Is Using the @ On Twitter To Target Customers Right Or Wrong?

Social Media, Twitter July 31, 2009 7 Comments @niallharbison

So it seems that there is a massive new trend for people to target people on twitter that you don’t know using the Twitter search and the @ reply and I just wanted to see what people’s feeling was on this. If you are not sure what I am talking about here is how it works using a fictional company…

Sanjay owns a trendy bar in London and although he is busy at the weekend he finds himself with very few bookings for the early part of the week. He is a keen user of twitter and all social media and has just discovered Twitter search. After browsing around he tried typing in the serach term “Good Bars London” and was surprised to see 100s of people looking for bars in London. Sanjay only follows a couple of hundred of his real friends on twitter and has never met any of the people below before…

Some of the sample results Sanjay found

Now this is where the dilemma comes in. Sanjay suddenly realizes that he doesn’t need to be following these people to send them an @ reply and tell them that he has special offers on all of next week in his amazing bar.

Now this is still a very new technique that not everybody has realized exists yet but people are slowly figuring it out and I am seeing more and more of it. I am leaning towards saying it might be ok in some circumstances if done delicately but it is definitely bordering on spam and as soon as it is adopted by the masses it will be considered spam by Twitter themselves and I would go as far as saying they may have to change their whole @reply system. I could be wrong though so would love you to vote in this quick poll and see what you all think…

Comments

http://www.managementmatters.ie Claire Boyles (Business Coach)

Interesting, I’ve run searches before for things that I’m interested in, so that I can find people with common interests.

I’ve @replied to people that I’m not following, initiating conversation, isn’t that what twitter is about?

Sometimes these people become clients of mine, as a result of the conversation…

Is that spam?

I think as with lots of things in life, it depends not on what you do, but how you do it.

If you’ve got a product or service that someone is actively searching for & you’re giving them information on how to solve their need I don’t see what the problem is, and I’m guessing neither will they- You’ve just given them what they’re looking for!

Lauren Fisher

Claire, you’re absolutely right in that depends on how you do it. The issue obviously arises when you’re just auto-replying to a tweet mentioning your brand for example. This does nothing to enhance the conversation and is sadly an approach that a lot of brands take. Sounds like you’re doing it right though and getting good results out of it!

http://www.stewartcurry.ie/ Stewart Curry

I’d say that if it’s done sensibly and respectfully then it’s fine, but I just don’t see that happening in the real world. I’d imagine brands/organisations would have to be very careful about how they go about this, and really provide something of value not to be considered spammers.
http://Www.candocanbe.com Karen Skidmore

Wd this be spam? Probably if you were out right selling something that the person hadn’t requested. But one person’s spam is another person’s value

As one comment had already been made – it’s the tone & the offer that has to be consider. Automated bot-like tweets are going to hack someone off. But an answer to their question, a useful link or a free bit of advice could be most welcome.

Don’t go in for the sell – Get the content right and start a conversation.

Karen
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http://www.puddleducks.ie Aedan Ryan

Interesting question. I think if it’s done sensitively and it adds value then it’s OK. So for us, if I see in Twitter search someone saying “Help! Where can I find good waterproofs for my kids”, I might @reply them in a non-spammy way. You also need to be non-pushy in the language used in the reply.
http://thisiswhatido.org Darragh

Doing it to answer a question or help someone with their query I would say is acceptable.

Doing it to pimp your business is not.

Transparency and providing value in your response here is the key. There’s a big difference in replying to:

Looking for tips on good restaurants/bars to visit in London next weekend – hotel is next to Tower Bridge so ideally around there

with

There’s some great choices – Bull and Castle, Wharfman and the Ericsson are all close. I own the Sanjay – drop in and say hi if you’re passing.

and

The Sanjay is the best place to go. It’s hip, trendy and cool and really is the only place you should be seen.

is a big one. Similarly if Sanjay was silly enough to reply to everyone with the same tweet, that would be bad too.

I have a big problem with business people approaching me on twitter especially if I haven’t invited them or heard from them before. If it’s done with a “Hi Darragh, this might help” and then an actual benefit to me rather than them, then great. That rarely happens though. People need to understand they’re as much interrupting a train of thought as a conversation. Mostly people want to hear from “friends” on twitter, not to be sold to.

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