Whenever I make a new connection on Twitter, I like to send a quick personal message to introduce myself. To add some extra substance, I like to take a minute to root around on their profile and website and find something to anchor our conversation.
This is always a good practice, especially in business. It takes very little time to type up a “nice to meet you” message, and it allows you to personally communicate with potential clients, employers, or partners.
When I do this, I follow two general rules: Make it personal (NOT automated), and DON’T try to sell right off the bat (or immediately promote your brand).
Social media is first and foremost about making connections. It’s the nature of the platform, and when you go against that nature, it has the potential to blow up in your face, and I have a recent, real life example to prove it.
A few days ago I made a connection with another Twitter user, checked out his website, and decided that he might be a good contact for a potential guest blog opportunity in the future. So I sent him this message:
And he responded with this:
Do you see the problem? Rather than creating a personal message, this guy relied on an auto-response, thereby making it painfully obvious that he didn’t even bother acknowledging my previous message, which immediately killed our conversation.
Look, folks. People see straight through your auto-response, and it’s a major turn off. Take the time to personalize your social media communication. If you get a ton of messages a day and can’t keep up, choose 5-10 and personally respond. And if you MUST employ the auto-response, at least do it right.
