This is a guest post by Gregory Shumchenia of Modern Pigeon.
I’ve heard things like “we use automation to help build relationships” or “we’re extending our personality on Twitter by using automated postings”. Really? Does that sound fundamentally wrong to anyone else or is it just me?
Let’s be clear first and define what Twitter automation really is. It’s scheduling tweets to be posted automatically, and it’s typically done in bulk and when the user is not physically at his or her computer. A number of platforms allow you to upload tons of pre-written messages and schedule the exact minute they will publish to your Twitter account, thus reducing the amount of time you have to spend on Twitter. Automation can also take the form of the auto-follow or the auto-direct-message. This way when someone follows you on Twitter you automatically follow them back or send a generic DM thanking them for following you.
Does any of this sound like building relationships yet?
We live in a time of fast-forwarding through commercials, streaming ad-free television to our smartphones, and generally resisting any sort of hard sell or marketing push. People have always craved being social and part of a relationship — even if that relationship is with a brand. Social media has given big companies the opportunity to be small again (read: local, caring, first-name-basis), and that’s exactly what people want.
When Automation Goes Bad
I saw a post on Twitter from one of my favorite restaurants in downtown Providence the other day and it read something along the lines of “Free Mimosa with the purchase of any of our bunch specials this Saturday”. It being Saturday and a mere 9 minutes after their post, I @mentioned the restaurant and asked “What are your brunch specials today?”. Nothing. An hour went by and still nothing, but wait, then there was another generic message spreading the word about cocktail specials that night and some info about what band would be performing. I have no proof that this restaurant was running their Twitter account on autopilot, but it sure seems that way. Oh, and it’s been a week and they have yet to respond — I’m still craving a good brunch.
How Automating Anything Hurts Your Brand
There are so many brands out there thinking that just having a presence in social media is enough. That simply existing in the space will somehow drive thousands of customers through their door. So they hook themselves up with a sweet Twitter automation service and they broadcast commercials. Awesome. Well, look for me to fast-forward from now on. How do brands expect to build relationships if they don’t even interact with their customers in a social space? By using automation you’re letting your customers know that you’re only interested in talking at them and that their opinions, complaints, questions, or feedback don’t matter to you. It’s like calling a friend and just playing a recorded message through the phone, or dressing up a scarecrow in your clothes to send around an industry conference with the same recorder in its pocket. Is that the type of reputation you want in any space?
So let’s break down where that restaurant really went wrong. It wasn’t so much the marketing push. There is no point in denying that all this relationship building is designed to ultimately translate into more sales, but that doesn’t mean it has to be inauthentic. Sending out the occasional self-promotion or product message is fine, but these guys didn’t even bother hanging around for the follow up questions and comments. In the particular instance of a Tweet, there is such a short amount of time to make an additional impact, and in this specific case close a sale. You’re immediately taking yourself out of the game by not monitoring your mentions in at least somewhat real time.
A lot of people will tell you that automation allows you to reach people in different time zones and that if you’re not automating, you’re ignoring them and that this is just as bad. Well for giant, international brands like Nike or Coca-Cola, one would hope they could afford 24-hour surveillance of their social network. And for you smaller business owners, not Tweeting to every time zone sends the message that sometimes you sleep. And I think “ignoring” people in other time zones rather than talking at them looks a little better for your brand. Twitter is about conversation. What would sending out links and one-way statements all night contribute to that conversation?
Acting Like A Human
Now that you (hopefully) see the problem with automation, let’s look at the solution. It’s really quite simple, you should be excited: Treat your customers like people. When they say “Hello”, say it back. Would you ever blatantly ignore a person having a conversation with you face-to-face, or even over the phone? When you interact with your customers in a public space you’re also feeding a wave of lateral influence — which is just a fancy term for word-of-mouth advertising. Which is really the best kind of advertising. Potential customers are introduced to your brand by someone they trust and it was free. If this sounds simple, it’s because it is. It takes a lot of dedication and consistency, but it should be as easy as having a conversation.
The simple act of letting your customers feel like they’re connected with the brand, creates a sense of community. You can’t fake it and you can’t automate it.
Lastly, I will leave you with the fact that social media methods are in no way one-size-fits-all. What works for one brand, may not work for another. The key is determining your business’s strategies and goals and finding a way to plug social media into them. Oh, and one more quote favoring Twitter automation, “I’ll juice up the stakes a little more and let you know that about 1% of our clicks on our calls to action come from visitors from Twitter.” — doesn’t seem like a number worthy of pride.
How much traffic does your site get from Twitter alone? Have you ever interacted with a brand clearly using automation? How did it make you feel? Do you see any practical use for automation? Let us know in the comments.
Gregory Shumchenia started out 5 years ago as a commercial/editorial photographer and learned a lot about marketing and social media in the process. He now offers all three services through Modern Pigeon. He’s young, full of ideas, and perhaps overly enthusiastic about his work.
