Twitter Tips: How Not to Have a 'Follower Fail'

You want to use Twitter to gain a wealth of followers and have a huge presence in social media, right?  So you probably do a Google Search for tips on "how to get more followers on Twitter" and you get a plethora of articles offering everything from strategies to directories to links for paid services.  But one thing lacking from that search will be lists of reasons Twitter's 'power users' will or will not return a follower's follow.  Thus, I give you "My Top 10 Reasons Why I Will Not Return Your Follow on Twitter":

1. You are following over 1000 users, have less than 50 followers, and zero updates

You either new to Twitter and pathetically attempting to gain as many followers as possible, or you are using an app that automatically follows and unfollows people.  Either way, you are not worth my time.

2. You have no user avatar

If we are going to built a Twitter relationship, I want to see you, your brand, or something that tells me more about you.  If you cannot take the time to upload an image, I am not going to take the time to follow you.

3. You have no location, website, or bio listed

These fields take a matter of seconds to populate, so take those few second to put something worthwhile.  These fields give Twitter users a snapshot of who you are and what you have to offer and if they are blank, you seem lazy and present yourself as someone without a thing to offer me or any other Twitter user.

4. Your updates are only pushing your own service or product

Unless your product really is as amazing as you are purporting, no Twitter user is going to begin or continue following you if all you are offering is how great of an offer you have for us.

5. Your listed 'website' is a MySpace profile

It does not take much effort to establish a web presence that comes across as thoughtful, genuine, and appears to create an online community that is based on the content it has to offer.  MySpace at this point is only used by teenagers and musicians.  Unless you are one of these, get with the program and build yourself a more mature and sincere web presence.  Come on, the least you could do is make a Facebook page, right?

6. Your following me and my return follow result in a DM that has any variation of "Thx for the follow! How can I help you [fill in the blank]?"

If you are going to use a Twitter app that sends out an automatic direct message to new followers, at least take the time to craft something engaging or witty.  Go beyond the 'click my crap' direct message.  Otherwise, you are insulting my intelligence because I able to read all about how you can help me [fill in the blank] by consulting your stream, bio, and website.

7. Your profile includes reference to yourself as "expert"

If you are an expert, I will be able to tell from your tweets.  If you claim to be one and have an app automatically posting for you or only have a couple relevant or insightful tweets, you lose all credibility and instantly become someone I do not care to follow.

8. Your Twitter stream contains any belligerent arguing

Intelligent debate, fine.  Unintelligible ranting or a lack of respect for the opinions of others is a turn off for most users.  It's pretty simple, unless someone agrees with you wholeheartedly (which almost never happens, no matter what your opinion), no one is going to want to follow you and read your rants.

9. Your updates make any reference to a "need to achieve more followers"

This is not a popularity contest.  If your tweets are worthwhile, you will gain followers.  If you have to beg for followers, you don't deserve any.

10. You do not actively engage your Twitter followers

If you are not taking the time to engage or interact with the users that have chosen to follow you, there is no reason for me to follow you.  You clearly have nothing to offer the Twitterverse.

Just remember, we all make mistakes from time to time, especially if we are new to something.  That being said, most everyone is guilty of a follower fail at some point or another, just make sure they are kept to a minimum...a tiny, insignificant minimum.

Could Facebook make America smarter?

From the Knight Foundation:

New University of Minnesota study finds social media engages young people in content better than traditional sites

In an era in which 85 percent of American college students actively update Facebook profiles but more than one-third report paying no attention to current events on a daily basis, it’s natural that social networking sites could help educate young people on today’s most pressing issues. A new study from a University of Minnesota researcher found that a Facebook application focusing on social issues facilitated self-expression and critical conversation more than traditional news Web sites, suggesting new strategies for engaging young people in critical content.

"One key to engagement is finding young people where they already read, write and exchange views -- and piggy-backing on their existing routines," said Christine Greenhow, the U of M researcher behind the project. "Facebook is a place teenagers and young people already choose to frequent, are comfortable and willing to share opinions and eager to contribute to a discussion, which makes it a potentially ideal place to locate applications that create enthusiasm around education."

Greenhow, a research fellow at the U of M's Institute for Advanced Study surveyed, interviewed and observed 346 young people (ages 16-25) as they participated in a newly designed Facebook application called “Hot Dish.” The application, targeting environmental science issues and climate change, challenged members to engage with the issues by posting, sharing and discussing articles online, inviting peers to join and reaching out to take action in their own communities, in exchange for points redeemable for prizes.

Greenhow’s study found that users associated Facebook with a community, not simply a place to post thoughts. Hot Dish successfully facilitated substantive discussion that can be difficult to generate face-to-face, Greenhow said, while at the same time stimulating activism in the local community.

Nearly three-quarters (71 percent) of the group surveyed said they used the Hot Dish site to interact with like-minded people, compared to about a third who said they seek that interaction on a general news site. Users saw Hot Dish as more receptive to their views and contributions than they did other more general Web sites. Site statistics showed that the majority of articles on the site were actually read and users contributed more than two-thirds of the content. Users’ interest in the focal topic also increased.

Greenhow partnered with NewsCloud’s Jeff Reifman, developer of the Facebook application, on  a $249,529 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to study how young people engaged in a content-rich and topic-focused site designed within Facebook. Greenhow and her team studied young people’s engagement in the application by looking at their interest and knowledge development, community formation, online reading and writing practices and civic engagement/real-world impact.

"This experiment shows that you can inform and engage young people in the digital age by going where they are and offering the tools they use," said Gary Kebbel, Knight Foundation journalism program director.

According to a January 2009 Pew study, 65 percent of online teenagers have a social networking site. Meanwhile, another Pew study has shown that the proportion of young people getting no news on a typical day has increased from 25 to 34 percent since 1998.

"These findings present an interesting opportunity for educators and others who care about promoting the literacy and public engagement of youth today," said Greenhow. “We need to inform, educate and mobilize an engaged citizenry not only for the future of news industries but also for full participation in a 21st century democracy.”

Learn more about the research at http://newscloud.com/research 

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

Media Contact:

Ryan Maus, University of Minnesota News Service, (612) 624-1690, maus@umn.edu

Using Social Media as a Tool, Not a Distraction

There has been some debate as to the productive aspects of social media in the workplace.  Some see a periodic tweet or Facebook wall post between filing, coding, or other tasks as a much needed break and stress relief while others see it as a distraction.

The truth is, social media is a tool and just like any other tool, it can have a great impact in the right situations, but it can also be a harmful time sink.  Thus, the goal should be to utilize social media as a powerful tool, so here are some tips on how to most effectively employ social media for your business:


Make a Plan, Set Goal, and See Your Goals Through to Execution

More often than not, businesses set up social media campaigns without a solid plan in place.  It seems to be the expectation that tweeting and uploading videos to YouTube will automatically generate more traffic to a company's website and translate into more sales.  I am here to say that this is not the way that social media works!

To effectively harness the power of social media for your brand, you need an plan.  This plans needs to come from an understanding of your company's needs.  Are you attempting to generate more traffic to your website?  Do you want to prevent bad press?  Are you looking to create a community that will result in good press?  Do you want to generate more brand awareness?  Define your goals before you begin your social media endeavors.

Once you have established a goal and developed a plan of attack (using the same strategies you would to establish any other business objective), the next steps are defining success and deciding how success will be measured.  You will want to measure the ROI of your campaigns, which you can do with tools like bit.ly, Facebook Page's analytics, or Google analytics.

Finally, execute your plan.  Keep in mind that most companies don't get it right on their first try and realize that mistakes are a part of the process.  If you try something that isn't working out, change your approach and be sure to remain transparent to your customers about mistakes and mishaps you make in social media.  They will forgive you, I promise (as long as you don't do something appalling or unethical).


Prevent Social Media from Becoming a Distraction

To avoid social media as a distraction for your company, follow these guidelines:

• Be sure to have a clearly defined social media policy so employees are not left wondering what is acceptable online behavior and what is not.
• Give employees challenging and engaging work so they are not bored, and therefore not temped to turn to social media (as we so often do when we're bored).
• When concentration is required for a task (like filing or coding), close social media tabs (and even e-mail!) and you will be amazing how much more productive you can be!
• Also, be sure to prioritize your business needs.  At times, social media outreach may need to be put on the back burner for more urgent needs.

How to Use Social Media to Find Black Friday Deals

Think you have to wait until Thanksgiving to look in your newspaper for Black Friday ads? Think again! Social media can be a great resource for finding the best deals out there! Already, many blogs are posting advertised deals, and many are sharing sales on Facebook, Twitter, and image posting services like Whrrl and Flikr.

If you are looking to get an early start on your Black Friday itinerary, check out Black Friday 2009 and BlackFriday.info for the latest postings of sales from almost every store imaginable. Be sure to search the hashtag #BlackFriday on twitter for the most up-to-date tweets. Also, if you are really serious about your shopping experience, subscribe to My Black Friday Deals to have the latest deals delivered to your inbox.

And remember, sales projections are down for this holiday shopping season, so we are in store for some deep discounts from retailers! Happy shopping!

twitter as a Marketing Platform

For a downloadable version of this document click here.

A Bit About the Features of twitter

Effective Tweets

• A post on twitter is a tweet, and each can only be a maximum of 140 characters (so utilize tinyurl)
  
• Only tweet about things users would be interested in
• Anything having to do with celebrities or pop culture
• Links to great websites/blogs
• Funny/interesting things and ideas
• Contests and giveaways
• twitter also has a service called twitpic that allows users to post pictures (which everyone likes)
  
• Every tweet shows up in your followers' timelines, so you should avoid posting too often because users get annoyed and will stop following you
  

Retweeting

• Retweeting is simply reposting someone's post and placing RT and typically an @reply before the post.
• The most effective way to use this is to say: 'Retweet this for a chance to win ____' or 'The 250th person to RT this will get ____'
• Also, tell followers to RT something that is either newsworthy, juicy gossip, or exciting. Their RTs will show up on their followers' timelines, giving your twitter account greater exposure
• If retweeting, be sure to cite the source (RT @source) or your account may be suspended
• RTing can build your brand and
  follower’s loyalty. If you point a reader to an external source that is
  truly relevant and beneficial to them, the amount of trust that
  individual has in you will increase. The next time you post a link,
  whether it be to your blog or to another source, the chances of that
  individual clicking that link are higher than before.

#Hashtags

• Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional
  context and metadata to your tweets. You create a hashtag simply by prefixing a
  word with a hash symbol: #hashtag
  
• Used sparingly and respectfully, hashtags can provide useful context and cues for recall, as well as
  increased utility for the track feature.
• Used excessively can cause
  annoyance, confusion or frustration, and may lead people to stop
  following you.
• It's best to use hashtags explicitly when they're going
  to add value, rather than on every word in an update

@replies

• @replies consist of the @ symbol followed by a username and serves as a sort of chat feature within twitter
• The reply shows up on the user's timeline as well as the timeline of anyone following both you and the other user (this is only if the @reply precedes the post)
  
• If the @reply is within the body of the post, it will appear on the timeline of all of your followers as well as serving as a reply to the other user (the RT @reply is an example of this)
• It is very useful to respond to @replies of your followers, and many companies (such as JetBlue) use @replies to answer any questions their customers may have
• It may also be effective to @reply to posts by people you are following because they will see these (whether they follow you or not) and are more likely to follow you as a result

Follow People and Autofollow

• The whole idea behind twitter is to follow people and be followed...the more people you can get to follow you, the greater the impact of your tweets
• When you begin following a user, they are notified via e-mail that you are following them and are given the option to follow you
  
• There are ways to search twitter for people interested in your product
• There also exist many applications that automatically and randomly follow users, which greatly increases your exposure (autofollow gets your name out to those it randomly follows and increases the amount of people that will choose to follow you)

Again, if you wish to view a downloadable version of this document click here.

10 Ways in Which Social Media Marketing Dominates Traditional Advertising

In recent years, more and more businesses are turning to social media to market their products and services. This recent trend is due in large part to these 10 reasons:

1. Speed

Posting on a social networking site, a blog, or sending out an e-mail is instant. Social media campaigns can be fast, targeted, and cost-efficient whereas traditional print marketing may take months to see results.

2. Continuous Marketing Information

Online data collection is constant. There are many services available that track online campaigns.

3. Unlimited Lifespan of Ads

Online ads can remain online forever, while print ads are only temporary.

4. Ease of Customer Support

Online customer support is quicker and more efficient than traditional methods (i.e. telephone, manuals, or mail).

5. Geography is No Longer Restrictive

Anyone anywhere can be reached via an online marketing campaign. Traditional marketing is limited to specific geographic regions.

6. Instant Sales

When a business is marketing itself online, it can sell a product in a matter of seconds. Offline advertising requires salespeople with a knowledge of the product and that require paychecks.

7. Available 24/7

A website is up around the clock, but most businesses cannot afford to keep their doors open 24/7 and they cannot sell products when they are closed.

8. Cost Efficiency (Cost of Media)

Online marketing campaigns are typically much cheaper than traditional forms of advertising.

9. Cost Per Customer

Since online marketing campaigns are cheaper, it costs less to gain a customer online than offline, where employees are required to translate ads into sales.

10. Marketing Effects

Online, a customer finds a business while searching for a particular item. Offline, businesses must introduce themselves to each customer that comes into their location.

Social media marketing campaigns can save money, time, and effort, yet bring necessary results and often exceed expectations.

A Bit About Myself

I am a 4th year student at the University of Virginia and will be graduating in May 2010 with a bachelors of arts degree. I'm double majoring in Foreign Affairs and African & African American Studies and minoring in Leadership.

As for social media experience, I am a freelance Social Media Marketing Account Executive for Drum Marketing and have recently decided to become a Social Media Marketing Consultant for anyone and everyone that may find my services useful.

I also have experience in public relations, online advertising, SEO, and guerilla marketing.

Anything else you would like to know about me?

And It Begins...

I had this crazy thought recently that I should start a blog! I don't really know where I will find the time to do this, but it's worth a shot...

I mean, I know a few things about social media and I figured, why not share it?

Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments section or connect with me (see the sidebar) and I will do my best to answer you either in the blog or personally!

Get excited about this! I know I am!