Posted by Melissa
Here is my list of #twitterdonts for the month of October, dealing with unnecessary self-promotion. I don't consider myself an expert on this topic by any means, but I have made some observations in the "twitterverse" and would like to offer some helpful suggestions to make your tweets more effective:
- “Now following…” tweets
o Most users get notifications that you start following them or if they don’t, they can see their follower number increased and check them. The only reason you are tweeting these now following tweets is to highlight yourself. If you wanted to highlight the person you are following, then do a Follow Friday shoutout, or do another shout out of why people should follow that user. The Now Following tweets are just a way to highlight yourself and take up space in the universe, because unless there is a good reason to follow them, no one cares that you just started following that person.
- Asking people to follow you or follow you “back” (without intent for a DM)
o If a person looks at your timeline and wants to follow you, they will. Asking them is just almost rude. That’s almost the equivalent of saying you should like us, just because we like you. They will follow you if they find quality or information from your tweets that is pertinent to them or they want to see what your or your brand is about. Tweet quality, engaging tweets and your audience will find and choose to follow you.
- Self promotion tweets to the media
o I believe that if the story is worth covering, with all the technology that is out there, the news station/paper/etc will find you. No need to tweet at all the newscasts to come cover your event. There are better ways of submitting your idea. Tweet about it and if seemed news worthy, the media will find you!! This has happened to me three times. I tweeted about something and guess what? The media thought it was relevant and did a story on it, without me tweeting at them to please come cover my event. In fact, not once did I ever mention that I wanted these stories/events covered, I just simply tweeted about them. Also, if I was a media outlet and you tweeted at me along with all my competitors, I would think that your story isn’t that newsworthy that you have to actively seek all kinds of attention for it, instead of it finding you.
- Asking people to RT you, if it’s not a matter of urgent public concern or emergency
o If the tweet is relevant, people will retweet you themselves without you having to ask. When asking to be retweeted, ask with intent in getting a message out, not promoting yourself. And, if they do retweet you, thank them!
