If more than 20% of your posting on social media is promotional, you could be turning people off.

Keep in mind that people go to social media to be informed, entertained, and uplifted. They don’t go there to be “sold” on your services or even to see a lot of “hype” about what is going on with your business.

Red Computer keyboard with two speech bubble showing bla bla

Yet, if you provide value to your social media connections, they will be eager to see your next post, update, tweet, etc.

Just the other day, someone tagged me in a Facebook post, noting that she doesn’t usually post her speaking engagements on Facebook as I and another person she mentioned do. Then she went on to share where she just had a speaking engagement. As part of her post she called me and the other person she mentioned “social savvy,” which felt like a compliment.

Yet, I wondered about her comment: have I been oversharing on my personal Facebook page regarding speaking gigs and other business-related activity? Had I gone over the recommended 20%?

In case you’re now wondering how many times you post about your business on Facebook or LinkedIn, there are tools you can use to review your social media activity.

 

Where to Find a Record of Your Social Media Postings on Facebook and LinkedIn

  • For Facebook (personal):
    • Go to your timeline (by clicking on your name at the top of the page).
    • Click on View Activity Log – a button on the lower right side of your cover photo.
    • In the left column, click on “Your posts.”
    • Now you can see your status updates (aka posts), things you shared from other people’s updates, things you wrote on other people’s timelines, etc.
  • Review the posts about your work-related activities and determine whether you might be going a bit overboard posting about work. You might even ask a friend to level with you about this.
  • Keep in mind that there are times that others “tag” you by name in a photo and/or an update, so that will increase the number of work-related posts on your Facebook profile. You can always remove a tag if you don’t want that item to appear on your profile.
  • For Facebook (business):
    • Click on Settings
    • Select the setting called Activity Log.
    • Now you can view all your recent posts to your business page.
  • For LinkedIn:
    • Go to your LinkedIn profile
    • Click on the downward pointing arrow to the right of “View Profile As” and click on “view recent activity”.
    • Here you can see your own updates and posts, along with the updates and posts you have liked, commented on and/or shared.

 

How About You?

Do you ever consider whether you are getting a bit too promotional in your social media activity? How do you react when you see one of your social media connections being overly promotional?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, leaders of nonprofit organizations, job seekers, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.