The other day, I got a notification on Facebook from a big-name someone who runs a group: they tagged me on a post. I got a little jump in my heart. I was like, "What?!? This super cool and successful person I admire is tagging little ol' me in their post?"
So I clicked.
And when I got to the post, it turns out they tagged all the people in the group using a new feature: @everyone
On the surface, it seems like a brilliant idea. Type in 11 characters and boom - you tagged all your group members.
But it made me feel sort of crappy. Turns out, this person wasn't thinking of me at all. They were thinking about marketing. And it hit me the wrong way.
While @everyone may make it easier for you as the marketer to get your post in the notifications of your group members, it's really short-sighted.
I stopped clicking on this person's posts because now I know they're @everybody-ing me. And I don't like the way it makes me feel. (And I'm pretty sure that discouraging people from clicking is not their goal.)
Look, in the marketing real world, we're always thinking of how our marketing will land with our customers. After interacting with our content, what will our customers with KNOW, FEEL and DO.
If I put @everyone through that filter, here's how it looks:
Know.
I know that this person isn't thinking about me at all...they're thinking about marketing.
Feel.
I am just a number and that does not feel great.
Do.
I'll stop clicking on your content because I longer trust you.
The best marketing engages with customers and makes them feel as though you're speaking only to them. And @everyone isn't the way to do that.
The moral of this story? Don't @everyone anyone.
It's gross.
xo, Heather
