Should You Follow Twitter Spammers?
Guest Post by Jean Bansemer, My Web Writers - Conventional Twitter wisdom suggests that your white gloves should never touch the follow button when it comes to that weight loss program, new software provider, or life coach selling success in five days. Besides, if you let spammers into your world, you know exactly what will happen. Your direct message box will fill up with auto-generated messages, your live feed will be jammed with stuff you never wanted to read, and your Klout score will fade.
Never mind that all that clutter tires you from cultivating meaningful relationships with other Twitter professionals and that search engines might not see you as influential. It just seems like ignoring spammers and even people who don’t have certain specs is acceptable. Besides, celebrities ignore people all the time. Why shouldn’t you?
Successful Inbound Marketing Recognizes Spammer Potential
I’ve tweeted for several brands. One that I helped to launch on Twitter was @Shindigz. This brand is light, upbeat, and a whole lot of fun; but guess what, it was built- at first- with the help of spammers! Gasp. Oh, my.
The overly zealous who bomb boxes and make you feel like pulling out a can of Raid are, believe it or not- real people and potential customers! Those spammers sure know how to party and they sure did help revenues with their adoption of and interaction with Shindigz party supplies. If they notice a brand while they’re bombing it with tweets and then adding and removing and adding it again, that’s just free advertising and interaction for the brand. Who’s marketing to whom?
Businesses starting out on Twitter or beginning with a new website- businesses like My Web Writers, should embrace the community- and we do. We recognize the value of inbound marketing and influential tools like Twitter. When we open ourselves to wider audiences, chances are that someone who needs our services will read and learn about our brand. That spammer, who checks Twitter every day, might have a brother-in-law or neighbor who needs content writers. When “content” comes up in conversation- Wha-la- we hope our name comes to mind!
Spam Disclaimer – Spam is Not Ideal for Inbound Marketing
Okay, here’s where I pause to dance a little jig and to clarify. No one likes to have his or her time wasted. Tweeting in Pig Latin with malicious links is unacceptable. If you’re reading this and you spam for fun, head directly to jail and don’t pass go. Erik Deckers provides a thoughtful post called 10 Signs for Spotting Twitter Spammers that clarifies how to weed out gunk. There are spammers and then there are nasty spammers. Look at each profile to determine if the follower is one you can endure.
What about clogging the Twitter stream? Yes, the more people you follow, the more diluted your stream becomes. So, if you like to read everything in the stream, keep your followership low. Consider keeping lists of your favorite Tweeps. Then, read those lists’ tweets when you want to filter content.
Should A Business Follow Everyone on Twitter?
For a business account, I personally think it’s snobbish- even a rub- not to follow potential customers. Some of you will disagree. However, here’s my take. Following only certain people, when you’re a business, is like opening your store’s doors and only allowing select customers inside based on appearances. In the movie, Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts, portrayed as a prostitute, is shopping in a boutique, clothing store. The sales people are “mean” to her because she doesn’t look like she can afford the clothes. The audience cheers for Robert’s character when Richard Gere intervenes. He pays the clerks to “suck up” and be nice. Boy, do they. Like Robert’s character, someone who doesn’t look like your customer- even a spammer, could be your next big sale. Don’t ignore the potential.
Image Credit: AJC1
Jean is the founder of My Web Writers. She holds a BA in Communication Education, a minor in English, and a MS Ed in Administration from Northern Illinois University. Jean taught and coached English and speech, as well as American literature, English literature, persuasive writing, informative writing, journalism, drama, media, and research paper writing. Later, she served clients as a national and local radio account executive. As a freelance writer, Jean’s published articles appear in magazines and on numerous websites. She launched My Web Writers after proving phenomenal, incremental sales growth with her SEO content writing for small, medium, and large e-commerce websites. Follow Jean on Twitter.
