The Executive Suite: Black Hat Social Media

Black hat SEO is a well-known practice these days with a bundle of sneaky methods to trick search engine bots. Since algorithms in the world of search are ever-changing and dynamic, in part to weed out the scammers doing black hat tactics, it’s a hard game to win.

The same is true for black hat social media. By definition, a black hat strategy is anything that focuses on cheating the written and unwritten rules of a given system. In social media, the name of the game is engagement. Black hat tactics, then, aim to fake or purchase such appearances, and some methods go far into the realm of dishonesty. But do these tactics have any long term benefit? You’d be surprised how tricky some of these can be, and chances are, you’ve tried or at least considered trying at least one black hat social media method.

Black Hat Tactic #1: Buying Your Audience
The first one on this list is an obvious one; buying followers or fans for one of the major social media sites. When you stop and consider this tactic, it’s borderline ridiculous, and clearly doesn’t work. Social media is not about the number of followers you have; it’s the level of engagement that audience has with your content. If you buy a list full of fake profiles, those “people” will never buy, support, or even like one single product or post.

Think about it in terms of popularity. If you have to pay a bunch of folks to pretend you’re lovable and worthy of an entourage, it’s not genuine, and these folks have little to no value. The same is true if you’re buying social media popularity. There’s no value if people aren’t truly interested in what you have to say.

Worse yet, if the public becomes aware of your fake followers, it can be devastating. And finally, purchased lists are often wrought with scammers and hackers, and they can wreak havoc on your marketing efforts, pillaging the few genuine followers you may have amassed. When it comes to this black hat method, the message is clear: don’t do it.

Black Hat Tactic #2: Evil, Awful Comment Spam
Spammers who comment en masse on articles and posts are the bane of the internet. They clutter up otherwise legitimate comments with horrible, lying posts like “Oh, great content here, check out my stuff and buy something!” They pretend to care about the topics discussed, then quickly attempt to drive traffic to whatever horrendous site they represent.

I’m sure if you’re reading an article about why black hat tactics are useless, you already know this is a vile and evil practice. Please also understand that clicking these links only encourages such despicable behavior. This, therefore, is another no-brainer: content spam and those who click on their links must be stopped.

Black Hat Tactic #3: Facebook Promotions Sneakily Placed in Feeds

Here’s where things get a bit dicey. Prepare for blurred lines.

Brands are all over Facebook these days, and often are guilty of black hat methods, whether or not they are aware of the offense. Technically speaking, promotions on any Facebook page are prohibited unless submitted through Apps on Facebook, through a Canvas Page or a Page App. Facebook’s User Terms make it very clear that any other promotional attempt is not kosher. And yet it happens all the time. Is this the worst offense? No, not in the least, but it can get your brand in hot water with the social giant if you’re caught red-handed. If you choose to roll the dice, so be it; but first make sure you’re educated so you can weigh the risks.

Black Hat Tactic #4: Promotional Facebook Cover Photos
Since Facebook is the most popular place for black hat social media, #4 lands squarely here as well. This one involves profile photos, or cover photos for brands. Technically speaking, the rules state these cannot be promotional in nature; they are supposed to simply communicate your brand. Very little text is allowed – Facebook (and its users) does not want the site to look like a glorified billboard, and their rules of engagement reflect that tenfold.

You can, however, be crafty. The main thing here is to never advertise a specific sale or promotion, but you can alert users to a new feature or product – either with limited text or photographs. For example, you can post a cover photo that says “Coming on March 15th!” enticing folks to uncover what the big reveal is. You cannot post “Coming on March 15th, a 25% off everything sale!” on your cover photo – but be creative with your promotions and everybody wins.

Black Hat Tactic #5: Lies, Lies, Lies
Remember the recent story about KFC defaming a little girl mauled by a pit bull? By all accounts, that story appears to be a hoax. The family of the three-year-old dog attack victim hit social media hard with accusations that a KFC near their home asked the girl to leave because her scars disturbed their customers. After an in-depth investigation by an independent source, the Laurel Leader-Caller in Laurel, Mississippi, it was shown that the “facts” put forth by the family kept shifting and changing. Even the exact location of the KFC flip-flopped, and they finally landed on a location that had been closed for some time.

In the meantime, the family raised over $135,000, including $30k pledged by KFC when they first thought their employees may have been guilty of discrimination. Regardless, the dog attack was real, and ideally, the little girl got some much needed help. But the lies spread via social media certainly caused unimaginable damages to KFC’s brand.

The moral of the story: blatant disregard for honesty is as black hat as it gets. If this Mississippi family were a brand or company, they would be out of business by now.

Just like black hat SEO, black hat social media holds little to no long-term successes. Your best bet in both arenas is to stick to what you should know best: honestly representing the true value of your company. Social media is indeed your company’s friend; just don’t use it to try to scam your customers.

Are there any black hat social media tactics you think are worthy of the risk?