Asked to use personal social media to promote work

[Sockypuppet]

I'm not an owner or partner of my business. Just an employee. People in my life know where I work.

Boss/owner regularly asks us to use our personal WhatsApp and Facebook accounts to promote his business.

Loads of us are just quietly... not doing it. If I spam my job to my personal contacts they'll just mute/hide me.

Is this a normal thing now?

Somebody needs to sit him down and point out all the reasons why it's a really bad idea. If there's anyone among your colleagues who likes and understands viral marketing they might be able to get themselvees a small payrise by offering to take over and manage the company's social media strategy...

I find this really random, our social media policy actively discouraged linking personal social media to work.

A few suggestions:

I prefer to keep work and social separate.

My small group of Facebook friends don't really fit your target market.

Have you thought about paying for a targeted Facebook ad?

My friends and family really wouldn't appreciated getting unsolicited adverts from me via WhatsApp.

Given the rules around using personal data for marketing I don't feel comfortable using my friend and family's personal data to advertise to them.

I've had this, we're all supposed to hashtag every bloody event we're at. I just say my account is locked and private.

I know of an large employer who is very keen on employees advertising the "product" on social media but is very aggressive at policing employees social media accounts and is very keen on firing people who transgress the company rules on use of the same.

Have a bad day at work and sound off to your nearest and dearest about a customer or work situation on SM and if the company find you are out of the door...

My advice would be keep work/private SM accounts and content very very separate.

I've only read the first page of the thread so apologies if it's already been said, bit why can't he set up a business page on social media if he is that bothered about it?

My FB account is locked. There'd be no point whatsoever me doing what he's asked you to do because only my small circle of friends would see it.
That may be something to think about....

I can't even imagine such a thing, never mind doing it.

'That would go down very badly with the family and friends I have on my social media, it would definitely have the opposite effect rather than helping the business!'

'My family and friends would definitely feel that they were being spammed if I were to post an obvious advert like that. It would get their backs up and they would definitely be less likely to use the service and certainly wouldn't re-post ads, so it would be actively detrimental. Perhaps we could do something less obvious? A Christmas wishes post that I could share? You know what they say - it's clever advertising that works!'

Why don't the business just pay for targeted Facebook advertising? It's very cheap.

I’m really surprised at this being suggested. I thought companies actively did not want you to mention the company in personal accounts, for fear of bringing the company into disrepute. People get sacked for such things.

And again, what to say when boss asks why?

It's against the ToS on both platforms to use your personal profile to advertise a business.

CF - tell him to shell out for paid advertising.

Someone l've known for 30 years is one of my FB friends. Over the past year he's been listing stuff for sale (not his own things, it's obviously some 'business' he's involved with).
lt's constant. At least 15 items a day, and it's got worse recently in the run up to Christmas.
l keep muting his posts because it's so annoying and fills up my notifications. l'm very close to unfriending/blocking him because of it. l doubt l'm the only one. lt feels very much like being spammed, as previous posters have said.
l can understand it to a point, he's trying to earn some extra money. But you wouldn't be. Your boss just wants free advertising. Personally l wouldn't do it.

what to say when boss asks why?

Is he checking your social media?
Tell him that it would have the opposite effect, as spamming is seen as unprofessional and you are trying to protect the business.

Quickest way to shut them down is to ask for the commission structure. When you see that, you'll start posting. (You never will).

Tell him that you will promote his business at a rate of £25 per Tweet.

Set you a LinkedIn and do it on that?

It's against the ToS on both platforms to use your personal profile to advertise a business.

The problem with that is there are lots of things in the T&Cs that get ignored. The old canard about a law being observed more in the breach than the acceptance might apply ...

Ever since Facebook Zero, a few years ago now, posts naturally don't get any amplification unless you pay for it. And only in very small incidences where all of your friends engage with the post will it be seen...

In short. They're 6 or 7 years out of date, tell them to hire a social media consultant.

Oh for Pete's sake.

Instead of taking the hint he's now sent an email round saying we have to upload a photo of our business card to our Facebook accounts and tag all our friends in the photo.

I'm going to see what others say/do. Maybe I'll just delete my Facebook account.

Ok... maybe suggest you’ll do that alongside pictures of you wildly drunk, vomiting in the street, chanting racist slogans on a far right march - substitute other horrendous behaviour as you will.

Block him.

Bloody hell! He has NO right to do that!

You can't "block" your boss! Again, real world.

Daisy, that was a one-off. Why you so judge?