Twitter Spam – The Kiss of Death for Your Business

By Social Editors • on September 18, 2009

Twitter is a great social networking tool. It can bring in new business, new associates and new friends. Twitter is a fast, free and effective addition to any business plan, and it should be a part of yours.

But the quickest way to ruin a good thing is to misuse and abuse it, and that is what you do when you spam your Twitter followers.

Spamming your followers is a good way to lose your “tweeples” (followers).

Here are some tips to avoid the Spammer’s Kiss of Death:

1. The occasional tweet that points to your blog or website is fine. Don’t give a link that just goes directly to your product or service. You don’t want to be perceived as someone who says, “Buy from me!” all of the time.

For example, if someone asks about cleaning stains, and you have a product that cleans them well, the best approach would be to direct them to a blog post of yours with tips on cleaning different types of stains (possibly with your link in the post somewhere). Be more subtle and less aggressive.

2. Focus on the positive. Even if someone gets irritated with you, don’t play their games. Be positive and do not feed into the negativity.

3. Remember that Twitter is for social networking. It is for building relationships and establishing communication with people – not for sending out a spammy tweet every 4 hours.

4. Limit your tweets. Tweeting about a blog post once a day is a lot different than sending the same tweet 8 times. Less is more.

5. Don’t send out the exact same tweet more than once, especially if you have a link in it (even a blog post). I stopped following one guy when he sent out the same post 6 times in one day! And he sent a link to his “business opportunity” each time – not what I need or want on Twitter.

Twitter is great when used properly, but don’t abuse it – you will lose followers.

Keep your tweets sweet.