Rant Alert!
If you are on Twitter and you are sending automated messages to your new followers, then this is blog post is directed to you.
Just because technology allows you to do things doesn’t mean you should do them. If you have been advised to send an automated message to everyone who has followed you, you have been given bad advice.
-
An automated “Thank You for following me” leaves me cold.
A thank you without any thought that is obviously automated is not going to make people feel all warm and fuzzy about you. In fact, it could have the opposite effect.
-
An automated “Thank you” followed by a request for me to Like your Facebook product, visit your website, read your blog annoys me.
If I am interested in you and like you and we chat on Twitter, then I will do all those things, but all I have done is click a button to follow you. We don’t have a relationship yet!
Imagine if we were at a networking meeting. What would you think about me if the first thing I said, as soon as we had shaken hands, was “Visit my website”?! Go on, try it. Ask the next person you meet at networking to Like your Facebook Page straight away and see how many fans you get.
Human nature hasn’t changed. Normal rules of engagement apply. Don’t do things online that you wouldn’t do offline.
-
An automated “Thank You” followed by a Sales Pitch will get you unfollowed from now onwards.
Following you does not make me your customer. Often the reason I follow people is because they followed me first. If I am polite enough to follow you back which is my way of saying that I am willing to start building a relationship, don’t sell at me. It is just rude!
Why don’t I just ignore Messages?
Well, every time I get a Private Message, I get an email. I haven’t switched off this notification because:
- I want to be able to have private conversations with people I like
- and I get a lot of new business this way.
When you spam me with an automated message, you are cluttering up my inbox and I might miss a message from a real customer or a person I like!
If you feel absolutely compelled to automate a thank you, please come up with something witty, charming or original. I’ll forgive you then, but I would rather you…
Send me a personal DM or not one at all.
I know I am not the only person who feels this way. What do you think about automated DM’s? Let me know in the comments below.
Nicky Kriel
Nicky Kriel is a Social Media Coach & Trainer inspiring, educating and empowering Business Owners to use Social Media more strategically. She is also the author of How to Twitter for Business Success. For more information visit http://www.nickykriel.com or to find out about her courses that she runs in Guildford visit http://www.nickykriel.com/courses
Follow Me:
Thank you for you article. I enjoy it very much. Why not like me facebook at http://www.facebook.com/steeluloid ?
Seriously though, well said, Nicky. I wish some businesses would realise how RUDE they are on social media.
Hi David
Well you have one more like on your Page and that’s because you asked me nicely and I know you. Thank you for leaving a comment.
Nicky
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it’s called Social Media not Robot Media. I thought I’d got away from the networking disease of being seen as a prospect rather than a person!
Unfortunately it appears the ‘easy’ way seduces people into doing mindless things that have no value.
Fortunately if you follow the path less travelled you will get noticed on social media. Tiger Woods was better than the 100th person in the world golfing rankings by only a few shots (3% better).
Can you put in an extra 3% of effort to become a Tiger on Twitter?
Hi Andy
I was debating whether to quote you in this blog post or not. Love the idea of the extra 3%.
Nicky x
You’re a Tiger already
I couldn’t agree with you more. I send very snarky messages back before unfollowing the sender.
I’m older and wiser these days and when I’m followed, I check the person’s time-line, if they do nothing but pitch their book (it’s mainly writers I get, obviously), then they are not followed back. My timeline is already too full with people trying to sell me stuff.
Hi Cameron or do I call you Otter?
Thank you for adding to the discussion. Nobody has come forward to defend automated DMs yet. I agree with you about Timelines being too full of people selling stuff.
Nicky
Oh yes, please call me Otter, my best people do. I keep my DMs for quick “whispers” to friends and get pretty annoyed when people abuse it. Lovely to be in your conversation.
Well said.
I included this very thing on my blog a while ago along with a few other Twitter annoyances. It occurred to me that when people do things like this, it’s because they think they’re gaming the system somehow and being really clever.
The thing is, it takes a fair amount of effort to be this annoying and much less effort to just be normal, interesting and entertaining. I find, normal, interesting and entertaining, are much more likely to get people to interact with you and visit your site.
Or maybe that’s just me
Mr Uku
It is definitely not just you.
Nicky
I love this: “it takes a fair amount of effort to be this annoying”
Thank you for saying it! At last someone calling it as it is! Well done nicky – legend as always.
Hi Helen
Glad you liked it, thank you for the lovely comment.
Nicky
Yes, yes, yes! Auto DMs = an auto unfollow for me. If I’m really super-interested in what they have to say, I might seek them out through other means (RSS, newsletter, etc.), but an auto DM is a clear indicator to me that they’re not particularly invested in connecting in a person-to-person fashion in the same way I am.
Hi Dani
I am amazed how passionately people feel about automated DMs. Thank you for contributing to the discussion. I wonder if people who send out automated DMs have any idea of the effect they are having.
Nicky
If I had to venture a guess, I’d say that they’re doing it because they read somewhere that it was a good idea, or because some guru told them to do it, and didn’t spend a lot of time thinking through how it would feel to the person on the other end. Advice is good, but should always be checked against your personal values and business model, yanno?
Nicky, I love you because you have the courage to go out and shout out the things I only mumble under my breath.
Thank you, Janet
There are a lot of people who don’t them. I am glad I am not alone. Your comment has made me smile, thank you.
Nicky
I love this rant, I could not have put it better myself! I absolutely hate those instant messages from people I’ve just decided to follow back in case they might be interesting. They probably aren’t!
Hi Shona
You are right, it is generally the people who have followed me first that I follow backy in case they are interesting that send the automated DMs. Thank you.
Nicky
I agree. I have even received some pretty original automated DM’s but even those are off-putting.
Sending a DM to me is like putting my hand on your arm to tell you something. You would only do that with someone you’ve already established a welcoming relationship with. And you certainly wouldn’t do that to say something generic.
Thanks to Janet Barclay for introducing me to you.
Clare
Clare, I’m happy to have made the introduction! Nicky and I met on LinkedIn and have been stalking each other on all the other social media sites every since.
Hi Janet
It has been fun stalking you.
Nicky
Hi Clare
It is lovely to “meet” you. I am a big fan of Janet, too. Love the idea of a DM being like putting your hand on someone’s arm to tell them something.
Nicky
And here’s the worst auto direct message I have received yet:
“Hey there, you are prob a fake/robot but just in case you are a real person, send me a tweet and say hello!”
I’m lost for words!
Hi Andy
I am intrigued. Did you respond to the DM? How weird! It is almost like having to fill in a Captcha form to follow someone.
Nicky
No I didn’t, although I was tempted to send “This is an automated message – I don’t respond to automated direct messages!”.
I suppose it is more original than most but it seems to shoot itself in the foot! ‘Pot calling the kettle black’.
How would you have responded?
Hi Andy
I think I would have come up with a few ideas, but never bother to send them. Some people are not worth the effort.
Nicky
No! I have a particular bug-bear about being addressed (usually by Americans) as “Hey there!” or “Check this out”. It’s damn rude. I pointed out to a woman recently that imperatives with no “please” would lose her friends in Britain.
Hi Otter
They don’t really bother me although I have never understood why everyone thinks “Check this out” makes their video or blog post more attractive. Thank you for commenting again.
Nicky
OK, I’m going to go against the grain here and admit that I do have a DM set up for when someone follows me; it invites followers to leave a link to their blog on my “Blogs I love” page…. when I’ve been more active on twitter I’ve got a lot of followers and it gives me a double whamy of places to find people who’ve followed me. When someone leaves their blog address I go and check their blog out and leave a comment if I can and if I ever have a spare moment I do look through the page and peruse those people’s blogs. When people are leaving their blog address maybe they look at other people’s too. I’m not always going to be on twitter when someone follows me and with over 2,000 followers people might get lost down the twitter stream, so I like having this permanent record of people who have taken the trouble to signpost me to their blog. I hope it’s not losing me followers, but who can tell! Hopefully people are largely following me for what I say, but there’s so much indiscriminate/automatic following going on that I’m sure that’s not always the case.
Fiona, I think you’re doing the exact opposite of the type of thing Nicky is describing. Instead of saying “I’m glad you’re following me on Twitter but that’s not enough; I want more” you’re saying “Thanks for following me on Twitter – here’s a chance to get some free exposure for your blog” – I think it’s a wonderful idea.
Hi Janet
What a great reply to Fiona. I agree that it is a wonderful idea.
Nicky x
Hi Fiona
I love the idea of people being able to leave links to their blog. What a wonderful creative use of an automated DM. I am just curious why I didn’t get one when I followed you? I would love to see the link to your Blogs I love page.
Nicky
Hi Nicky, No idea why you haven’t had a message…. here is the link http://www.nlpmum.com/blogs-i-love
F
I got the idea from Ana Hoffman at Traffic Generation Cafe, she’s great for tips you might not have thought of
Hi Fiona
I did manage to track it down on your website. Love the idea of having a blogs I love page.
Nicky
PS I’m not keen on the DM’s of the kind you talk about but I do think DM’s can be great for helping with list building and the like – for example if you point people to a free givaway on your site which they have to sign up for. Noone is keen on spam, but lots of people like free stuff, and if the free stuff is good then they might just buy the paid stuff too. But maybe this is all too American for the UK market. Interested in your thoughts.
I agree Nicky. I was using IFTTT to automatically thank people for a mention on twitter – a really bad idea! Taking part in any sort of chat meant my timeline filled up with ‘thanks for the mention…’. Made me look like an idiot! Reminds me of this post on LockerGnome ‘Why Automating Social Media makes You Look Like a Jerk! http://www.lockergnome.com/social/2011/12/02/why-automating-social-media-makes-you-look-like-a-jerk/
I do use an automatic reply on Twitter for a follow but it does not include any shameless self-promotion. I guess even that should go though!
Hi Colleen
Thank you for the link, I love LockerGnome! Really lovely getting feedback on a rant I did a while back, I am not a big fan of automation as you can tell. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.
Nicky
Colleen, I had a similar experience. I tend to avoid auto DMs, but I really dislike it when people flood the twitter stream with “thank you for the RT,” especially when it’s long lists of people, so I thought I’d try using IFFTT to generate an auto DM thanking the person for the RT. Of course I ran into the same situation that you did, but at least mine were private and not in my timeline!