The danger of excessive self-promotion

Tasteful self-promotion can be good for your brand. It can even be a nice touch to add. But do you know that too much self-promotion hurts the brand?

So, where do you draw the line?

When do you know it is too much?

When you indulge in a self-promotion streak a little too much. You’re unknowingly sending a message that is rather the opposite of what you intend to send out.

What is the problem with excessive self-promotion?

1. The brag-it-all

No one likes a brag-it-all. And when it comes to gaining potential and target customers. Too much self-promotion will put people off. Because admit it, no one likes a “me, me, me” rant. After a certain point, people get tired of constantly hearing your self-praise, and it starts to give out adverse effects rather than being beneficial for your business.

2. Think of it subjectively

Let me give you an example. Let’s try putting ourselves in our target customer’s shoes.

Now suppose, I come to you, you are my potential customer. I tell you what I offer, then I tell you how good I am at handling stuff. No, I don’t stop there, I keep telling them how great I am, how good my service is, and how much I will benefit them if they choose me. In short, I keep going on and on about myself, my greatness, and everything that promotes me.

Now, what would you do? Would you not get irritated? Of course, you would, I got irritated at myself while writing this. So, imagine how a customer must be feeling when your brand indulges in too much self-promotion? That’s right, annoyed, and put off.

3. The newbie mistake

This too much self-promotion at business is mostly noticed as a rookie mistake. All the newly started businesses want results. And they want it fast. They want it all and they want it now. This is why the road they choose is that of self-promotion. But in this process, they do more harm than good.

A new business must realise that marketing is a gradual process. It’s not a destination but a journey. A journey that requires patience and perseverance.

In this journey, merely undertaking too much self-promotion will hurt the brand. Patience, perseverance, and productivity will get you there. Not self-promotions, self-promotions, and self-promotions. But that doesn’t mean this bug of too much self-promotion is only limited to small or new brands.

How to avoid excessive self-promotion?

1. Be informative, not repetitive

Too much self-promotion hurts the brand. You start seeing your followers dipping instead of increasing. Posting only about yourself all the time will put people off.

So, what can you do here? You can start being informative. Don’t just tell them about how great you are. Tell them everything about the product and services and subtle information related to it.

When you send out meaningful and informative information, your audience automatically starts forming a bond with you and connecting with you on a deeper level.

2. Stop!

Stop with the self-promoting techniques you thought would work for your brand. Once you’ve stopped, re-assess. Reassess where your marketing strategy went wrong. Then recreate a marketing plan or hire professionals who will do that for you. That way you will not only have a clear vision on how to proceed with your marketing and advertising, you will also come out of the vicious circle of self-deprecating self-promotion tactics.

3. Stay competitive

Stopping the overtly self-promoting streak doesn’t mean you shouldn’t participate or be competitive. The digital space and traditional marketing space are highly competitive these days. Everyone is at the top of their games and you should be too. Your focus should shift from “Me” to “My Customers”. You should design and execute a marketing strategy that will deliver valuable and effective content to your potential customers.

4. An Informative Adjustment

Social media marketing is one of the most important aspects of overall marketing in today’s world. And ironically enough, social media is the place where self-promotions are undertaken at an alarmingly high rate. So, what can you do instead of only talking about your products and services? You can talk about the industry you operate in. You can post information about the industry.

Like I said before, be informative, be interactive, and be responsive. Everything revolves around it these days. Your customers are existing everywhere so you never know which information you provide will be useful to them

5. Valuable content, engaged Customers

Delivering valuable, informative, relatable, and rich content to your audience will help you go a long way. Instead of focusing too much on self-promotion techniques, your brand can focus on content creation that offers an opportunity for real-time engagement with the customers.

Last line

Nothing repels potential customers like a constant self-promotion ride. Even if you are delivering a solid, class apart quality product or service, if you are constantly telling everyone how good it is, you will repel people. That doesn’t mean you can never talk about your product. You can always give out subtle shout-outs or soft glances here and there. But creating an overall brand experience for your customers should be your priority. And too much self-promotion can turn tables in a rather distasteful and opposite direction. So, decide wisely.