Twitter Pitfalls, Marketing Mistakes, & Annoying Habits

Twitter is great for business! No doubt about that. Personally, I have been able to meet more than 50% of new clients via twitter without soliciting them in any way. But it can also be a nightmare if you are not careful. Here are some common mistakes I have found (and even participated in before I knew better):

  • No Bio -- How can people accurately list you or utilize you as a valuable resource if you don't even tell them what you do from the beginning. Be as specific as possible. Most followers will not even click your link if they don't know what you do.
  • Misleading Bio -- Your bio says you are a marketer, but your link goes to a dating site. This will get you blocked and reported for spam in most cases, especially by professionals who take their pages seriously and have tied it to measurable marketable gains.
  • Not Reciprocating RT's -- When someone RT's your link or quote, at least be kind enough to acknowledge it or reciprocate it in the near future. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you tweeters.
  • Inciting Fear or Negativity -- You want people to utilize your services or buy your products because it solves a problem they have or adds value to them. Writing negative tweets or inciting fear in your followers in very 20th century and does not work. 
  • Sporadic Tweeting -- If you are not tweeting on a normal schedule, you are more likely to be unfollowed. If your last tweet was 2 months ago and the next time you tweet is to push your product...no one is listening. Engage. Interact. Be genuine.
  • Not Following Back -- Major pet peeve here as it shows your immediate lack of interest in your follower. They know you cannot even see what they tweet, therefore the chances of you responding or purchasing their product or service is very low. I personally find it a tad rude and "snooty."
  • Ignoring DM's or Replies -- We know your account is probably automated, but check your inbox from time to time and respond back in a timely manner.
I could go on and on, but I am interested in what YOU find annoying on twitter. We can all learn from one another, so share your thoughts in the comments section below.


ChrissyBiz Solutions provides clients with customized, results-driven web marketing strategies. Our primary business writing duties include: article marketing,  search engine optimized web copy, blog content, social media, press releases, and newsletters  designed to drive traffic to your website and influence buyers decisions when purchasing products and services.

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10 comments:

  1. Great points. My biggest twitter pet peeve is the non-existant bio. If you don't have one, I'm not going to follow back. Also, when I thank someone for following in a DM and don't hear back is pretty annoying.

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  2. I agree with all of these, Chrissy! One of my biggest pet peeves is Twitter users who claim they're "gurus" or "masters" at social media but then do little to communicate with their followers. If I ask someone a friendly and relevant question, how long could it possibly take for them to send a quick reply? Obviously, celebrities are excluded from this because they couldn't possibly respond to every tweet...but what about everyone else? If you're going to toot your own horn and claim that you're a social media expert, then you should back it up by actually being SOCIAL. Or maybe I'm way off base!

    Anyway, sorry to go on a little rant there. Nice blog and I'll definitely be back!

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  3. @ Dennis -- both are great points. Especially for the "experts"

    @Jill -- Thank you. Your rant is the reason I wrote this post. The term "expert" is very loosely applied these days..
    Thanks for sharing!

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  4. I agree with most of your peeves, however I don't always follow back. I check out their site, tweets etc first. One peeve is those that do follow you and then don't even try to develop a relationship. I know some do this to get more followers as a numbers game but it does seem to be a waste of time.

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  5. Thanks for your honesty Susan. I used to not always follow back but I find it rude when others do it to me, so I stopped doing it. I follow your rule for my personal account (which is locked), but for business, I give you a chance until you tweet something I find offensive or just not my "cup of tea."

    I am glad you mentioned the relationship part. It is difficult to get a response from many on twitter because of the automation -- annoying! But I do try.

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  6. How do you get clients through Twitter Chrissy?

    Only use it for notifying my 1,484 that I have published an article or tweeting someone else's post.

    Don't follow people back. In the beginning I made a huge effort but was suddenly told by Twitter that I was following too many people. So I honestly just stopped making an effort with Twitter. Get quite a few new followers on a continouos basis who are readers of my blog. But I'm not following them back because of Twitter waiting for the amount of followers 1,484 to be as high as the 1,906 I seem to be following. Then I can start following more people. Strange story, eh:))

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  7. Hi Catarina, I have been able to get clients from twitter by answering questions, or interacting with my followers. While some find it time consuming, if you set a certain time to do these tasks, it won't infringe on your time too much. Not only do I post my articles and posts, but I also ask questions, slide in a few personal tweets, and I always reply to my @'s.

    I think people in general find me to be a real person instead of just an automated system. I have also recently began welcoming all new *tweets* with a welcome DM (via SocialOomph) and saying hello to them after I start following back.

    Also, you can have search your profession in the search box and find people who are tweeting on the subject and asking questions. Just answering some questions is a rare thing on twitter, but definitely catches the attentions of followers.

    Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. My peeve? What the heck do all those symbols mean? It's like another language going on (which I don't speak). Thank goodness I have a professional tweeter doing the job. Whew!

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  9. Hi Chrissy,
    It's great to see another blogger who is treating Twitter strategically. In addition to your list, I have to add zero tweets. I have never followed anyone with zero tweets or without a profile picture for that matter.

    Like Susan, I don't always follow back either. I'm very selective who I follow. If I go to someone's site and it's an immediate sales pitch, I don't follow back. As for Catarina's point, I try to keep my number of followers greater than the number that I'm following. The tool that I use for this is JustUnfollow.com. Every once in a while, I logon and do some house cleaning. Nice post!

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  10. Hi,

    Twitter is sure great for social media marketing and we also have an account for marketing. We do follow our links and regularly tweet so that we are in contact with our customers and followers. Thanks for sharing useful info with us.

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Thank you for taking the time to contribute to my blog. Feel free to leave a relevant comment. Thanks!

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