Twitter Autofollow and Auto DM Etiquette
Ah, to follow or not to follow – that is the question. But to AUTO follow or not to auto follow – that is a whole other question! And to AUTO DM?! Eek.
I received this DM recently from a Twitter bud:
“Please post me a link to something that answers the etiquette of the autofollow? Plus the rationale. I do without knowing why.”
First, regards following, my policy from day one is to follow everyone back. Here are my two primary reasons why:
- Following those peeps back on Twitter who follow you says “hey, thanks for caring about what I have to say… I also care about what you have to say.”
- When both parties follow each other, you now have the ability to Direct Message (DM) – which is a private exchange between you and the other person and does not go out in the public Twitter stream.
I always like to say, “You never know when your next $100k client wants to DM you.” Granted there are other ways of reaching you – but Twitter is just SO darn efficient. And why create barriers for contact? I’ve made a LOT of lucrative deals as a direct result of having my DM feature decidedly ON! 😉
Autofollow?
Regards automatically following those folks back who follow you: I first got started on Twitter in summer of 2007 and I was merrily building my following to about 7,000 a year later. I always manually followed back and didn’t auto DM. Then my velocity cranked up and I simply couldn’t keep up with following back.
So, I now automatically follow back using @jesse‘s platform http://socialtoo.com. I enjoy the extra features Jesse has, including the anti-spam setting – where the system unfollows anyone who unfollows you within x days. (One hallmark of a spammer is to follow 2000 people then when you follow them back, they unfollow you so they can go follow more peeps!)
Auto DM?
At first, I also chose to auto-DM all peeps I followed. I experimented with a simple invitation to access my 7 Day Facebook Marketing Tips with a link to my blog. Then I nixed that as I grew weary of receiving links myself.
Next, I used a message that encouraged my followers to let me know if they had any questions about Facebook and Twitter – oops, opened the floodgates on that one and couldn’t keep up.
Then I just included a friendly message that merges in the first name field, e.g. “Greetings Roberta! It’s great to meet you in Twitterland.” But even that was starting to feel mechanical and inauthentic as I, again, received similar auto messages myself.
Not only that, it’s hard to strip out the bona fide DMs from all the auto-junk. I have my DM’s coming into my email and one of my VA’s filters them to identify important/urgent messages.
I’ve now opted out of of incoming and outgoing AUTO DMs via http://tweetlater.com and http://socialtoo.com. [However, I gotta share – check out http://tweetlater.com‘s suite of features on their paid version, including ability to send DMs to all followers.]
I’m not here to tell you what to do – it’s all a personal choice. I’m just sharing my experience!
What do you think? Do you autofollow everyone? If not, why not? Do you include an auto DM? I’d love to know what results you’ve achieved with the auto DMs – I’m willing to be persuaded otherwise on this one! lol.
Good Post Mari!
I have also gone through the same issues. I do auto delete those who unfollow me it’s only fair.
“I always say what goes around comes around, be careful!”
I really don’t understand the argument against Auto DMs. Like any communication, it can be inauthentic and abused but that doesn’t make it useless. If that were the case, we should all log off the Internet and go back to phone calls and faxes.
I believe that Auto DMs have their place. I don’t use them currently because I don’t have to. However, I recommend it to clients where it makes sense with the idea that the message changes over time and follow up is required.
Whatever you do, be yourself. Be active. Be involved.
Mari;
I auto follow and auto dm.
However, my auto dm’s are very different.
I do not promote myself or try to engage in discussion.
Instead, I provide a simple link to an article that was NOT written by me on a topic I know my audience is interested in.
Now, here’s some food for thought.
When email first came out, it was a very private thing and people hated getting auto-response messages after a form was filled out (for example opting into a newsletter).
But over time, it became a common and smart marketing practice to try and engage people.
I see Twitter a lot like someone filling out a form on my site.
I think as marketers we need to weigh the importance of engaging the follower in the same way we engage the email follower.
Those who do not, I think risk the possibility of never connecting with a follower.
Just put your marketing cap on and realize that we are using a social medium for a marketing purpose.
Auto DMs are a fact of life. They will never go away. So let’s get smart about using them and not cave just because a few vocal people say stop. Rather let’s actually give people something valuable and non-promotional.
Michael Stelzner’s last blog post.. Smart Marketing: Video Interview With David Meerman Scott
I autofollow as I subscribe to the same philosophy that you never know where your next client is coming from or how they would like to contact you. I also experimented with auto DM: first giving away a freebie (most people thanked me, a couple berated me for the giving the gift!), the moved to a welcome msg and then stopped auto DM altogether. Guess I followed the same trajectory. I’m not sure about the feature to DM everyone; could easily be abused, but I’m open to considering it.
Denise Wakeman’s last blog post.. 12seconds.tv: 8 Tips for Creating Video Tips
I don’t think auto-follow or auto-dm is a good thing. How is automating those being social?
Mari,
I was in a session on Twitter at Podcamp Toronto and this subject came up. A VERY heated discussion ensued. The consensus was people HATE automated DMs. Several people said they immediately unfollow anyone who sends an auto DM.
I wrote about it on my blog and got a lot of interesting comments from my readers too. http://cli.gs/LUGmus
I personally like the links … if they are offering something free and of value. The generic, thanks for following comments I don’t like. I know they’re not from a live person.
Mari,
Bravo!
I love that you shared your own experiences in this article in such an unbiased manner. I have had similar experiences with my non-personal Twitter account originally used to share info on activities and things to do in the DC area. Oh, the hate responses we received from providing a simple link to our site…
Twitter “purists” should take note that Twitter (nor any social platform) was meant to be used in a single way. It is the unconventional and yes, different ways (some of them cheesy) that makes Twitter such a flavorful and rich environment.
For my personal account, I have removed auto-follow so I can personally follow up in the hopes of striking up new conversations. It’s not always timely but it works for me right now. I do like your thinking about not missing out on any opportunities though.
I also have a very low-key “thank you” message for auto-DM. I jazz up the message now and then but keep it from sounding too much like a robotic response.
One last note:
If you’re new to Twitter, it’s okay to experiment. Be imaginative and different when you can. I don’t always visit Twitter homepages so I like the links. Keep ’em comin’…
Don’t limit yourself but keep in mind that you have to live in the Twitterverse with the rest of us.
I used to read auto-dms and check out the links but it became difficult to keep up because I got so many. I understand that for some (OK, for a small number), it will be the only self-promotion they do on Twitter, but I’ve still turned them off. I get too much email to make them a priority anymore.
Like you, I auto-follow for the exact same reason. I never know who knows someone who knows someone else who needs my services, even if my follower doesn’t fit the profile of a potential client. After all, Twitter IS all about networking, right?
I am grateful that you are addressing this Mari. I don’t auto DM because I find them so hollow when I receive them especially when they are self-promoting.
As for autofollow I still select people who are actually participating. Anyone with 1 promotional update following thousands I don’t boher but I can see that your strategy is much more efficient. I may try it in the future I still like to check people out to see if they are someone that I want to connect with right away about their site or something they are talking about.
Sandy McMullen’s last blog post.. Survival Games by Design: Know Yourself and Stay Alive
I used to think that an auto DM was a friendly way of reaching people who chose to follow me – until I started receiving them and had to say it did feel like a mechanical response. I don’t autofollow everyone, but I do check out everyone who follows me and I try to decide who I would be interested in following. I usually follow most people back as I think I can always stop following if I don’t enjoy their tweets – but you never know when that tweet of wisdom is going to come from someone!