I personally don’t use a Twitter DM autoresponder to thank someone for following me. Thank-you’s don’t count if they are canned and autogenerated. You’re just being lazy.
But, luckily, an autogenerated thank-you message doesn’t make me want to unfollow you. It actually doesn’t bother me that much. What does bother me is the self-promoting canned response asking for more! You know… the one that lists all the important things you or your company is up to. Something like this:
“Hi and thanks for the follow. Please check me out on YouTube and subscribe to my blog at www.itsallaboutme.com/blog. You can also subscribe to my podcast on iTunes. Oh, and my book is available on Amazon. Buy stuff from me! I’m important.”
Listen, I just started following you on Twitter. I barely even know you. When you meet someone for the first time, do you list out all the things they can buy from you? Do you immediately launch into a robotic response about your LinkedIn group? Do you pull out a book and try to sell it? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve got bigger issues to deal with.
C’mon, let’s get to know each other first before you start hocking your wares. Put in some effort. Take me out to dinner first. Put out some interesting tweets and let’s see what you are all about.
If you’re still sold on a canned response promoting your blog, company, or book, at least make it interesting. At least make it fun. Try this:
“Heyoo. Thanks for the follow. I’d prefer to personally thank-you, but you know how it is. Between the wife, kids, and being awesome, I just don’t have the time. So I’ve written this robotic canned response. I AM A ROBOT *in a robot voice*. If you actually care about my company, feel free to visit www.stryvemarketing.com and read our blog. If you don’t, then why are you even following me? Are you a stalker? Do you have a crush on me? Are you a long-lost relative looking to reconnect? Tell me!”
So that may be a bit longer than 140 characters, but the main point here is that marketing automation can be dehumanizing. Don’t be a robot. Be a human. It’s a lot better that way.
