If you've been on twitter for longer than a week, then chances are you already know them! The bio's with big cheesy smiles, often American, self proclaiming their Social Media/Marketing expertise based on the 10,000 followers and a blog containing 10-, 15- or 25 top tips to market on twitter. Nuggets of information like "Top 10 Tools used by Top Twitter Marketeers".
All of them proffer advice about marketing but it's always twitter-related. Twitter DVD's about "Traffic Explosion 2" and "How to get 45,000 followers while eating a small sandwhich." etc.
Well they aren't experts - they may be taking advantage of a very open and friendly social media tool - and the people who use them -but they are not top marketeers. There is nothing wrong with mixing business and social media if it's done right. But you don't go around to your freinds house and repeat every 2 mins "I can make you rich. Log on to my blog right NOW to find out how!". It's ridiculous, shameless self-promoting at it's worst.
Time to shed some light on them with my
Top Things Social Media Experts DON'T tell YOU!
Top Things Social Media Experts DON'T tell YOU!
- They claim to be online marketing experts. They have a blog about it. Truth: Funny how their blog often has no PageRank or a low PageRank (i.e. Google doesn't think much about it) and their only visitors come from twitter. That's not online marketing! Real Online marketeers, whether using social media or SEO have been at it for longer than 2 months and have some PageRank. It's a good test for anyone.
- They back up their claims with the 4,000 followers they "gained" while putting on their socks this morning. Truth: They may be following your tweets (for a while anyway) but they're not hanging on your every word! The reality is that when you follow someone, they follow you back, it's polite. It's not because you're a genius. Having followers on Twitter doesn't make you a leader.
- Twitter is broadcast channel and they are the News Desk. Repeating the same message daily about sharing Aloha or how they got $4,000 in one hour (and you can too!). Truth: After getting bored, most people stop following and ignore them. Twitter and tweeters don't need this and if most of your followers are selling the same thing, how are you going to sell to them.
- Twitter is great for marketing. And you need them to tell you how! Truth: Twitter is great for marketing if people recognise you as a leader in what you do and recommend you or write about you. If people just promote you or link to you because they want to get promoted, you end up with a meaningless list of sheep. Just share your thoughts, news and information and -if it's good - people will follow you automatically.
- They're getting thousands of visitors while just sipping on a soda. They clearly have the magic formula and you need to buy the ebook before it sells out. Truth: They have lists of followers as long as highway BUT - here's where it falls down - 90% of them are selling the same message.
Great Post and oh so true. Only in the past few weeks I have noticed it especially since the announcement of the shorty awards and the arrival of some celebs to it, obviously these spamming marketers saw an opportunity to take advantage of people they knew would start using twitter.
ReplyDeleteIt is wrong yet according to the terms of twitter they should not be able to do this. In the case of a certain Aloha lady in Hawaii I feel she has breached these terms on a daily basis! According to twitter you cannot blanket follow people yet they seem to be doing this regularly.
Unfortunately this is going to put a lot of people who have been on twitter for years off, and alas the new people who are only starting to see it benefits will be amused as to what we found so enjoyable about it, it will in essence make us look stupid in the end!
Bastards!