First Published: Monday, Nov 8, 2010 Last updated: Mar 15, 2022 2 minutes read

Twitter for business marketing is a love or hate tool - and I love to love Twitter. Auto Follow and Auto DM are two topics that with a passion, divides Social Media Marketers. I recently trialled Auto-Follow after I was told that I was distant for not doing so.

Results Prove Dont Auto Follow

I have not Auto-Followed Twitterers for some time - as I try to focus on building some relationship (!!!) with people who I choose to follow. If I follow you, it’s cause I’m interested in what you do or who you are.

In the screenshot below from CoTweet (my favourite Twitter Tool) - this is just a few of the Auto-DM messages I have been receiving and most are from Twitter Pyramid Plan Selling people trying to skim a few bits of cash from me clicking on their message or buying in to their marketing scheme.

CoTweet

It’s a Pyramid Scheme & YOU WONT MAKE MONEY

I signed up for one of these Twitter Marketing schemes (it was a slow day and I didn't have to pay anything). I really enjoyed the effort the young lady (she was from London too) had gone to - remaking her own YouTube videos, changing the 'training material' documents to cut n paste her contact info and she was obviously running her own email marketing programme to with Aweber (I guess that means she was paying out more money too).

No to Auto Follow

In summary - there are no free Twitter secrets, most of the people that I followed during my recent experience were home based Twitter marketers trying to make a fast buck. And now, I revert to a policy of NO AUTO FOLLOW.
PS - If I unfollow you - and you feel hard done by - leave a message below and I'll follow you back (again)
Tags: Auto Follow, marketing, Twitter

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Damien Saunders
An experienced management consultant and business leader interested in digital transformation, product centred design and scaled agile. If I'm not writing about living with UCTD (an autoimmune disease), I'm probably listening to music, reading a book or learning more about wine.
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