This is the second of my three guest posts in D’vorah’s Blog World Tour. In this post we’ll cover some do’s and don’ts for getting the most out of Twitter–I hope it’s helpful for you!
I am not usually a big fan of rules when it comes to social media, but I do think there are ways to make your experience using tools such as Twitter more beneficial to yourself and others. There are some common mistakes I see new users make that I want to share with you. The good news is, once you are aware of them they are really easy to avoid!
Mistake: Not using a real picture of yourself for your avatar.
When I first joined Twitter almost three years ago I was guilty of using a cartoon-type picture of me for mine. I thought it was cute and it happened to be part of the design I had on my previous blog. However, I switched to an actual photo of myself a few months later, and more than a few people commented that they were glad to see the real me.
I feel the same about others now. A picture of you is a lot more personable than a picture of your dog or a company logo. People like to see your smile!
Mistake: Automating pushy direct messages for new followers.
Many Twitter users use a service such as SocialOomph to set up automatic messages to go to anyone who begins following them. This is a bit controversial among people on Twitter. If you are automating a friendly message to just say thanks for following me, that’s one thing, but a message with a link to one of your products when we haven’t even connected yet is generally frowned upon.
Mistake: Starting to follow people without posting a couple of your updates.
It may feel like you are talking to yourself to do this, especially if you don’t have any followers yourself. But when someone comes upon your page and is deciding whether or not to follow you, they need something to go on. People are looking for some sign of life or personality.
Mistake: Not spending a good amount of time interacting.
There is nothing wrong with letting others know what you’re working on or what your plans are for the day. Just be sure to intersperse your tweets with some two-way conversation. Ask questions, re-tweet others, reply to questions, comment on others tweets, etc. This builds community and keeps things balanced and interesting.
Mistake: Mass following right out of the gate.
My ratio of followers to those I am following is pretty even, mainly because I like to follow back most of the people who follow me as long as they don’t look like spammers.
However, I find it hard to follow others who, in addition to having only a couple of updates, are following thousands of people and have only a few people following them. It feels spammy, like they don’t have much interest in having a relationship or conversation with anyone.
Mistake: Doing everything from Twitter.com instead of using a “dashboard” tool like Hootsuite.
Using a productivity tool such as Hootsuite.com gives you more functionality than what you can do from the Twitter website alone. For example, Hootsuite allows you to pre-schedule tweets to go out ahead of time, monitor keywords of your choice, manage multiple Twitter profiles, update other social networks including Facebook and LinkedIn, and more. I use Hootsuite myself and find that it makes tweeting a lot easier and more convenient.
Mistake: All promotion, all the time.
No one likes to follow someone who is constantly selling and promoting without giving anything back. Keep things balanced and respect that others do not want to be pitched all of the time. That being said…
Mistake: Not leveraging Twitter as part of your business marketing strategy.
If you are in business and using social media, you are looking at Twitter as a tool to get results in that business, not to just socialize all day. Remember that it is a great way to reinforce your brand, form strategic alliances and build credibility and trust.
————
If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to sign up for my free 5-part e-course, “Social Media Simplified for Small Business Owners” at CommunicateValue.com/subscribe.
I’d love to have you share your comments and I look forward to getting to know you better!
Success to You,
Christine
Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS
Online Marketing & Social Media Trainer & Coach for Small Business Owners
CommunicateValue.com
On Facebook: Facebook.com/ChristineGallagherFan
On Twitter: Twitter.com/ChristineG
