Social Media is a huge marketing tool, when done right, and in this rapidly changing realm, it’s important to stay on top of the do’s and don’ts. For this article we’re going to focus on tagging (or @mentions).
Tagging is a great way to help garner attention, but if you’re constantly tagging the wrong people you may not be getting the attention you were hoping for. “Before you @ everyone you know—or a bunch of brands you don’t—think about whether the mention is really necessary.” (agorapulse.com)
Like ‘the boy who cried wolf’, spam tagging can leave you yelling to deaf ears; and when you do post something that is relevant to those companies (or persons) you’ve been tagging, they won’t see it because they’ve become accustomed to ignoring your posts. Even worse, they can report you as spam. Depending on the platform’s guidelines, enough reports can get you banned.
[SIDE NOTE - I am aware that in a previous article I wrote about the importance of acknowledging and interacting with posts you’ve been tagged in (the social aspect of social media), but here’s the exception; if you’re being tagged in a post and it’s completely irrelevant to you (or your company) what do you have to add to it? For example, if Omaha Steaks tagged me in a post I have absolutely nothing to contribute because I don’t eat beef. It would be a waste of my time to comment and a waste of their time to read my irrelevant comment.]
A better way to go about tagging is to make note of who is interacting with your posts and stop tagging those who aren’t (unless you are 99.9% positive a post is actually relevant to them). Now you have a simple target audience - a curated group of people who are most likely to be interested in your post.
Instead of casting a wide net, hone in your target audience so you know your effort and message is getting to the right people. From here, you can segment your audience into smaller, more specific groups to increase the relevancy of your posts.
Get the most out of your social media by being mindful of who your audience is and directly targeting them. However, don’t barrage them with @mentions on every platform or every day because this is still spamming.
Jessica is the Art Director at PromoCorner and has been in the promotional products industry since 2010. With a degree in Graphic Design, she has been working in Marketing since 2006 creating advertising of all sizes; from social posts to billboards. Jessica shares her passion for design in her monthly blog, Designer Patch. She can be reached at
jessica@promocorner.com.