PDA

View Full Version : Put Twitter on Autopilot and Gain Targeted Followers



Harold Mansfield
07-25-2009, 06:21 PM
Working with Twitter is very time consuming. Here are a few [free] things that I have learned that helps to make the process a little easier and helps to grab targeted followers in the process.

*Once you have your account created, the first thing you should do is head over to Tweet Later (http://www.tweetlater.com/) and set up your account there.

It will help you set up an auto response to new followers, follow back people who follow you, and auto unfollow people who drop you. It does other things, but for now these are the most important.
Tip: Sending self serving links are a big no-no, and are basically spamming. A simple "thanks for the follow, look forward to discussing (niche)" or a little something about your interests will do nicely.
Some Affiliate Marketers will tell you that putting an affiliate link in your auto response is the way to go, but at this point is is so old and saturated that it turns people off.
Tweet Later will also send you daily emails, so that you can see who is talking about your niche.

*Next, head on over to Twollo (http://www.twollo.com/). Twollo will let you automatically follow people (from 10-500 at a time) who are disusing your keyword or phrase. You can set up multiple Keywords, and also auto unfollow people that drop you. It takes some time for it to get going, but it works pretty well, although I have never followed more than 10-20 people at a time..which is good anyways.
Sure, you could set it up to follow anyone that Tweets the word "the", but that won't do you any good in your marketing efforts. The name of the game is not how many people you can get to follow you, it's how many people can you get to follow you that may be interested in what you have.

*Next. Get on over to TweetFeed (http://twitterfeed.com/). Tweetfeed will let you set up auto Tweets using RSS. You can set time in between tweets like every 5 minutes , or once a day.
This is good for Tweeting relevant news and information of your niche and keep the information going.


Tip: Don't just grab a general feed, make it related to your niche. You can use Yahoo, Google to set feeds up based on keywords, or your own sources. No need to use your own blog, because you will be sprinkling in Tweets from there every now and then anyway and they won't look so obvious.

If you have a Google account (free just get a gmail address) you can set Google alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en) based on keywords. For instance if your Twitter account is based on your blog about the New York Yankees, you can use that as your keyword to alert you of all headlines that have "New York Yankees", or "Yankees" in the headline.

If you want to use multiple feeds from different sources, you can set that up as well, just make sure to set the frequency correctly so that you are not spamming Twitter every minute with 20 headlines. If you are not going to physically be on Twitter everyday, I don't recommend more than a few auto tweets a day.

You may have to open a Bitly (http://bit.ly/)account as well to use Tweet Feed. It's a URl shortener that also offers you some statistical information on your click throughs.


Tip: Don't feed over saturated niches (like internet marketing or the New York Yankees). Try and stay as original, or (subniche) as possible. Try and find original feeds, unless you have an original niche like "Coin Collecting" or "Model Trains".
If you are in an over saturated niche, try using a personal interest, and still have a professional Profile Bio, and Background for your Twitter page. Nothing wrong with being a web designer by day, who tweets about the San Jose Sharks, or the college you graduated from.

Now, you can only follow so many people before you reach the follow threshold (I think it's 2k and then you can only follow 200 more than are following you).
A good number of people will return the follow, but many won't. After a week or so from the time you follow them, if people aren't following you back they aren't going to ..so, you can mass unfollow people using Twitter Karma (http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/). It will show you who you are following, but not following you back and you can whack them all at once to open up more follow room.

Keep in mind that you may not want to whack everyone. If you are following the official NY Yankees account, odds are they don't follow everyone back, you still may want to keep them as a follower.

I usually look at the most inactive people, like haven't tweeted in over a month, and whack them first, and then cherry pick who I want to keep after that.
Be careful not whack people who are following you.

These are some basics, but they are still not exactly the holy grail.

I highly suggest a custom background, even if you do it yourself using a photo editor like Photoshop or Gimp. People are more apt to follow you if you look like you will be around and that you have a particular interest, not just trying to get a bunch of followers.


Big Tip : I decent profile photo of yourself with a big cheesy grin or friendly expression is far more effective that a logo or avatar. It's a social network and people like seeing who they are talking to. (I need to do that myself this weekend).

You will still need to participate and have personal interaction with people to get the full effect, but you don't need to be stuck online all day twittering to keep fresh info flowing from your profile.
Pick a good time of the day or week and spend a little time on it.

Remember that you can use your Twitter feed on your webpage, or to update your Facebook account too.

Tools like Tweet Deck (http://tweetdeck.com/beta/), and Hoot Suite (http://old.hootsuite.com/signup) are a lot more user friendly than Twitter and you can monitor multiple accounts at once to respond to any DM's, @ replies, or any Tweets that you want to chime in on (this is where multiple monitors comes in handy).

Just remember that Twitter is full of spam. Everybody is selling something. If you start out like you are just there to get people to visit your website or sell something, people will ignore you.

If you are adding valuable, informative, or entertaining conversation to the community, people will visit your profile (which is where your website link is), and check out your occasional link that you tweet. You don't need to try that hard to be engaging, or witty. Just be natural.

Remember that Twitter is just like the rest of the internet, people are on more at certain times, than others (after work, after school, etc) . Remember also that there are traffic surges on the web coinciding with all time zones...and twitter times out a lot, so better to use one of the tools like Tweet Deck.

You can use Twitter to your advantage but you have to think of it as a long term community that you will be a part of, not a quick fix for quick traffic. It will not work like that anymore...to much spam.

Some things that I do with my Twitter accounts :
On my music account I frequently give away CD's and Music downloads.

On my Politics account (which is new), I try to get on during the news cycles, Press Conferences, or breaking political news. I also follow all the conservative groups and individuals so that I can have someone to argue with.

On my Sports account. I always tweet a little after a game (it helps to actually watch the game, or have access to the quick run down and stats). I also plan on hosting a Tweet up ( a get together of twitter folk) this football season and Tweeting from the bar during the games.

You can do anything you want with it, but the main thing to remember is, you have to participate to get any credibility with your followers.

vangogh
07-26-2009, 11:08 AM
Nice roundup. Twitter definitely becomes more useful as you take advantage of 3rd party tools. If all you do is visit the Twitter website you aren't going to get much out of the site.

One thing I'd say is to be careful with the auto direct messages. In theory it sounds great to send a quick thanks for following, but it's becoming (or already is) so overused to the point it's being abused. I can tell you that anyone who sends me a link in an auto direct is immediately unfollowed. Even without the link the auto direct lets me know you aren't really interested in following me or having any kind of meaningful conversation. I may not unfollow you, but I probably won't be listening to you either.

I have several Twitter clients installed. At the moment I'm using one called Nambu since it's a native Mac application and the design fits well. As with TweetDeck it allows me to set up groups. Unless I take the extra step of placing you in a group it's unlikely I'm going to see your tweets. I rarely check the default home page of my followers. If you happen to send me an auto direct you may not get unfollowed, but you probably aren't getting into one of the groups I've set up.

I'm not suggesting you can't use auto directs, but you might want to be careful with them. They'll likely work better on others. I'm aware that they're automatically coming to me, but my guess is many won't know that.

One other thing to add is that with apps like TweetDeck you can monitor different words and phrases. Instead of or in addition to the Google Alerts you can set up a custom search within the app and see what people in the Titterverse are saying about a particular subject.

I have several searches set up and you can learn a lot by listening to what people are saying or even just noticing which words and phrases they use more.

3rd party tools make Twitter so much more valuable and if you aren't using any, you're probably missing a big part of why so many people find the service useful. At the very least get yourself a Twitter desktop client that allows you to set up groups and custom searches.

Harold Mansfield
07-26-2009, 04:50 PM
I see your point on auto responses. I only suggest using the to say "thanks for following", especially since it is unlikely that you will know every time that you pick up a new follower, and you can get a repose to them while they are still on Twitter, instead of seeing it hours or days later, and then sending a response.

Also, after a few hundred followers, you kind of end up sending the same message to new followers anyway. Very few times do I send a different "Thank you" that is specific for each individual new follower. If I see that it is a record label, or some kind of industry person, I will follow up with my contact information and invite them to submit their promotional material, bios, and press for publishing on my blog.

I do wholeheartedly agree that sending a "thank you" with a self serving link is a bad move. As it is now, anyone that sends me anything that remotely resembles "learn how you can get more followers..." is unfollowed and blocked.

vangogh
07-27-2009, 12:41 PM
The thanks for following don't bother me so much, but they can still get annoying over time. I would prefer they be replies instead of directs. Directs to me are meant more for a private conversation with friends. Granted when you follow someone the system thinks your friends, but we know Twitter has grown to the point where following someone doesn't make them your friend.

The automated directs feel like an intrusion on a personal space. Plus I know people aren't sending me a real thank you. It's an automated system and the person probably doesn't even know I'm following them. It's kind of how every retail person will tell you to have a nice day or how every company you call says they appreciate you as a customer. They all ring hollow after awhile.

I doubt most people on Twitter will feel the same way as I do though. Most probably don't even realize the messages are automated.

KristineS
07-27-2009, 01:27 PM
I have to say I'm with you on the automated "Thanks for following" messages. I don't get any sense, in most cases, that the people who sent the message are really thankful that I'm following them, or even aware of it.

I'm not a huge fan of anything automated on Twitter. That's just me, and I know that a lot of these tools can be useful, but I like to feel like there is something personal about who I follow on Twitter and who follows me. I'm probably deluding myself about that a bit, but I still cling to my illusions.

vangogh
07-27-2009, 02:26 PM
I think in the beginning the automated thank yous were ok. I understand what the idea was. The problem is they've become so abused that at this point even if you are meaning well I'm going to lump you in with all the spammers who are sending auto directs. Right or wrong, the tactic has a bad reputation with me and if you use it then some of that bad reputation will get transferred to you.

Some automation is ok. I think the idea of scheduling tweets is fine. A simple example might be you want to ask a question to people in a different time zone. They'd likely be asleep if you post when you normally do and so miss your tweet. If you automate it to tweet when they're awake and you're not you'll get a better response.

In general though, automation seems to go against the main idea of social networking. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not looking to build a relationship with software. The only way you're ever going to reach me is to be a real person.

KristineS
07-27-2009, 05:12 PM
In general though, automation seems to go against the main idea of social networking. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm not looking to build a relationship with software. The only way you're ever going to reach me is to be a real person.

That's how I feel too. I think when you automate to take maximum advantage of everything, then you lose the personal feeling and it becomes about business and how many people you can reach, how many eyes you can grab and so on. I think the minute you start making people feel like commodities rather than people, then your credibility is shot.

vangogh
07-28-2009, 01:17 AM
I agree, though for many it does seem to work well. You and I might see the impersonality of the automated stuff, but many people don't. I also think it depends on the specifics of who's sending out the automated response and what they're saying. If it's someone who you really want to know what they're saying you'll be fine with their automated tweets. If it's someone you don't know or are just getting to know you'll see the auto tweets differently.

KristineS
07-28-2009, 02:49 PM
Yeah, there is some truth to that. I guess, for me anyway, it's about who is there to make connections and share information and knowledge and who is there because they think being there is the way to get customers and make money. It's usually pretty obvious which people are in which group, and I tend to be much less interested in the latter group.

Harold Mansfield
07-28-2009, 07:16 PM
Some automation is ok. I think the idea of scheduling tweets is fine. A simple example might be you want to ask a question to people in a different time zone. They'd likely be asleep if you post when you normally do and so miss your tweet. If you automate it to tweet when they're awake and you're not you'll get a better response.
.

Well considering all the different time zones, for me, an auto thank you is the only way that I will get a "thank you" out in a timely fashion.
So while it may not work for everyone, nor be how you are looking to gain relationships with Twitter, but it has certainly cut down on the amount of time that I spend on Twitter doing things other than "Twittering".

Not only that...but, I spent my fist month on Twitter checking out every new follower and sending hand typed messages, and found that after a while, I was just sending everyone the same message.

Since that part of it is already taken care of, when I log in, I can get right to why I am there.

I did stress that you cannot automate Twitter and gain any positive results from it, you have to be a real live personal participant with those you follow, and those that are following you, but less time spent on the mundane tasks, is more time communicating.

I should have mentioned that I don't think that this is for everyone, especially if you only have one Twitter account.

It works for me because I have multiple accounts with differing personalities and niches and there is just not enough time in the day (if you have a lot of irons in the fire) to update multiple websites and blogs, answer emails, and keep all of your social networking profiles updated (Twtter, Facebook, My Space) everyday without some automation.
I couldn't stop working to reply to every new follower and I only have so much time to participate weekly.

I don't think any of my relationships have suffered. I get a lot of feedback and have made connections with many people via Twitter, especially on the music account to keep both my blog, and Examiner gig flush with new, but differing information.

The others I am seasoning..

I think that auto replies (after all it's only one) are expected now, as long as you leave the self serving affiliate link out of them. I am pretty positive that most of my replies from new follows are automated and it doesn't bother me. It's the message that is most important.

Now the good thing about monitoring your auto follow is you get a few emails everyday and you can skim through them and cherry pick the people you want to contact.

For instance, if I get a record label, or an up and coming artist or DJ and they have already auto responded with a quick "here is who I am and what I am all about", you can quickly shoot back another message and connect. I get a lot of press sent in to me that way, which makes keeping my blog fresh with new information a lot easier (it all ties together).

Being able to respond to DM's and "@" replies are the most important thing. If you automate some kind of feed, you are giving off the impression that you are online...you need to at least be monitoring so that when people have a response you can answer them as immediate as possible and not 3 days later.

It's all in how you use it. It's not a Ron Popiel Over Roaster. You don't "set it and forget it". They are tools to enhance what you are already doing.

vangogh
07-28-2009, 11:47 PM
All good points. And like I said the auto thank you for following messages don't really bother me. I wish they were replies instead of directs is all. Dropping the link in does bother me, but that's a different story.

You're right too that it's really how it's done that makes it good or bad. The auto stuff is just a tool like anything else. It can be used well or it can be abused.

I think ultimately there needs to be a real personal connection if you want to build any kind of relationship. There's no reason that can't start with an auto message though. Though somehow I can imagine two people who have set up auto posting to the nth degree and might be having conversations on Twitter for years without either of them actually reading a single tweet. That would be kind of funny.

KristineS
08-03-2009, 03:50 PM
I'm not against auto DMs and stuff as a tool, and I see how they can be useful, but I do think people abuse them. If you only use the auto DMs so you can get the rote stuff out of the way, and you do devote time to forming actual connections, then I'm guessing people will be fine with the occasional auto DM.