Direct messages (also called “DMs”) are the most misused feature on Twitter. In particular, automated direct messages. If you’re using this feature in this way, you’re making a big mistake. You may think that you’re making connections, but really you are just making yourself look bad.
Auto-DMs are spam, plain and simple. What you’re telling everyone is that you are just there to spray stuff at them. You’re not seeking real connections. The whole point of Twitter—and any social network, for that matter—is to make connections. So why would you do something that gives off the exact opposite impression?
I’m not saying that you can’t use automation tools. You can—if you’re smart about it. But automation tools will never be a substitute for forging real connections.
I hope that Twitter will do something about this practice, because the behavior around DMs is so bad that renders the entire feature worthless. At least for me. I don’t even look at my DMs, because I expect every single message to be spam. Imagine if e-mail was that way?
Twitter is a really valuable platform to me—as a B2B business, it’s my best channel by far. We as a community can make it better, though. Just say no to auto-DMs and yes to real connections.
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This was the third segment of a brief 3-part series. To see all three, here’s the playlist: http://bit.ly/twitter-basics-playlist.
For more about content strategy—how it can help you, and how to implement it for yourself—I invite you to read this collection of articles on the topic, or you can join my mailing list.
If you find that you need specific help, contact me directly here: http://michaelboezi.com/contact.
As always, thank you for watching!
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Copyright 2015 Control Mouse Media, LLC http://www.controlmousemedia.com. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is a violation of applicable copyright laws. All views or opinions expressed in this video and its description are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the author’s employers or clients, past or present.
Music credit: System of Saints http://bit.ly/system-of-saints.