The Art of the Auto Direct Message

Since creating and launching our 10e20 account on Twitter, I’ve noticed that a lot of businesses and marketers we follow kick back an automated direct message thanking us for following them. I have mixed feelings about auto DMs — on the one hand, it’s nice to receive some appreciation/acknowledgment from someone you’re following. On the other hand, the direct message can be so impersonal and self-serving that it ends up rubbing you the wrong way.

I thought I’d share what I feel are good and bad examples of auto direct messages so that maybe you can glean some insight as to what constitutes a legit-looking DM and what is going to be regarded as obvious spam or crap. (Note that I’m operating under the assumption that all of the following examples were sent automatically based on the lack of personalization and my mystical half Asian gut instinct.)

The Good

Bryan Eisenberg’s DM is an example of a pleasant, straightforward DM. He thanks us for following him and encourages us to ping him on Twitter if we need anything. It’s short, simple and sweet.

LA Timestot thanked us for following them and concluded with a personal signature. It’s friendly, humanistic and not egregiously self-promotional.

RoboSteel does some self-promotion, but I think they do it in a very appropriate manner. First they thank us for following them, then they provide a very to-the-point bio and a link for more information. It’s honest without being hokey or feeling like a mall kiosk rep badgering you to check out their products.

Ploked does some self-promoting and drops a link for you to click on, but they provide a compelling call to action that urges you to click. “Why would someone eat a frog for breakfast? What does that mean? I must find out…” Their DM is a good example of being clever with the message to generate interest and drive traffic to one’s site.

In KISS Metrics’ DM, they make it obvious what they specialize in (metrics and analytics) without being too pushy or spammy.

This is a good idea — both of the above DMs cross promote other social networking accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc). It’s a smart way to grow your network and bring visibility to your other profiles.

The Bad

This DM rubs me the wrong way. I’m welcome to make tons of money through affiliates? It’s like this person is giving me a personal invitation to do affiliate marketing and that without it I wouldn’t be able to do it. I understand the intent but I think the messaging was poorly worded.

Spam. ‘Nuff said.

Well, this is awfully vague. I’m not sure what they’re looking for here–are they a self-help site or do they center on something more specific, like Internet marketing? If they’re looking to build Internet marketing followers and I respond that my biggest problem is that I wish I were two inches taller, that’s not really helping anyone.

Where can you find out more about me? Hmm, I dunno, why don’t you try this:

I know this is an automated direct message, but you at least need to fake it and pretend like you’ve looked at my profile. Don’t include anything in your messaging to indicate otherwise.

This one is just confusing. First he offers to help me reach my goals, and then he asks me to help him. Which is it, buddy?

I’m pretty SURE that he didn’t really MAKE the video just for ME, but it could JUST be me being PARANOID.

It’s Twitter, people. Remember to keep it to 140 characters.

The Ugly

I feel like I just received a direct message from the love child of MySpace and YouTube. My inner grammar Nazi is twitching with anger.

Takeaways

Now that I’ve shared some examples, both good and bad, I thought I’d share some do’s and don’ts when constructing your auto direct messages on Twitter.

Do:

• Be gracious. A simple “Thanks for following!” goes a long way.
• Seem human. There are so many B.S. spammers out there that just making your DM seem like it’s coming from an actual person will give you some clout.
• Keep your message within 140 characters. Make a good impression with the space that you have–nobody wants to read a rambly message with no clear intent.
• Be clever. Think of a way to make your message stand out among the other ones your follower is likely getting. Pique their interest, offer something that’s really unique, share a joke — just think about how you can present yourself as being different from the millions of other Twitter accounts clogging up the web.
• Proofread your message. Nothing screams “unprofessional” like typos, improper capitalization and grammar errors.

Don’t:

• Be afraid to drop a link or two…just make sure that you’re promoting your site/services/products/etc. in a sensible and reasonable manner. Which brings me to the next don’t…
• Spam. Unless you’re a spammer by trade, stuffing your direct message with tons of deals and offers makes you seem like a dishonest huckster.
• Forget about your other social networking profiles. Consider doing some cross-promotion (if it makes sense to) in order to expand your network. You might not want to do this if you’re looking to sell products or promote a business, but if you’re building up a personal profile then why not?
• Keep the same message indefinitely. Try testing out different DMs to see which seem to drive the most traffic or receive the most responses. Also consider tweaking your DM to pertain to different events (e.g., “Happy holidays and thanks for the follow!”).

Like I said, I’m not 100% sold on the auto direct message, but I do think that there is a right and wrong way to craft an auto DM. If you have lots of followers and you’re trying to make them feel that it’s worthwhile to follow you, setting up an auto message might be a good idea–just make sure you’ve crafted the right message for them. If you half-ass your messaging, you might as well not send one out in the first place.

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