Time and time again, my friends who have been tasked with running their company’s Twitter account have asked me to give them pointers.
“Emily, how do I get followers on Twitter? What exactly is a tweet? How often should I tweet? Why do people stop following me? Is my head going to explode?”
Since I work for a digital marketing agency, I’m supposed to have a million answers on the subject. Luckily, I DO! For the sake of this blog, though, I’m just going to tell you 10 that I adhere to with my Twitter account.
Here are my top 10 reasons I will or won’t follow someone on Twitter.
10. I won’t follow someone who tweets incessantly — unless there’s an event going on, a wildly trending topic, or a Twitter party … quality over quantity, people!
9. I will follow someone who seems to always be in the know, and thus, tweets with an above average frequency. Give me content I want and I’ll stay!
8. I won’t follow someone who has substantially less followers than people whom they follow — it screams SPAM.
7. I will follow someone who has obviously just started tweeting and has valuable information to share.
6. I won’t follow someone who uses their personal Twitter frequently for professional promotion, or vice versa. If I’m following you because you’re a digital marketing savant, I don’t want to read about your aging mother’s digestive habits (unless it’s really funny and not gross).
5. I will follow someone who tweets ironic, sarcastic, or satirical commentary about his or her professional and personal life.
4. I won’t follow someone who sends seemingly “spammy” direct messages with any frequency. For those of us who get an email every time we get a DM, this is a real turn off.
3. I will follow someone who sends special offers or sale notices via direct message.
2. I won’t follow someone who aggressively bashes a person, group, or organization. This is a personal preference that might not be shared by all. Frankly, I don’t want repeated negativity coming through my Twitter feed.
1. I will follow someone who actively engages in dialogue with people, groups, or organizations about topics that may be controversial. After all, public communication and debate can be a healthy way to resolve issues (or at least get them acknowledged).
[Post contributed by Emily Carroll]