If you’re involved in a social media effort using Twitter, you know how literate the tweet landscape is. The garbage collection problem on Twitter is mainly related to the surrounding space junk and debris from spam marketing agencies and similar automated sources of tweets.
For various reasons unknown to me, search engine optimization and search engine marketing companies believe that if you automatically generate a Twitter following, combined with an aggregate of retweets and RSS or newsfeeds, you will somehow achieve a utopia of social networks. However, that is far from the truth.
However, let’s go back to the basics of social media. By using social media, you are effectively telling a client that you will work hard in a social atmosphere. In that environment, you’re also committing to maintaining some online presence.
Also, you have to reach a target audience. For example, if you are participating in a social media effort dealing with a customer selling freshly baked bread. Obviously, you would need to engage similar chefs, bakers, and bread industries on Twitter, wouldn’t you?
However, here’s the problem with that. Aside from Twitter’s efforts to improve its users’ experience, many so-called social media campaigns employ the use of auto-following tactics. There are countless auto-follow lists out there, of say 500 or more Twitter users or ‘tweeples’ that will automatically follow you, once you’ve followed them.
What is the problem with what you say? Well, social media is about respect and real information, at least at its core. If I generate a number of followers of 50,000 users, using an automatic follow list, how many of those tweeters will participate in what is said in my tweets? The answer? A handful or none at all.
There is a real dilemma with Twitter followers. Auto-followers are paid in full when the tweeter they follow ends up unfollowing them several days after the fact. What does this? Well, it’s a sneaky social media tactic aimed at increasing the number of followers of the user who unfollowed you, while slyly reducing your following. Why does this tactic work? Using auto-tracking, of course. If you are going to employ auto-follow tactics, you are effectively setting yourself up for this defollow tactic.
Auto-follow on Twitter can be used effectively. Once you’ve built a reasonable following, auto-following can prove valuable. If you think people are interested in what you have to say on Twitter, like the bakery example above, then you can use autofollowing effectively. Think of your Twitter account, having built a reasonable following, as a well-oiled machine. Once people take notice of you, you’ll start to get a following that can relate to your industry, topic, and conversation. With auto tracking enabled, you’ll be able to follow them, quickly and easily. This is the correct way to use it.
It is obvious that you can unfollow anyone on Twitter: it is in the functionality. However, if you’ve built a real, active Twitter following, you won’t have to deal with sneaky defollow tactics. If someone unfollows your handcrafted and built follower list, chances are you know who it was and possibly why.
The fundamentals to earn respect on Twitter and actively participate are the following:
- Start by following active friends who are interested in your company.
- Reach More: Follow industry relationships and companies you know. Make sure they are actively engaged on Twitter.
- Grow your Twitter following by actively engaging, promoting, and keeping up with current trends and news in your industry.
- Stay away from employing auto-follow tactics, RSS/news feeds that link to Twitter, etc.
- Keep the information real and provide brief status updates: “We just did this…” or “Employee x thinks…”
- Never let go of your followers. Twitter is all about consistency, so keep it that way, if you can.
It is important to sustain efforts with a social media campaign. While some social media experts may think Twitter is a numbers game, it’s not. While popularity is important, at least for any sales-driven business, it must be built with an overall goal in mind. And that is providing a real source of information about your product and business. Therefore, Twitter, like other social networking sites, can be used to build a brand. With real followers listening to your tweets, you’ll be able to send a message quickly, effectively, and to a wide and interested audience. That is the goal.