Four Ways to Piss me Off on Twitter
- Be a Business
I’m going to go ahead and say what may people probably think when a business follows them: no thanks. Businesses on twitter are stupid — a business doesn’t really have a personality and I can’t put a face on a business. Not only that, but chances are this business is not going to add much value to the tweets I read.
I’m more interested in following the director of sales for a guitar company than following the guitar company. With the director of sales I can talk about a lot of things. I don’t feel as open to do that with just the company on twitter.
Twitter (or any other social media) is about individuals. And, frankly, I don’t give a shit about your business — at least not right away. I might give a shit about you if you give me a chance.
- Don’t fill out your description.
Goes along with number one. Be a person. Write something about yourself. It’s short. I’m sure 160 more characters won’t hurt too much.
Side note: if your bio contains the words “internet marketer” or “social media guru” or any derivative of them, I won’t ever follow you back. Just wanted to be up front.
- Only post links to yourself.
It’s like going to a cocktail party and repeating, “Hi! here’s my website!” over and over.
“Hey Bill, how’s it going?”
“Hi! here’s my website!”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
- Send me an obviously automated welcome direct message.
If I get a direct message with a link to buy something, it’s an automatic unfollow. Any automated sound message just comes off an insincere and gimmicky. I already checked out your tweets and description and website when you followed me. I don’t need to be reminded.
Twitter is fun, and I really enjoy it. I enjoy interacting, and it’s very casual.
But those late adopter companies who are just getting in on it now thinking the key to converting twitter followers into true fans by pushing have it all wrong. The above four objects can be cured with one broad solution: be a real person. Real people (and leaders) don’t push ideas to people hoping they’ll bite and become fans. We live in a pull sort of world. If I want something, I can find it on my own. I can read reviews and ask friends and determine the best solution. A company that doesn’t have my trust is not going to convert me into a customer. Force-feeding me tweets about your greatness is not going to earn that trust. Being a faceless business isn’t going prompt me to buy (I have Amazon for that).
I get a certain feeling buying from companies that do something for me first. I feel like it’s the right thing to do. These aren’t companies that pushed themselves onto me. These are companies like Biotest that provide a place for fans to interact. Biotest doesn’t expect every person who’s a member to buy, they’re just happy to have members and make a high quality product. That’s why I buy protein and other supplements from them. When the folks at Elite Fitness Systems took the time to answer my questions with no motive other than helping me out, I knew it was the right company to buy from. Now I recommend Biotest and Elite to anyone looking for weight training and nutrition information. I do the job of their marketing departments; that’s a powerful thing.
Don’t push. Be generous. Give. And, above all, be real — develop relationships.
Posted on August 25, 2009 in Social Media