The Exception to the Rule
12 Jan
Another tactic of the social media guru that is lacking in authenticity: Automated DMs to all new followers.
A few days ago I tweeted the following:
Should you send an automated DM to new twitter followers?http://bit.ly/6xc8IM <<Conclusion-No, you shouldn’t.
The link directs the user to The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, a blog by Andrea J. Stenberg about marketing for the 40+ crowd. Andrea underestimated herself, as I (22 years young) enjoyed the blog thoroughly.
So Andrea J. Stenberg wrote a post entitled “Should You Send an Automated DM to New Twitter Followers?“. It’s clever and insightful, but more importantly, it affirmed that which I already believed. No. You shouldn’t. It’s annoying. Andrea has some good thoughts. Read them.
However, last night I received that monumental Exception to the Rule. I started following Steve Keating (@leadtoday), who is a “builder of People, Improving the Sales Profession, Developing the Next Generation of Leaders, Not selling a thing on Twitter, only giving back.” Imagine my surprise when I got an email telling me that Steve had sent me a DM. Of course. Typical. Time to purge my inbox for the 500th time that day. I was pleasantly surprised when the DM sent by @leadtoday contained the following message:
I appreciate you have chosen to follow me. I’ll try to make my tweets useful and I’ll promise to never try selling you a thing on Twitter.
Two possible scenarios: Steve Keating realized that I despised automated DMs and praised authenticity, and decided to send me a kind and genuine individual DM. Either that, or Steve Keating is a thoughtful and clever individual who wants nothing more than to help others and get his ideas out into the world. So kudos to you, Steve Keating of @leadtoday, for proving me wrong.
As it turns out, it is possible to be authentic but still take advantage of all of the wonderful tools twitter clients have to offer.
Everyone should take note.
Third possible scenario: Steve Keating is a diabolical mastermind who found a way to win the hearts of his followers and convince them that he has a good heart and an even better message. Soon enough, he will exploit this trust he has created and brainwash us all via Twitter. OR, he will exploit the trust and sell us all on the newest FDA-approved method to lose 25 pounds in 6 hours, GUARANTEED!
Either way, that Steve Keating is a smart guy.
Tags: authenticity, Exception to the rule, social media, Steve Keating, Twitter, twitter followers, web marketing
I think too many folks are trying to make a living as a social media guru. There are so many people out there trying to “be authentic”, but how many
of them are trying to produce something or perform a service?
In response to your idea about there being an exception to the rule of whether or not it is acceptable to send automatic DMs, I think that is a personal thing. How, if you don’t know someone, can you know if they will resent you pushing something your way? Apparently you don’t mind receiving automated DMs from @leadtoday. If I was following him, I would mind. And, I’d probably unfollow him immediately upon receiving said automated DM.
I think more important than “being authentic” is simply being human. Let other people figure out if what you’ve got to say is interesting rather than trying to jam it down their throat. I personally think push marketing is the stupidest idea ever conceived. It pretty well assumes that your audience are a bunch of idiots who are easily persuaded and are incapable of making decisions for themselves.
I like Twitter because it allows people who don’t have the skills to set up their own blog, don’t like Facebook, etc. to get their ideas out to the world. Those ideas then become searchable for 3-4 months (however long Twitter keeps posts around these days). If someone wants to find someone with similar ideas or maybe a new way of looking at a shared problem, they are able to.
As a social media user, you should allow other people to pull from you, let them decide to view your content. Don’t try to ram your content down their necks.
Toyota figured out a long time ago that “pull” was a better manufacturing paradigm than “push”. I think people will soon see that the same applies to content.
Use automation to pull, not to push. Do automated keyword searches against Twitter to find potential clients. Don’t bother people who have no interest in your product or service. Instead find people who are looking for products or services similar to yours.
Is it better to answer a previously unanswered question or to offer your thoughts on a topic that has already been discussed to death? The world only needs so many people like @chrisbrogan. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure he offers some pretty solid advice on how to approach social media in Trust Agents. You might also do well to read World Wide Rave by @dmscott. Businesses deliver value in part by being different, not the same, as other businesses.
I fully believe in products and services that sell themselves. If you’ve been hired to push something, it is probably because it is crap, or because ten other companies are making exactly the same thing as the thing you are pushing.
Find your niche. Establish yourself as an expert. Post once or twice a day to let people know you are still alive. Then dedicate the rest of your time to answer incoming queries. Work on being responsive and not “pushy”. Do this and you’ll find the authenticity question takes care of itself.
On a related note, here’s a post about how to avoid auto DMs. I confess; I haven’t tried it myself, but it sounds intriguing: http://www.twitip.com/opt-out-of-auto-dms-using-social-oomph.