The Twitter “Don’t” List
Yesterday, I wrote about what you should definitely do on Twitter. As my fifth grade teacher Mrs. Thorpe said, “When you split an apple, you end up with two halves.” Thus, I should be remiss to not discuss the behaviors to avoid.
DO NOT LIST
- Do not make every tweet a sales pitch. – Avoid making every post a link to “buy now.” That is antiquated marketing think. Customers have been conditioned to tune out hucksters and pitchmen. Social networks provide an opportunity to deepen the connection.
- Write something new; don’t duplicate posts from other social networks. – When every tweet has a link to Facebook, why don’t I like your page on Facebook? There could be a lot of reasons. By simply formatting the same post for Twitter, you can gain lost interest.
- Don’t inundate your followers with brief flurries of mass activity. – One of the unrealized benefits to social channels is that anyone can read when they want want to. Lumping all your content in one timeframe limits your audience.
- It’s a give and take; don’t fail to interact. – This technology has given marketers the opportunity to have conversations with our customers in real-time. Don’t neglect that opportunity. Read what your followers are saying about you (or just what they’re saying) and weigh in. Even if you just say thank you, that’s a positive impact.
All of these guidelines can be confusing, but everything becomes more clear when put into the perspective of “social.” The interactions on Twitter are, first and foremost, about creating connection. Think less about how to sell on Twitter, and more about how to interact.
Tomorrow, I’ll let you in on some tools to help with these Do’s and Don’ts.
