Don’t Be a Fail Whale: 7 Things to do to Avoid Being Unfollowed

Nobody wants to be a social media Debbie Downer, aka, a Fail Whale. Here are 7 easy things to do to make sure you keep your followers and remain well-liked (or maybe these steps will help you become liked…depending on your situation ).

1. Auto DM’s: I’ve heard some different arguments about Auto DM’s, but what majority of people have said is, “If someone Auto DM’s me, I immediately unfollow them.” I have mixed feelings about the Auto DM. If you’re going to do it, please make it value to me, not to you. Can you offer me a free sample or a discount code if I shop online? Do you have a nugget of info that might be very useful to me? If you’re just going to spam me with self-promotion, I might get a bit irritated, so make sure your Auto DM is worth it to the recipient. If you have time, personalize you DM by including a first name or commenting on their profile. Social Media is about building relationships; what a great way to start the conversation by a Personalized DM.

2. Spam DM’s: Since we’re on the topic of DM’s, don’t spam or over use the DM feature. If you have a pressing item that you are trying to spread the word about, and I know you; feel free to DM me asking if I’ll retweet it for you. If I don’t know you, if you want me to retweet self-promoting garbage, or if you DM me to retweet more than twice a week, I’m going to unfollow you. That is straight up Twitter Spam and most people won’t tolerate it. If I unfollow you, you no longer have access to DM me, so I will be shutting off that privilege. Use your DM’s wisely.

3. Random Followings: I know people will argue with me on this point; however I feel strongly about it. I suggest that people don’t follow random tweeps that have nothing to do with their interests, industry, etc. If you are following as many people as possible no matter who they are, you’re being completely inefficient and unfocused; especially if you’re a business. Some people want to have as many people following them as possible, because they feel like the more people following, the more people seeing their messages. This may be true, but what is more important: More followers seeing your message or interested, qualified followers seeing your message?

Also, if you start following me and I look at your profile and read your tweets and don’t understand why I would be interested in hearing what you have to say, I’m not going to follow you back. It’s as simple as that. Follow targeted people and you’ll receive interested, qualified followers in return.

4. #FollowFriday Ranting: This is a personal dislike. If you are going to suggest someone for Follow Friday or Eco Monday, tell me why. I don’t like when people just pick a bunch of tweeps to suggest and don’t say why or what they have in common. I used to do this, but found it inefficient and not valuable to my followers. Tell me why you suggest them.

5. Non-stop Self Promotion: The title of this tip is enough said, I would hope, but there are still so many businesses doing it. Social Media is a brand visibility and relationship management tool. Not a microphone for you to announce how fabulous you are all the time. Yes, you can definitely talk about your business, promotions, new products, events, etc., but don’t do it all the time. Only 10% of your tweets should be promoting your company.

6. Boring, useless, tweets: Don’t tell me you just mowed the lawn. Don’t tweet that you are going to get in the shower. And don’t waste your time tweeting that you’re eating a sandwich. I don’t care. No one else cares. Please give me something of value: a quote, news item, fact, picture, joke; something of use.

7. Hello? You There? Finally, participation is key to building a strong network on Twitter. You need to tweet at least 3-7 times a day to be effective. Don’t just tweet once a week or even once every other day. It’s just not enough. If you want proof, read this article by Michael A. Stelzner

Tags: 7 twitter tips, faile whale, How to use Twitter, social media success, twitter success