You are here: Home / Archives for Twitter

How to Write Effective Tweets

May 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

140 characters. Talk about a pair of pixilated handcuffs! But that limit shouldn’t be seen as an issue, it should be seen as an opportunity. It can be hard to get your point across within that limit, never mind getting people to actually act upon your tweets, but with the right approach, writing effective tweets will become like second nature. Read on for some key pointers…

Think message first!

Twitter moves at lighting pace – that means your tweets have to catch the eye! Lets imagine a scenario within which you’ve written a blog post and you want to share it via Twitter. What should your tweet look like? I’ll start with a bad example:

In my new blog post, I’ve written tips on how to write effective tweets so that your tweets get noticed – http://bit.ly/11sOdHu

Why is this bad?

  • It doesn’t hit the reader with a key piece of information first
  • It rambles
  • The language is clumsy

How can you make this tweet more effective? Start with the headline of your post:

How to Write Effective Tweets -  http://bit.ly/11sOdHu < essential reading for digital marketers #marketing 

The use of ‘how to’ lets the reader know that they are going to (hopefully!) learn something by reading the post. I then tell them exactly what they will learn. The link is nice and early in the tweet, meaning they don’t necessarily need to read the rest of the tweet. By saying ‘essential reading’, I’m making the reader feel like they must read this, or potentially miss out on key information. I’m playing on their minds a little. Notice I’ve only used one hashtag, I advise never to use more than two. There’s also plenty of characters left, meaning users can add a note if they want to when re-tweeting etc.

Always think key message first!

Offer value from within the tweet

Try taking a key point from your post and including it in the tweet:

Never use more than two hashtags in a tweet! More great tips here – http://bit.ly/11sOdHu #twitter #writing

This approach allows you to give the reader a valuable piece of info, and entices them to read more. Again, that tweet leaves 32 characters free. The 140 characters isn’t a target!

Don't be scared to mix it up! Image used under CC via MIKI Yoshihito on Flickr

Don’t be scared to mix it up! Image used under CC via MIKI Yoshihito on Flickr

Ask a question

Like this:

Struggling to write tweets that hit the mark? You need to read this – http://bit.ly/11sOdHu #digitalmarketing

This tweet is effective as it endeavours to identify an issue that people may have when using Twitter and offers a solution to it. Again, it uses a strong statement – ‘You need to read this’. An effective tweet with 30 characters to spare.

Invite audience participation

When you write and publish a blog post, you hope that people will not only read it, but comment on the article too. Try to spark some interaction within your tweet:

How to Write Effective Tweets -  http://bit.ly/11sOdHu < have you got any tips to share? We’d love to hear them!

Nice punchy start, link is early in the tweet and it asks a question at the end. With room to spare. Nice one!

Mix it up!

When I publish a blog post, I tend to tweet about it across the day in order to hit different timezones etc. This practice is fine, as long as there are other tweets unrelated to the post coming from you that day! Why not write a bunch of tweets that use the different approaches from above and test what works best for you in terms of clicks and re-tweets? Test and learn baby!

Good luck! Feel free to had any hints/thoughts in the comments below!


Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Image used under creative commons license and via MIKI Yoshihito on Flickr.

Filed Under: Twitter Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,

Top 6 Tips for Generating Leads via Social Media

April 24, 2013 By 9 Comments

Is your business still struggling to use social media to generate leads?

Businesses need to choose either a direct sales approach, leading straight to a sale with no need for further endorsement, or self-promotion, showcasing their knowledge and skills to generate leads and do the selling bit later, the traditional way – face-to-face.

In most cases social media is best used to generate leads, or send traffic to your website where you get a chance to do this again. Producing great content that your audience wants to read will help you do this.

For example, you can use social media to build trust by giving away valuable content and offering free advice. By doing this you will give your audience a reason to engage, and continue conversation, until you ask them for that all-important face-to-face meeting.

If you are unable to meet them face-to face then Skype is your friend.

Top 6 Tips for Generating Leads via Social Media.

LinkedIn Answers

LinkedIn has an Answers section. Dive right in and answer questions that LinkedIn users have about your specialty, and if your answer is voted the best answer you will gain a point of expertise.

Who has recently seen your profile ~ LinkedIn

One of the best features on LinkedIn is the ‘who viewed your profile’ section. Check if these users are a good target for your products and services, if they are then reach out to them, if not then find out how they came about your profile and try to build a relationship with them anyway, you never know when you might need their help in the future!

Who's viewed your profile on LinkedIn

Who’s viewed your profile on LinkedIn

Twitter Questions

Add this handy bit of code to your Twitter search bar and change the keyword to something more specific to your products or services -http ? “accounting software”. Adding this code will generate all the questions being asked throughout Twitter on that subject. The idea is, if someone has a question then they might have a problem, and if they have a problem that you can answer, it will help you generate more leads.

Twitter Questions

Twitter Questions

InboxQ is similar, but this service searches for more than one keyword and will save you having to do multiple searches on Twitter. There is a Chrome extension or you can install the plugin to your HootSuite dashboard.

Create compelling content that people will share

Whilst this is easier said than done, once you get the hang of it you will reap the rewards. Even if your content isn’t great to start with you will be creating more unique content than most businesses and your content will get better with practice.

Share tips, help guides and cheat sheets

Create a landing page offering a cheat sheet or help guide in return for an email, name and telephone number at a push. If someone responds to a great tip then ask if they need more help.

Post regularly, including weekends

I recommend you post at least once a day on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and at least 4 times a day on Twitter, if not more.  Spread the messages throughout the day, as your posts won’t stay long in people’s news feeds.  If you’re not posting you’re less likely to receive any leads. Use a tool like HootSuite, Sprout Social or Buffer to schedule your messages at different times throughout the day and week.

Use your leads to sell the traditional way.

The saying “people buy from people” is a great saying but you need to show results and this is where a face-to-face meeting is crucial.

face-to-face-penguin-meeting

Face to face meeting. Image courtesy of Muddy Bones on Flickr

When selling over the phone, or through online communication, have you ever felt you get lost, or believe the job is in the bag when it turns out you were flogging a dead horse? During a face-to-face meeting, body language, posture and facial expressions come into play and will tell you how serious the lead is about you and your product. Better still, if you have managed to get them to the meeting through your social media efforts then chances are a trust has already built between you and your current prospect.

Instead of spending lots of money on low quality leads consider using social media to generate leads and meetings. Face-to-face meetings generally have a higher conversion rate because you get a chance to show your knowledge and passion for your business or company.

Once you master this you will be able to fill your week with meetings and generate more sales.

What other ways can we use social media to generate more face-to-face meetings? And do you believe in the power of face-to-face?

Steven


Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Lead Generation, Social Media Selling Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How Twitter Can Help You Settle in a New City

August 29, 2012 By 4 Comments

I have a confession to make: I judged people who use Twitter. I thought people who tweeted were raging narcissists with poor grammar. Oh, you tweet? Yeah, I just stopped taking you seriously. That was the old me – before I quit my job and moved to a new city.

Get to Know Your City

A funny thing happens when you’re the new kid in town and have no job. First, you spend a lot of time in coffee shops. Second, you open up to the value of social media. Four months ago I joined Twitter, and I’m glad I did.

During my second week in the city, my car got a flat tire, and I found myself in a rough neighborhood. Like bullet-casings-in-the-street kind of rough (damn you, GPS). Long story short, after I tweeted about my plight, I got a text from an acquaintance with the name and number of a reliable auto mechanic nearby.

Not only have I found a mechanic, but a fantastic sushi place, discounted train tickets and free networking events. Using Twitter to aggregate job posts and city news saved me time and money. Because let’s face it, who has time to check 40 different sites for that kind of information?

Make Friends

Sometimes a surge of desperation comes over me when I meet new people. I go into speed dating mode like I have two minutes to win them over. (Look, I can turn this cocktail napkin into a swan! Please like me!) Nobody likes a Desperate Debbie. I needed to leverage my network better so I turned to Twitter.

I followed people who lived in the city and engaged the influencers and those active in the social scene. If they mentioned an affinity for cupcakes or craft beer, I clicked “follow.” Simply letting people know I’m new to town opened up doors. Followers whom I had never met contacted me with the names of people they suggested I meet. Those people introduced me to more people and so on.

Find a Job

Few things suck more than being unemployed. Just like everyone else does when it’s time to find a job, I dusted off the old LinkedIn account and shouted to the world, Hire me! But I knew that wasn’t enough. You see, in my line of work—marketing and PR, social media is a big deal. You need to have a voice, and you need to shout a little louder than everyone else.

I jumped on any piece of industry news or trending topic I could find. I followed recruiters, company VPs and media sources. I even put in my Twitter bio that I was looking for a job. And then a cool thing happened. People reached out to me with advice, and in a few cases, freelance work. A well-known news contributor asked me to pitch blog topics after I tweeted an article of hers.

The point is that you never know who’s listening (or reading in this case) so why not put yourself out there? I’m not suggesting you fire off any ‘ole tweet like “I just barfed up fish tacos.” Best to keep those to yourself. Please. The point is to tweet relevant messages that align with your goals and engage with people who can help you. Because guess what? Moving to a new city is scary. You need all the help you can get. Put the power of social media to use.

Have you used Twitter or other social media to help you settle in to a new town? Any big success stories? Or horror stories? Do tell!!!

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Social Media Jobs Tagged With:

Buffer – A Perfect Example of Great Customer Communication

July 31, 2012 By 2 Comments

I’ve been using Buffer for months now and it’s value to me as a content curation and scheduling tool is huge. This post is however not about the product itself, but about the superb standard of customer communication the Buffer team show on a daily basis.

Rapid Response

The Twitter account for Buffer (@bufferapp) is run by many of the founders of the service, giving it a real sense of authenticity while displaying a will for the life-blood of the start-up to interact with its community. If a question from a user is posed via the account, the response is slick and indeed quick. No problem seems to be too much for the team to look in to. They don’t just respond to direct interactions either, they are clearly actively listening and seeking opportunities to communicate with their customer base. I recently bigged them up in a tweet and within minutes received a thank you from co-founder Leo Widrich. They are really unleashing the power of Twitter as a customer service channel.

Aside from communicating directly, the Buffer guys make good use of content by regularly tweeting links to interesting articles and news stories. They also produce their own content over on their pretty nifty blog. All in all, a best practice use of Twitter.

Not Just about Twitter

When Buffer releases a new update or adds a new feature, its users receive an email explaining the change. That’s nothing staggering, however it is a nice touch (Facebook take note!). The real wow factor comes at the end of the email. The founders make it clear that they are available for the next three hours to answer any questions via email. I tested this recently, suggesting that they try to integrate Buffer with Flipboard (who, incidentally are also awesome at customer comms). Within 5 minutes I had a response from Leo, thanking me for the suggestion and telling me that he would get on the case immediately. Impressive stuff.

They are also active on Facebook and appear to be growing a nice little community over there, the Page hosts a variety of content that attract strong interactions.

Benchmark

Your business should be striving for this level of quality. Especially in the case of start-ups like Buffer – if you serve and respect your customers from day one, you will quickly build trust and lay down the foundations of success and of course, learn a lot about your product and customer base at the same time.

I’m in the process of setting up my digital marketing and communications consultancy and can help you to communicate effectively using the abundance of digital tools available today. See here for more info.

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Social Media Customer Service Tagged With: ,

Would You Pay For Twitter? [OPINION]

July 10, 2012 By 8 Comments

Twitter is a really important part of my life. That may sound a little overblown or even a bit sad, however it’s true. It has helped my career massively and The Social Penguin Blog would struggle to exist without the traffic and interaction it creates. I’ve been thinking recently if I would pay to use Twitter and I am pretty sure that I would, especially if the future of the platform depended on it. It got me thinking, can services like Twitter stay free forever?

The Simplest Form of Monetisation

Twitter has, and is struggling to make money. Its ad model is far from perfect and isn’t even obtainable to the majority of businesses due to the expensive nature of the ads (options for smaller businesses are coming). Aside from the cost of products such as promoted trends, there is little evidence of any real ROI. So what if the ad model never really takes off  and Twitter decide to start asking users to pay? Not a huge amount of money, but a few pounds/dollars etc a month? After all, paying for products and services is hardly an alien concept to us humans, right? It’s the most obvious way for  a service like Twitter to make money and survive.

If they did take that step, what would they need to do justify that?

  • Really clamp down on the huge amounts of spam
  • Offer an ad-free option for those who pay
  • Ensure that it is so robust that it never goes down (although the ‘fail whale‘ is rare these days)
  • Be 110% committed to a truly excellent user experience

If the future of Twitter depended on paid subscriptions, would people pay? I asked Twitter:

@Tambourinos - ‘negative, however I do think most of the internet will cease to be free in the near future’

@ginandting - ‘Yes, but I’d want some added value for that (no ads, more features, etc)’

@_NatStar  - ‘I wouldn’t want to on principle. But could I live without it? Probably not. So I’d be likely to give in’

@Calzo - ‘Nope. It would turn into a bunch of companies trying to sell their products to each other. There would be no customers’

@UKHaiku – ‘Yes, if it was instead of any advertising or non-anonymised use of my data. I also reserve the right to my choice of client’

@btocher – ‘We’re already subjected to adverts on some Twitter clients, so I’d be very reluctant indeed’

@jackiecameron1 – ‘so far I have not paid for any social networking so I can’t imagine why that would change’

@craigmcgill – ‘Yes. But wouldn’t pay for Facebook’

@theFullSouter – ‘Absolutely! Twitter is my jam. I only use Facebook because friends and family do. I tried to hold out but caved’

A real mix of opinion there, interesting that people would pay for Twitter use over Facebook. This post has had real value added to it by those quotes, thanks to those who submitted feedback.

So, over to you folks, does Twitter offer you enough value to validate paying for the service? If it was a live or die situation for Twitter would you pay to help it survive? If Twitter allowed donations, ala Wikipedia, would you throw them a payment from time to time? Please do tell us your thoughts in the comments section below…

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Consumer Opinion Tagged With: ,

Friday Freak Out – People Asking Me to Retweet Their S**t

March 23, 2012 By 6 Comments

Image credit - brandstyledesign.com

Mike and I were chatting about our freaks outs of the week and it turns out that we had the same complaint. We have both been approached by people, under slightly different circumstances, asking us to tweet or retweet what turned out to be total crap. For Mike, he was sent a direct message asking him to retweet a link to a bunch of people that are trying to raise money to make a movie. Fine, who doesn’t like movies? The problem was that they had absolutely no prior relationship with Mike and the request came out of the blue. Bad idea!

For me, I had one of my clients  send an email with a link to a blog topic that they thought would be “interesting” to our network. It was a nice break from the usual emails they send complaining about pricing but when I checked out the link it wasn’t an interesting blog post at all but a straight up sales pitch for business coaching and offered no actual value to readers.

Seriously, it’s just plain tasteless to send requests like this and it’s going to burn you sooner or later. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a right way to ask for a retweet and studies have shown that you are more likely to be retweeted if you do ask for it. But don’t be a jerk about it!

How to ask for a RT (and not be a jerk):

1 – Make sure what you want to have RT’d is worthwhile.  If you’re asking someone to go to bat for you then it had better be something that won’t make them cringe when they look into it.

2 – Don’t send that type of request to someone that you don’t have an existing relationship with. Being on the receiving end of those requests is pretty off-putting and more likely to get you called out for it (or even the topic of a Friday Freak Out post).

3 – Ask nicely, folks! Adding ‘Please RT’ to your tweet is a direct, non-offensive way to show that you want to get your message out there and the decision to RT is then left at the complete discretion of any potential RT’ers.  If your going to directly ask someone to promote your content then don’t pass it off as something it’s not and give an honest reason why you’d like their help with it.

4 – Don’t be offended if your request doesn’t go your way. Everyone has the right to decide what they want to put out to their social networks and your content isn’t a good fit for me, then take it like a champ and get over it.

Do you freak out when you get these RT requests too? How do you go about asking for a RT?

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Digital Marketing, Friday Freak Outs, Social Media Influence, Social Media Skills, Social Networks, Twitter Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Friday Freak Out – Crappy Follow Freakin’ Fridays

March 9, 2012 By 9 Comments

Everyone loves getting ‘bigged up’ – it makes you feel good right? The Twitter Follow Friday (#FF) can be a nice way of doing this but only when used properly. Being part of a mass #FF list such as - Hello & #FF to @jim @dave @cyril @daisy @jimmy is far from flattering, in-fact from a personal point of view, I find being in one of these about as welcome as a raging fart in a packed elevator. Then the inevitable happens, everyone on the list replies to all with ‘thanks for the #FF’. No need to tell everyone on the list that you have thanked the person who pulled together the list in the first place! Waste of everyone’s freakin’ time! Does anyone actually look at one of these lists and think ‘wow I am so going to follow them all’?. Why would you?

How To Do #FF Well

As much as it can be a pain in the ass when not done well, I do use Follow Friday to draw attention to or thank people that I believe have something to say that is worth listening to. The simple way to do this is to give people a reason to follow the subject of your #FF love:

#FF to @chucknorris < follow him because he is the toughest dude ever. When he does push-ups, the world moves away from him.

Ok, that’s a silly example. Try this:

#FF @randfish < the authority on all things SEO. Nobody does it better.

A simple approach that gives a clear reason why a Twitter user should act upon your recommendation.

Chuck - Would You Dare to Tell Him How Much His Beard Sucks?

Should A Brand #FF Its Followers?

Doing this can make one of your followers feel pretty special, but don’t overdo it, keep them for those who have shown a great interest in your brand or have been communicating with you recently. It’s a tip of the hat to individuals that may well be advocates for you either now or in the future. Just don’t do lists! Ever!

Does Anyone Act on a #FF?

Do you ever follow someone you’ve seen mentioned in an #FF? Do lists wind you up? Do you use #FFs to give kudos? Do tell…

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Friday Freak Outs Tagged With: , ,

10 Steps to Running An Awesome Twitter Contest

March 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Twitter contests are a great tactic for increasing your online presence, but are often underutilized by brands. Not only are they simple to run, but are also fantastic for increasing your Twitter visibility and an awesome way to acquire new followers.

Although a Twitter contest itself is not that tricky, there are some recommended steps to keep in mind that will help you drive a successful and optimized contest.

Here are the ten steps that I feel can help make a good Twitter contest into a great one:

1. Set Objectives

Without objectives, it’s impossible to judge success. Consider what your goals are for the contest and how you want it to impact your brand. Is it new followers you’re after? More retweets? Acquiring email leads?

2. Check Twitter Guidelines

Be sure to read the guidelines for contests on Twitter. While Twitter are pretty flexible with their regulations, you want to ensure you avoid any complications or difficulties down the line by staying within the guidelines.

3. Make Entry Easy

The easier the entry process, the more entries you can expect. Keep it short and simple – one-click entry (just a retweet, for example) or providing a tweet for them to simply copy and paste are both great entry tactics.

4. Optimize Brand Visibility

Make sure you are optimizing your visibility by ensuring that all contest tweets include a mention of your brand. Additionally, you can consider including a link to your site and you could even create your own hashtag.

5. Join Forces

One thing to keep in mind is how you are going to get the word out on Twitter about your contest. Use a Twitter tool like Crowdbooster to determine some of your most influential followers, and reach out to them to see if they might help you spread the word.

6. Choose Prizes

Prizes are obviously an important part of any contest: will there be one big prize? Several small ones? In my experience, giving away small prizes regularly is a great tactic for Twitter – ensuring the contest remains interactive and engaging throughout.

7. Vary Promotional Tweets

No doubt that your biggest form of promotion will be via Twitter itself. One top tip is to vary the time you publish contest tweets and the language you use. Testing like this will allow you to optimize your reach and find out when your audience is most receptive.

8. Choose Promotion Channels

Other than Twitter, consider where else you can promote the contest. Can you cross-promote on Facebook? LinkedIn? Perhaps you contribute to a blog and could write a post, or know of other bloggers or marketers that can help out? Think outside-of-the-box and be creative.

9. Build Excitement

Make your community aware that you will be running the contest in order to build excitement. This could involve “taster tweets”, which highlight the prizes you’ll be giving away, or tweets which countdown to the contest start.

10. Analyze results

Finally, be sure to monitor the contest and analyze the results. The metrics you measure will depend on your objectives, but considerations would be followers, @ mentions, retweets and impressions to name just a few. Find out what worked (and what didn’t) to ensure that your next Twitter contest is even bigger and better!

Have you ever run a Twitter contest? Is there anything you would add to this list?

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Twitter Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Is Twitter Selling Out or Just Selling Data?

February 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

News hit the wire yesterday that a company called Datasift, the company behind Tweetmeme, has been given access to all tweets dating back to January 2010. The company, which is already known for it’s deep analysis of social media data, says that this access to the historical twitter information will allow for an “ unprecedented capability to filter Social Data, extract meaning and create insights.”

What does this mean?

According to the video that was their latest blog post, Datasift aggregates public social data which can then be dissected and analysed for consumer behaviour, trends and insights. Basically, they look at the overall sentiment of posts, the originating location and details about any linked pages.

Who would be interested in this data?

This kind of in-depth social data will be most sought after by very large brands. And, in accordance with that, it’s likely to come with a hefty pricetag. The service is still in a testing phase but you can sign up for the wait list.

Should Twitter have the right to profit off your content?

There are a few questions in all this that deserve some attention. To start, Twitter does indeed have the legal right profit from public tweets but will users be comfortable with this? Will this stir up some attention from privacy advocates as has been suggested by Mashable? Will the public embrace Twitter the same way if selling tweets becomes a major source of income for the social media site?

What to do if you don’t like it?

If you are not comfortable with your two year old tweets being man-handled for data then you should be able to opt out by deleting the old posts. Is it worth the hassle?

Do you have any thoughts on the latest Twitter news? Does the sale change your views about Twitter? Will you be deleting old posts? Please leave a comment and let us know!

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Digital Marketing, Online Measurement, Social Media Channels, Social Media Influence, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Stats, Technology, Twitter Marketing Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

I Love The Smell of Twitter Spam in the Morning

February 13, 2012 By 1 Comment

Ok, I don’t really love it but I couldn’t resist the play on words…

I arose on Saturday morning and had the customary peak at Twitter, caught up on some golden nuggets of info and had a look to see if anyone had been crazy enough to follow me overnight. 23 people had taken this step! I excitedly worked my way through the list, keen to see who I could follow back. You see, even after three years on Twitter, I still get a little buzz when someone decides that they want to follow me. A little sad perhaps, but quite frankly my dears, I don’t give a damn. With that in mind, you can imagine my disappointment when the breakdown of those 23 new followers was:

17 large breasted women offering me all sorts of sexual favours (virtual of course)

You can't beat someone that loves their job!

3 naughty floozies telling me how I can find a real sexual encounter near me

Next stop, the VD clinic?!?


And 3 people offering the services of a really cheap job board website. Note the use of a leggy lady here too…

Girls and jobs!

These large scale mass follow ‘campaigns’ seem to come and go in waves. Are they a legitimate use of Twitter? After all, people do want porn, sex and jobs – so should people peddling such services be given the opportunity to attract customers via Twitter? Of course, these accounts are usually bots, purely with the aim of getting people to click links, so any actual interaction on Twitter is highly unlikely. For me, this type of activity only cheapens the Twitter experience. I’ve said it before, but does the fact that spam is prevalent on Twitter mean that brand and businesses may be put off from plowing advertising budget in to the network?

What can be done?

As a user, you should ‘report as spam’ every time you get followed by a dodgy character. Does this work? Well I’m not sure, I guess it really depends on the systems in place at the Twitter end. I recently asked on Twitter if people actually take this step, and the response was very positive, so at least it seems that the community is self-policing to a certain extend. The rest is really up to Twitter. Their product is a rapidly expanding monster, one that must take some serious resource to run, so perhaps spam is floating around the bottom of their priority list?

Does Twitter spam rile you? Do you ‘report as spam’? Would this type of spam make you think twice about spending money on the Twitter ad model?

If you liked this post, please do share on Twitter >>>

Enjoying reading The Social Penguin Blog? Why not subscribe to our RSS, follow us on Twitter or join Dave on Facebook.

Filed Under: Twitter Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts