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Is Twitter Still Viable?

by remotedb
34 replies
I'm still fairly new to Twitter, but I'm following what is supposed to be a solid Twitter marketing strategy:

1) Follow the followers of my niche's Gurus
2) Building rappour with my followers with real conversational tweets
3) Providing worthwhile content not constant spam
4) Posting only 1 product link per five or ten content or conversation posts

But I find that if I do step #1 it seems like I get almost 100% spammers following me, most competing in my same niche. Obviously these will never buy from me, they are there to sell in competition with me.

So this makes me skeptical about whether it's a good strategy or not. It leaves me with these questions:

1) Is anyone out there having success with this strategy?
2) If so, what are you doing about all the spammers?
3) About how many followers do you need to have before you are actually making consistent sales and how many of them are spammers?

Thanks in advance!
#twitter #viable
  • Profile picture of the author theplumber
    I don't think there's a valid strategy in using twitter. I did the same as you did, followed some niche gurus, but instantly woke up with 73 followers after my first tweet. I am good but not that good.
    However if you keep providing worthwhile content you will build up some genuine followers.
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  • Profile picture of the author winds
    I've never done real well with Twitter, but once of my suggestions is to make sure to include category tags (#topic1 #topic2) with your promotional tweets...

    Still, even if you have all the "spammers" following you, you can always ignore them. It helps your followers count, and makes you more popular in the eyes of your new followers.
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    • Profile picture of the author steitieh
      Heya

      #1 Follow the followers? well, lets talk realistically, if we compare twitter to any marketing vault you've got like your Mailing list, or facebook fan page etc. would it be proper to join everybody's mailing list when the join yours? or become a fan of their pages when they become fans of yours? I believe that you should NOT follow everybody who follows you unless you're interested in what they write! some say, its NOT ethical not to follow your followers but then, whats the catch? When people follow me, the first thing I look at is the Followers to following ratio, if I find it almost the same, most probably I'll be flooded with spam if I follow back, that's not considering whether I am interested to follow back or not.


      #2 Twitter was built for one social reason: Sharing your current "Social" status with your followers! in the celebrity world, I'd call it gossip... people communicate, share their daily stops, ups and downs etc. I honestly don't believe that twitter was made to have the latest news pop-up into your twitter application the moment its out there. If you want the latest new you can always have RSS feed readers around, but again, Its just my opinion.


      #3 Again, its about socializing with your followers. Its not about giving them content! Just socialize with them they'll know how to find your content (supposedly that's how they followed you in the first place)

      #4 If you get to post like once a day or once every 2 or 3 days some links to your products, and I happen to be following you, I'll certainly unfollow you unless I am NOT actually there to read your tweets but my total intention is to get you to follow me back and YOU read mine!

      Bottom line, the 4 points you've mentioned above shouldn't be called a strategy of an Internet Marketer, I'd just call it a weak technique for a very short term opportunity seekers. I doubt that's what you want. And you will NOT have success doing the 4 points above.


      Rami
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan D
    Banned
    If you use twitter to build relationships, then it's viable. That means not just posting interesting messages, but actually replying back directly to people that comment to you or comment on something of interest.

    There are tons of businesses out there that just post messages without engaging their followers...if you never see an @ then they probably don't get twitter or social media.
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    • Profile picture of the author fredjr1978
      I couldn't agree with you more Ryan. Not everything was created for the IM to profit from. Perhaps this one is just what it says it is....a way to communicate with others who choose to communicate with you. A conversation takes more than just one person (as my wife would say) so if your not responding, all you're really doing is spamming in my book.

      Originally Posted by Ryan D View Post

      If you use twitter to build relationships, then it's viable. That means not just posting interesting messages, but actually replying back directly to people that comment to you or comment on something of interest.

      There are tons of businesses out there that just post messages without engaging their followers...if you never see an @ then they probably don't get twitter or social media.
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  • Profile picture of the author mogulmedia
    Twitter has become an advertising whore-house IMO and I've never done particularly well with it but of course that's only me. I'd rather spend my time working on something that I know does work rather than trying something that might...
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  • Profile picture of the author Corky20
    Twitter gets spammed so much, have tried it but not too sure if it's worth the effort!
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  • Profile picture of the author MAV923
    I tried Twitter and found it to be a real pain, with no ROI...just my 2.5 cents.
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground SEO
    I tried Twitter marketing a while back to no success! I would plough your efforts into something more worthwhile like more link building
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  • Profile picture of the author hardworking
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author fredjr1978
      Haha we all it is working how it's suppose to. It was never meant for what IM think it is for today. Save your time and work on something worth while.

      Originally Posted by hardworking View Post

      yes twitter is still working. And it is growing rapidly.
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      • Profile picture of the author jayleishman
        I'd just focus on giving great content. The products come later. Build loyalty and relationships. There is really no best way on Twitter other than people WANTING to follow your tweets. Picture all the teeny boppers who follow Britney Spears on Twitter. They genuinely want to know what she is doing. Do that and you'll be able to sell/ do whatever later on.
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        • Profile picture of the author HorseStall
          The best thing to do with Twitter is to interact, I'm surprised at how effective it can be.
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          • Profile picture of the author JAIDEEP2959
            Spy on what successful competitors are doing on Twitter and copy it.
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            • Profile picture of the author remotedb
              Originally Posted by JAIDEEP2959 View Post

              Spy on what successful competitors are doing on Twitter and copy it.
              Been there, done that. The problem is that the "successful competitors" are all doing the same thing, following the followers of other successful competitors. It's all this big incestuous mix. At this point, nearly 100% of all followers I encounter when doing this are just other internet marketers, not real prospects.

              For example I work in the weight loss niche. When I follow other weight loss marketers followers I get nearly 100% marketers. Almost no legitimate followers.

              Trust me, nobody is going to be able to make a living selling to marketers who are themselves selling the same products.
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            • Profile picture of the author BrainCopy
              Originally Posted by JAIDEEP2959 View Post

              Spy on what successful competitors are doing on Twitter and copy it.
              I highly agree. Just pay attention to what the "big dogs"
              are doing, subscribe to them, pay attention to their layout,
              bio, what there promoting and how.
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  • Profile picture of the author socialmediawarrior
    I think there are a few problems with the proposed strategy. Just following other people's followers doesn't necessarily translate to success on Twitter. By doing this, you probably are following other marketers like yourself. Instead, you will need to connect with people that are genuinely interested in what you have to say or offer to them. In other words, you will need the right filtering criteria that match your target audience. The filter may include a combination of keywords, location (for local businesses), weeding out promotional links, the quality of their profile, quality of their tweets and conversations, eliminating bots, etc. to name a few. You may choose to do this manually through Twitter's advanced search capabilities or use a more sophisticated tool / service that helps you do this for you.

    The rest of the strategy is fine - tweet content of value, spread out promotional tweets, build relationships with your followers, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisHunt
    I tried a number of tactic to get Twitter follows, got them and then realized they weren't taking action on what I was saying - I may as well been tweeting the marketing message to myself.

    To cut a long story short, I strongly believe that the *best* opportunities are on the search engines where people are LOOKING for your solution, not trying to interrupt people and then convince them that you've got a product that they need.

    You may make money on twitter; is it the *best* use of your resources (time/money) is the question I'd be asking?
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  • Profile picture of the author WireNine
    In my opinion only those with lots of tweets get noticed.
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  • Profile picture of the author Audi
    It seems like most of the people on twitter are their to either market themselves or stalk celebrities , personally I use it to post a link to a new article, blog post, PR release, special offer, etc. however we haven't had much success with it. Most people, including myself, just overlook the people I am following because their is such a massive amount of tweets to go through - most of which are just spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author neodarth
    Twitter success depends on the niche you're targeting.

    If you are trying to enter the IM or the weight loss niche, you probably will get spammed and your tweets will reach only people looking to make a sale instead of people looking for a real solution.

    To make money you should:

    -Target for small niches instead,
    - Search followers based on your keywords
    - Follow back your followers
    - try to have more followers than follows
    - don't over do it with the following process you may be banned
    - don't over do it with the tweet process (adding links in every tweet) you may be banned too.
    - add your offer link into your profile,
    - tweet content and your offer in a ratio of 5 to 1 (5 content tweets for 1 promo tweet).
    - think on twitter as micro blogging so give good information to your followers
    - automate the process using tools like socialoomph.com (former tweetlater) to drip your post.
    This way you can actually make a sale driving traffic to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author JennSpencerIM
    I've never sold anything through twitter but have made some great connections for marketing on others blogs and getting product reviewers!
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  • Profile picture of the author Charleskidd
    Hey beats me I'm trying out the same strategy and I can't get real followers myself. I think you have to transform yourself into a guru before anyone cares too much.
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  • Profile picture of the author CNBCALLDAY
    Twitter has become a circle of the same types twittering each other. Please show me anyone verifiably making money using twitter...Not saying it is not happening, but I seriously doubt it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Skylars1
      Real simple answer: No it's not!
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  • Profile picture of the author cbking
    Interesting question...

    Like you, I have tried following the approach you describe, without any real success. As a result, I have concluded that it is only of use, to gradually build up a following.

    Most of the posts here, are correct in that Twitter is not ideally suited to building up a business, and you end up with people following you that you really don't want.

    It is worth persevering, and using as one leg of your overall plan.
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  • Profile picture of the author DrewClement
    I think this has all been said here, but just wanted to offer my two cents in terms of marketing and promoting offers through Twitter.

    The site does not necessarily attract people that are looking to purchase anything, and it is incredbily hard to get any real direct or targetted traffic through it. I have used, and many others have used, Twitter in order to truly build relationships and connect with people who may be able to bounce ideas back and forth with me or discuss new promotions and joint ventures.

    There are simply too many people out there that are creating a website and a twitter account (and a facebook group) and then blasting out affiliate links all over the place to people that could care less.

    As with all types of marketing, having the right audience and the right sales pitch is crucial, and the low character count and widespread use of Twitter for various other reasons, makes that next to impossible.

    Can money be made through Twitter? Absolutely. Is Twitter still Viable? WIthout a doubt. However it is not the quick fix or magical answer to building traffic that some people have come to expect.

    At least it isnt as bad as SWOM....lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Joanna1643
    i feel your pains cos i've been there. twitter hasn't worked for me. i think twitter lends itself to softwares that automatically follow and unfollow, so people might not really read your tweets(of course the software wouldnt). i suggest you use other viable methods of generating sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mr.Williamstn
    twitter aka spam fest
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  • Profile picture of the author Ishan Soni
    Twitter is like a solo ad mailing list.

    You send me spam and in return I will send you spam.

    Too many people have abused it and people are stating to become skeptical.
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  • Profile picture of the author jayanuaria
    Im doin good with that method. Im using my software that can ignore obvious signs of spam\bot accounts, like if the searched tweet contains links or if the user doesnt have a default picture.

    There are still many good prospects out there, you just need to filter out those bad targets.

    And you dont even need followers to make money from twitter, you can have results by just sending @mentions to thousand targeted users.

    I shared one of my methods here http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ml#post2039920
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    • Profile picture of the author remotedb
      Originally Posted by jayanuaria View Post

      Im doin good with that method. Im using my software that can ignore obvious signs of spambot accounts, like if the searched tweet contains links or if the user doesnt have a default picture.

      There are still many good prospects out there, you just need to filter out those bad targets.

      And you dont even need followers to make money from twitter, you can have results by just sending @mentions to thousand targeted users.

      I shared one of my methods here http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ml#post2039920
      Yeah, I've heard of tweetattacks but I didn't know you could do a reply to someones entire follower base with it. That's very cool! I'll have to give that a shot. Thanks for the tip!
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  • Profile picture of the author Clark056
    I think Twitter is best used in conjunction with a larger contest or offer. People on the site are already conditioned to enter into contests, and play games in an effort to win something, so why not let them do it with your product or service? The more you give on that site the more you get.

    My 2 cents...

    Clark
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