Twitter Follower Edification

It’s funny how so many people go on Twitter and try to get followers, yet they do things that are completely wrong. They alienate their followers and then then wonder what that they did to make them leave.

If you are wondering how you should treat your followers on Twitter, here are some guidelines that you will find to be useful when it comes to followers.

- The first thing that you want to do is to make sure that you aren’t sending new followers an automatic message when they start following you. You should write the message yourself, but leave off any sales pitch. The last thing that the person is going to want is to be sold to immediately.

- When you get a new follower, follow them. This is common courtesy and it will show them that you have respect for them.

- If you are not following someone, don’t send them a direct message. It would not be fair, because they are unable to send you one back until you are one of their followers.

It’s important to remember that you should be treating your followers with respect. They started following you because there was something about you that intrigued them and made them want to know more. But if you are going to insist on treating them badly or all you are going to do is offer them meaningless prattle instead of tweets they can use; they are going to stop following you and encourage others to do the same.

Remember, there are real people behind the Twitter accounts. When we don’t see someone face to face, it’s hard to remember that ‚all is not automated. So you should treat the people that are following you as you would treat any person that you meet personally.

Your followers are going to appreciate your efforts to thank them and to reciprocate the fact that they are following you. If you have a business, having a good relationship with your followers is important and may lead to more sales. But even if your Twitter is a personal one, a little courtesy is going to go a long way. You never know when you are going to appreciate the fact that you have so many loyal followers.

Twitter, like so many other sites, is a place where you give and take. If you have people who have stuck with you through thick and thin, make sure that you are thanking them. Make sure that you are asking them how they are doing and do what you can to give them information that they can actually use.

The best way to do this is to start following them. Imagine their surprise if they post a problem that they are having and you post a solution to that problem. That is something that keeps your followers loyal and makes them want to read more of your tweets.

2 Responses to “Twitter Follower Edification”

1. Tweets that mention Twitter Follower Edification -- Topsy.com says:

   September 16, 2009 at 1:10 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ulrike Fleischer, Adam Dustus and macavito. macavito said: If you are wondering how you should treat your followers on #Twitter, here are some guidelines… http://bit.ly/cHocM [...]

   Reply
2. Steve says:

   September 19, 2009 at 9:54 pm

   I think this was an excellent article and great advice for Twitter users. Even if you are wanting to promote or share a product or service you should always make the majority of you tweets something useful for those targeted followers. That is why they started following you in the first place. If your twitter account is money related, try to give them good money related products, links and advice that they can use. If it is about a product than give them great information and follow ups about that product. Thanks for writing this article.

   Reply