Follow, Unfollow, Follow, Please Follow – Annoying Twitter Habits Part 1
I wanted to take a quick break from the post I was writing on email marketing to come back to Twitter for a couple of minutes, and talk about one of the annoying habits it can cultivate in some “marketers”.
With the number of people I follow and those following me growing substantially in the past month, one of the things I have encountered (and I understand is not uncommon particularly when using it as a business tool), is the culture of people who will follow you, and then unfollow you if you don’t reciprocate within a time frame, only to follow you again a few days later in the hope that you will then follow them. It’s the web’s equivalent of the kid at school who is desperate to be your friend.
One user, with the moniker internetmarketer, has done just that to me, a total of 14 times, 4 of which have been this evening (in the last 4 hours to be exact). Each time the username changes to some online marketing buzzword, but the actual name remains constant and when you click on the name it is the same content they are trying to promote, in this case, the “Twitter Trick”.
So why won’t I follow them? Well, for one reason, they don’t provide me with a compelling bio (or any bio for that matter). Depending on if you are after a mass audience or a targeted audience on Twitter, the importance of a bio differs. For me, when I get a new follower, I will check out their profile to gauge interests, and if they are playing in the same field that either myself one of my clients does, I will follow them. If they’re not, then it will be a matter of whether their tweets will be of interest to me on a personal level. If not, then no follow. Similarly, if they don’t have a bio at all, in the case of internetmarketer, then I won’t follow them. I recommend this as a business owner, as it helps identify potential customers. As I said, your goals should determine whether you want to follow someone or not. If you like the opportunity to talk to a mass audience, then follow everyone. If you want to target your message, follow those who fit your audience. To attract this audience, make sure your bio is compelling. Be clear about what your business is within the 160 characters allowed.
Bio aside, from the fact that they are all using the same name and have tweets numbered in the single digits all about the same thing, it is obvious that the approach they are taking is bad and if this is what they are selling, then I want no part of it.
As an online business owner, I can tell you that nothing will drive your customers away more that trying to sell them something they don’t want. Tweeting the same content and links again is a good way of continuing to market your product, but trying to sell the same thing under different names will create distrust and alienation amongst your potential customers.
If people like what you’re selling, then they will keep coming back. It’s a matter of providing them with a compelling offering, be it content or product, and this should be your primary focus as an online business owner. Not remarketing the same thing until someone bites.
I have called this Annoying Twitter Habits Part 1, as there are a number of practices used on Twitter that can be detrimental to your business if you buy into them, which I will be highlighting in future posts.
Related posts:
- Automated DM – Annoying Twitter Habits Part 2
- 27 People You Should Follow On Twitter
- Twitter as a Customer Service Tool
- Who Are You On Twitter?
- Is Social Media Just Marketing to Your Competitors?
Tags: Best Practice, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter
Posted on April 18th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Many of these are automated (bots if you like) which is why the behaviour doesn’t match normal tweeple behaviours. The reasoning behind “follow, unfollow, follow” is that if you decide not to reciprocate a follower, their entry in your follower list drops behind new followers and it’s unlikely that you will go back to them and follow. It is a logical attempt to manipulate twitter by playing a numbers game – the “get 2000 followers in a week” classic spam line.
Posted on May 5th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
hear hear! I can’t understand how these “success marketers” think they can win customers by slamming them over the head with the same PUSH PUSH PUSH message. Helloooooo – try some relationship marketing PLEASE! I’m the type of girl who likes to hold hands before being given the big sell, and I think 99% of consumers are the same.