write something will take the emotion out of it.
Another idea; could you have a white paper or free report written that somehow exposes the risks of this new technology? Would it make sense to invest time in an e-book that provides a neutral view of the current playing field that you add to your content library (or someone else's)?
Then all you have to do is point people somewhere else... "This sounds great, but you may want to look at ... before you plunge into this."
The upside is:
Once set up, it would take less of your time.
It takes you out of the position of potentially being perceived as the 'bad guy'
It can't be perceived as you providing the same old boilerplate answer in multiple places.
The downside is:
It doesn't give people a chance to see you as someone who is watching out for them. You might try to overcome that with the previously suggested strategy of staying positive about your company and its products in the other things you do.
Interesting dilemma. Good luck!