Author: Beverly Bambury

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Why You Shouldn’t Buy Followers: Book Marketing without B.S. #1

Book Marketing without B.S. is a weekly publicity and marketing advice column for writers and other creators who prefer a realistic, clear, and no-nonsense approach.

The marketing and publicity worlds are important for understanding audience and customers, and getting the right word out to the right people; but, let’s be honest. There’s also a lot of bullshit. My goal is to help you cut through the B.S. with direct, understandable advice you won’t be embarrassed to follow.

Welcome to my inaugural Book Marketing withouth BS column. Today’s question was asked anonymously, and it’s about purchasing followers on Twitter (and by extension, purchasing likes/on other blogs and social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, etc.).

The short answer to this is “Don’t do it”. Below is the breakdown on why, but first, I should say that other people have written about this. Just Google “Should I buy Twitter followers” (without quotes) and you’ll find other discussion.

Here are more thoughts on the topic, and be sure to leave yours in the comments. I’ll share the best in my next post.

1 – It’s dishonest, and if you’re found out, people will think less of you. Remember what happened to President Obama and Mitt Romney in the recent election cycle?

1.1 – It’s also pretty corny. Honestly. See #2.

2 – It’s much more obvious than you think. If you’re not famous, but you have tens of thousands of followers (and you’re only following a small number yourself), no one is going to believe you’ve got that many followers. Really, really.

There are people I know and otherwise respect that I am certain have purchased followers. I feel bad for them in the way you feel bad for someone who buys a bad hair piece or who has a comb-over. They don’t seem to feel good enough as they actually are, and so they try covering it up. They don’t need to do it though–they’re already cool on their own. They’re just looking for an easy way to get a boost, not realizing that there’s no easy way with social media. More on this later.

One other note: Facebook’s analytics tell anyone where a page’s audience is, not just the page owner. One of the people I know had around 85% of his followers from a former Russian republic. It’s there for all to see, and it looks plain bad.

3 – Most importantly: it won’t deliver results. There may be a few little metrics here and there that will boost, but mostly it won’t work. Why? Well, if you’re paying for followers, and the vast majority of them are fake/inactive, you are not expanding your audience at all. You’re only buying a bigger number and nothing more.

The 30,000 followers you bought? None of them are going to buy your graphic novel. They aren’t going to share your book with anyone. If they do–by some crazy chance–they’re sharing it with other fakes. It’s a waste of your time and money, and you don’t have enough of either, right?

It’s possible a few people who stumble across you will be impressed with your numbers, but you know what? If you’re posting useful, relevant stuff already, they’d have followed you when they stumbled across you with or without high numbers. Also, the more savvy people get about fake followers, the more likely it is to be a turnoff. Once again, I refer you to #2.

In all my research I saw no one, even anonymously, saying that they were thrilled with their results (aside from a few stray blog comments that were so awkward and ham-handed that they were obviously from people who sell the fake followers). Surely someone out there would boost them if they were effective, but I don’t see that. Have you seen a trustworthy source ever say it was a good idea? I personally have not.

I also interviewed three people who have bought followers or likes, some on Twitter, some on Facebook. (And yes, I know this is not a scientific sample. I just wanted some directly shared anecdotes!) All three of them say they saw no tangible results. Two of them are specifically unhappy and regretful and one has neutral emotions about it. One said that some of the Facebook “likes” occasionally interact with his page, but that there’s been no boost in sales. That person also wonders whether it might have made more sense for his business if he’d waited. I concede that it is possible that this purchaser might appear a bit more often as a suggested page on Facebook because of the likes; however, I still think it won’t likely boost sales since the purchased followers have zero emotional connection/interest with you or your product/service.

The main thing to remember is that it’s really tempting to buy followers for many reasons. Some of that is what I mentioned above: feeling unsure, desperate, insecure, worried. Some people are more mercenary and genuinely think that they’re going to improve their standing on social media and they see it as legitimate. I can understand all of those reasons and more. You want to look good. I get it, but this isn’t the way.

“So how do I build audience?”, you ask. It’s actually not too difficult. The problem is it takes time and effort, and that’s why it’s hard. Time is short. We’re all tired and hoping for a shortcut. The only good way is to interact with people. Share other people’s content and ideas. Share about your dog, your wife, your kids–and also your books and creations. Try not to let all of (or even the vast majority of) your tweets be “BUY MY BOOK” stuff or “READ THIS EXCERPT NOW!” stuff. Some rules of thumb say 10% of your stuff should be about your stuff. I think that may be about right. Some weeks it will be more, some weeks it will be less. Mainly remember that (and yes, I am repeating myself) social media is social. Be a real, integrated human being who sometimes shares his or her work, and you will build a following.

Will you ever have a million followers? Almost certainly not. The followers you have, though? They’re actually interested in YOU. Respect them. Cultivate them.

Check out Zenni Optical on Twitter. Whomever does their social media is skilled at building loyalty and feelings of community. They tweet back to people who mention them. They ask about what the potential customer is interested in. Not only are they building followers with genuine interest and interactivity, but they’re offering a good, high-touch customer experience and that’s going to garner a healthy percentage of followers who are likely to spend money. Not only that, but Zenni is getting real data from consumers about what they like and don’t like, and what products are popular. This is incredibly valuable information.

“But, I’m dark and serious and not that social. Plus I don’t sell glasses. This advice sucks!” you say. OK, I’ll grant you that. It’s not the same thing, selling glasses and selling dark fiction or surreal graphic novels. And, well, yeah, that overly happy voice isn’t a good fit for everyone, but that isn’t the point. The point is that they are social. They interact. They participate with potential customers instead of broadcast, so despite that perkiness that may not appeal to you, those principles are the same, and I’ll cover them more specifically (along with examples that you may find more relevant) in next week’s column.

Thanks for joining me for the inaugural Book Marketing without BS. Let me know what you think, and you have my deep appreciation for reading this far. I hope you come back again, and if you’re forgetful like me, you can sign up by email.

Have a questions you’d like to see answered? Email them to beverly@beverlybambury.com.

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The Secret to Contacting Traditional Media for Book Publicity

I haven’t contacted as many traditional media outlets as I have websites and bloggers for publicity–if for no other reason than traditional media is on a decline or integrating with online media–but, as it turns out, the secret is that there isn’t much of a secret. It still remains connections, politeness, reading directions, and being an all-around good human being.

I go into some of this in my earlier article 5 Steps to a Quality Blog Tour, but here is more info with an eye toward bigger sites/traditional media publicity queries.

Connections
The main difference I’ve found with my work is that personal connections and networking count for even more with bigger publications, print, television, or otherwise. It’s not impossible to get into a major spot without connections; but it’s much, much harder. I had a campaign recently that didn’t go as well as I’d have liked, because it was outside of my usual industry and I had almost no connections. I got some traction, but it wasn’t even close to my usual success rate.

Politeness
I am sad I even have to say this, but horror stories I hear time and time again show me it’s still necessary. Say please. Say thank you. Don’t be a jerk. Related to politeness:

Empathy
You’re hoping for the best, naturally. You may even feel a lot of stress because you put so much of yourself (time and money) into your project. Those are all real and valid things and it’s OK to feel them. What you mustn’t lose sight of is that each of the people you’re querying are also human beings with lives, hectic jobs–and often more than one of those. They are really busy, and you are not even close to the only person querying, so be patient and remember that everyone else’s world doesn’t revolve around you and your creation, even when you wish it were so.

RTFM
If you don’t know what RTFM is, go to Google. I’ll wait. For those of us who do know, though, you’ll get it. Most places have submission or query guidelines, or at least a note about whether they are even open to hearing from you. Please follow the instructions. If you can’t find instructions, they have enough content and aren’t specifically looking for more. This is where your connections and networking come in.

Following Up Appropriately
Following up is a tricky one. I see conflicting info out there, but I think it’s safe to say that if you send one query and you don’t hear back for two to three weeks, it’s OK to send a very brief follow-up, but don’t send any more if you don’t hear back.

An example of a brief follow up might be just asking if a (solicited or accepted post-query!) review copy was received. Don’t ask when the review is happening, or if it’s happening. That’s up to them, not you.

Note: if you send a press release or an unsolicited review copy, don’t follow up. With the advice above, I am only talking about emailed queries asking for publicity or asking permission to send a review copy.

Creators/authors: any experiences or tips that you want to share?

Journalists/bloggers: any thoughts on the way you prefer to be approached–especially with regard to following up?

I’d love to hear from you. You can post in the comments or contact me.

Also, coming soon, my new column about marketing your book, comic, movie, and (of course) yourself.

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A Hard Line Against Twitter DMs for Promotion and Marketing

Stop using Twitter DMs for marketing or publicizing your stuff. Just. Stop. (You’re going to like this one. It’s short to read and I am telling you to do less.)

Here’s why:

A minimum of 90% of the DMs I receive parrot the exact same stuff/links that is already on the sender’s Twitter profile or in a bunch of their tweets. If someone’s already looked at your profile and decided to add you, you don’t need to repeat yourself in a DM.

“But I’ve got free stuff to share with followers! I need to make sure they don’t miss it!” Tweet it instead. Twitter is for tweeting. You can add it to your profile, too. It won’t be that hard to find. Honest.

And really, if you’re tweeting it AND DMing it AND it’s also on your profile, how do you think you look to people? Not like a real person interested in connecting or being social on social media. You come off as spammy to most people. (Really. See my survey results from last year about this topic.)

Remember that a DM is a personal contact, and when you use it for advertising, it’s completely impersonal and it’s broadcasting instead of being social/communicating.

So what’s the theme here? Once again it comes down to using social media to be social. Share your business stuff/creative stuff, sure. I do it, too. But you should also talk to people, meet people, share other people’s stuff you think is cool, occasionally talk about your spouse or kids, etc. Be real. Be genuine. Be an integrated human being. Be social.

TL;DR: Stop DMing your promo stuff. There’s almost never a good reason for it. Send your promos in your tweets or in your profile info. Not in DMs. Or any other private message for that matter. You are not special and different. Trust me.

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Authors Reviewing Authors?

A client asked me today about what I think of authors reviewing other authors, particularly in a negative light. It’s an interesting companion with yesterday’s blog post about writers commenting on reviews. I am of two minds:

On the one hand, I am a strong proponent of critical thought and discourse. There is just too damn much puffery out there, and it seems like people (at least publicly) are losing their ability to think critically.

On the other hand, from a public relations perspective, it is smart for people part of a small community (and really, the internet makes it a small commuity no matter how far apart we are,) to write critical reviews of other community members’ work? Probably not.

So my answer? Sure, but be careful and make sure you support your assertions with examples.

But for the larger issue this puts us in a bind, and goes back to the 21st Century Criticism blog series on my personal blog. How do we get really good critical discussion and analysis when we’re all so close to each other?

Once again I fear we lose something in the democratization of the internet: the professional reviewer, with his or her professional distance.

All that said, I am a deeply social creature. I like the closeness and community and I like the friends I’ve made. I feel at home with many of my writing and editing pals. So we lose something, which I firmly believe, but we also gain. It’s complicated and I don’t pretend to have the answers.

So where do you go for really good, fair reviewers–even for what they don’t like? (I mean this aside from Goodreads and the like, which I think are the obvious choices–I am interested in what individuals are out there fighting the good critical fight.)

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Just a Litte More: Author/Creator Comments on Reviews

In light of recent discussions I thought I’d clarify my thoughts on the authors (and other creators) commenting on reviews issue. I’ve said in the past “just don’t do it, ever”, but I think the time has come for me to expand that thought into more than just the idea of authors behaving badly.

My updated advice to creators is that they should pretty much never comment on negative reviews. If you want to thank someone for a good review, please do; but, don’t say much beyond a gracious “Thank you”. Especially if you have any negative or irritated feelings inside you. The reason I say this is because people can tell, and—at least from the publicist’s perspective—you don’t want people thinking of you as an author behaving badly. And that includes authors behaving in a passive aggressive manner. Or a whiny or entitled manner.

“But I have a right to talk to people online. They have comment functionality turned on, and that’s what it’s for!” Yes, that’s true. You certainly have that right and privilege. But stop and ask yourself whether is it wise from a public relations perspective. If you are a wise person, you’ll realize that the answer is most likely going to be “no, I shouldn’t”. It’s similar to the adage about not emailing angry.

Think about what you want your name to be as a brand, because your behaviour feeds right into that idea of the personal branding, and for creators on the internet, word gets around fast. Negative feelings about you will affect fans’ perceptions of your work, whether or not you want to believe that’s true.

Not only that, the stuff you post on line can’t ever really be removed. People take screen shots, aggregators aggregate. So if you want to get on that train to interactivity, then feel free, just make sure you’re doing it for reasons that further your goals and cultivate the online image you want to have. Or you know, if you actually like and get along with people and are just socializing. Which is way different from commenting on reviews/criticism.

Anyhow, here’s a final piece of free advice: when in doubt, don’t.

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Guest Post: I Am Finished Writing My Novel. Now What?

Today we hear from freelance editor and author of The Dragon Whisperer, Vanessa Ricci-Thode.

So you just finished writing your book? Congrats! Reward yourself! Go grab some ice cream. Have a wild evening out with friends. You’ve earned it. Few people ever even start writing a book, never mind finishing one. You’re a star!
Now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. That’s right, writing a novel is the easy part! If you’re completely lost about what to do next, then you’ve come to the right place.
Step away from the manuscript and no one gets hurt
Give the novel some time to simmer. Do anything that doesn’t involve tinkering with your shiny new draft. It’s one of the first thing Susan Bell recommends in her excellent book The Artful Edit. Even the masters of literary abandon at NaNoWriMo suggest taking time off before getting back to work on your novel, and they’ve got some excellent tips on what you should do next.
Don’t fall in love with your words
Once you’re back at it with fresh eyes, you need to remember that this is a first draft. Don’t get too attached to it and it will be easier to focus your revisions. You’ll need to watch out for those “darlings” Stephen King warns us about in On Writing, as well as point of view problems, and the insidious matter of telling rather than showing.
It all seems daunting, especially when you consider that this is still the beginning stages of revision, but there are many tools available to a resourceful and dedicated writer. I’ve named some already, and one of my favourite books on this subject is The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman.
Find a second (or third or fourth) set of eyes
No one can wholly edit their own work — and this from a professional editor! — so find some objective friends and family members. Get them to read your book and give feedback — constructive feedback! Be sure to ask them how you could improve. Don’t have any readers in your social circle or family? Join a writers group or submit to an online critique group like Critters.
Editors aren’t your enemy
Okay, by now you should have gone through at least one more draft of your novel, but dozens of rewrites wouldn’t be unusual (or even a bad sign). You’re confident that you’ve got the best manuscript you’re capable of. Remember my second point and don’t get too attached. You may have taken your novel as far as you can, but a good editor can guide you in taking your writing to dizzying new heights.
Whether you plan to self-publish or approach traditional publishing houses, remember that good editors want your book to succeed. When they make suggestions, they aren’t trying to “tear apart” all that you’ve worked so hard for. It’s an editor’s job to point out lingering weaknesses and guide you in making your novel truly shine.
If you want to hire an editor (and I strongly recommend it if you plan to self-publish), there are plenty of places, like the EAC, to find qualified professional editors for whatever genre or length of story you’ve written. Do your research and make sure you find an editor who is the right fit.
Time to publish?
I frequently have authors ask me, after all the above steps have been taken, where to find publishers. There’s always the option of self-publishing, and I could fill a whole post on that. For traditional publishers and markets, I recommend checking out Duotrope’s listings, as well as two great print resources: Jeff Herman’s Guide to Editors Publishers and Agents, and the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market.

Final comments from Beverly: Thanks very much, Vanessa! These are useful, practical tips. One note I wanted to share with readers is that Duotrope is now largely a paid site. They’re the top name in the game; but there are donation-only alternatives, such as The Submission Grinder.

Another note is that if you really feel that you can’t afford to hire an editor or proofreader (or cover artist for that matter), you have the option of hiring a student for a smaller amount of money. You pay less, but bear in mind you also get less experience, so you must keep expectations realistic.

If you have any questions or comments for Vanessa, leave them in the comments. 

Vanessa is a word sorceress working as both a fiction author and editor with a focus on genre fiction. She’s been writing her whole life, and has been a freelance editor for three years, with active membership in the EAC. Visit her website at www.thodestool.com for details.

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Closed for Queries on 2013 Release Dates

The response to Beverly Bambury Publicity has been overwhelming, and so it is with gratitude and pleasure that I annouce that I am no longer accepting queries for 2013 releases. (Well, maybe a little sadness, too, since it means I won’t get to work with so many of you!)

The one exception: if you and I have a prior relationship, please do contact me even with 2013 releases. I don’t have much space left, but it’s much less time consuming to work with someone whose work I already know, so I may be able to squeeze something into the schedule.

If you have a 2014 release please contact me soon; I’ll gladly make tentative arrangements that we can solidify closer to your release.

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5 No-BS Twitter Tips for Authors (and Everyone Else)

I was inspired to write this post with my no-bull Twitter guide for writers after answering questions about Twitter for a colleague not too long ago. I am sure you’ve heard some of this before; however, I think a lot of it will be new, and all of it bears repeating. It also often applies to other social media interactions. So let’s dive in:

1 – Have A Purpose

And that purpose probably should be to network with other authors.

If you haven’t stopped reading with that line, let me also say that another purpose certainly can be to have genuine conversations and social experiences with readers, too. Note I said “genuine conversations”: if your expectation is that tweeting out your announcements will build relationships and sell lots of books, you’re going to be disappointed in your results. Only those who already have a large built-in following will find that useful, and even then, most of them are social and use Twitter for its intended purpose: conversation.

You certainly can reach audience with Twitter, but you have to be patient and spend time on relationships. So, if you are ready for that kind of effort, see tip #2:

2 – Social Media = Social Skills

Say please and thank you. Listen before talking. Share other people’s content, not just your own. It’s sort of like holding the door for someone or not taking up two seats on the bus. It’s just the right thing to do.

Did I mention listen?

Don’t bother people with promotional direct messages (DMs), especially if they have followed you as a human being and not a company. You have your tweets with links, you have a link in your Twitter profile, don’t push using DMs, too, or it’s frequently viewed as unwelcome. See my social media preference survey results post from 2012, in which I talk about automated DMs. The lessons from this apply even to non-automated messages. (In fact, if I were to re-do the survey I’d make it more about promotional DMs than automatically-triggered ones.)

3 – Don’t Play the Numbers Game

Don’t stress out over your follower numbers. Seriously.

Don’t just follow people in an attempt to get them to follow you back. Many people find it suspicious when you are following almost the exact same number of people following you. This is especially true for people following thousands. It becomes obvious you’re just doing follow-back and aren’t really interested in building relationships.

Sure, on some level it may feel good to know that you have 25,000 followers, but ask yourself this:

Are those people actually reading and buying my books? 

Many times–most times–the answer will be no. Why? Because they’re follow-back people, too. Number collectors. Sure, they’ll follow back, but if their main goal is just to build numbers they aren’t going to buy your book anyway, because you’re just another number in their follower count.  They largely don’t care about your content.

Also, if you follow someone you think is interesting, keep following them. If you unfollow it shows you weren’t really interested in what they had to say. Now, I am not saying to never unfollow. I unfollow all the time when I realize I am not getting much out of the interactions, or any number of other reasons, but never just for not following back.

Can you build audience with Twitter? Absolutely, but it can’t be rushed, and it should never, ever be bought. (More on that later.) Go for quality over quantity, and if you’re reaching out and being social and a good community member, your numbers will naturally rise over time. Start by following some people you’re interested in. Listen first (I say that a lot, don’t I? There is a reason for it). Reply if you are so inclined. Retweet if you are so inclined. That’s the best kind of audience building you can do directly on Twitter. Naturally if you also have a Facebook page or a blog you can use that to ask people to follow you on Twitter, too.

Note: you are not obligated to follow people back on Twitter, or anywhere else. Only follow if you’re interested, and don’t worry if you lose followers here and there. Your overall numbers will steadily rise if you’re using your account. I promise! If you lose tons in one day, that is something to look at, and that’s another blog post entirely.

3.1 – Buying Followers: Do Not Do It
Admittedly, it always looks better when you have more followers than you are following, but you can’t manufacture that without getting into the realm of buying fake followers. Fake followers do nothing for you. In case I am being unclear, let me say it with big letters: 

DO NOT BUY FOLLOWERS

They may pump up your numbers, but not one of those accounts represents someone who is going to buy your book. It’s also unethical and frankly–it’s pretty obvious when you do it. Also, there are now analyzers that ferret out your fake follower percentage. Here’s mine, courtesy of Status People:

Note, everyone has probably got a few fake followers out there. You can’t always control it, but your numbers should stay fairly low percentage-wise if you’re not purchasing.

The lesson here: be interesting and interactive, and you’ll get good quality followers. Just have a bit of patience. It’s really that simple.

4 – Use Hashtags, Even Just to Search

There are several hashtags commonly used by writers on Twitter, such as #AmWriting, #AmEditing, or simply #writing. If you add one of these to the search bar at the top of the Twitter page or app, you can see other people’s tweets on the topic. It’s a great way to jump into the conversation with other authors. Use them yourself, but only when they’re relevant. Don’t use a hashtag to post a non-relevant post. Ever. It’s rude and people look at it as kind of pathetic. Post what you want, but don’t abuse hashtags that are commonly used for a specific purpose. For that matter, it’s the same with trending hashtags. Nothing makes you look more awkward than trying to shoehorn your irrelevant content into a hashtag. Especially tragedy ones (see #2 at that link). For the love of all that is good.

If you have a giveaway going on, you can use hashtags to help with those, too. There is a great list of hashtags for writers here, including promotional tags: http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/12/100-twitter-hashtags-every-writer-should-know/.

5 – Join the conversation

I am going to reiterate: Twitter is a conversation, and for authors it’s not necessarily a strong sales tool in any direct way, at least not at first. It’s all about relationships and communication. That is “co-” as in “together”. Keep expectations realistic and get out there and use Twitter to meet people and respond to people. And yes, to listen to other people and maybe share their stuff.

By all means, post about your books, tell people when they’re on sale on Amazon; but, make sure that your Twitter feed is social and engaged, and does not solely function as an announcement list.

I hope you find this useful, and if you have questions or comments, leave them below.
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Self-Promotion on Social Media – Survey Results

(Originally published at http://www.elsewords.com in July 2012.)

Good evening! It’s been another overly-full week, but last weekend at Polaris and the monthly Chiaroscuro Reading Series event were well worth cramming in everything else. More on those events later. Right now I’d like to share some of the results of Beverly’s Unscientific Survey of Social Media Preference. I have the survey questions and results discussion after the break. Also, be sure to see the comments section, which has some great comments.


I got 80 replies to the following questions:


1. How often do you use Twitter?

  • Daily
  • 2-3 times per week
  • Once per week
  • 2-3 times per month
  • Once per month
  • Less frequently than once per month
2. In the last month have you re-shared someone else’s tweet on Twitter, Facebook or any other social media platform? (i.e. retweet, share, RT, MT, QT, etc.)
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not Sure
3. Have you ever followed someone on Twitter and received an automated reply, whether by direct message (DM) or by an @ message?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not Sure
4. If you received an automated message, what was your emotional reaction?
  • Happy
  • Pleased
  • Amused
  • Indifferent
  • Irritated
  • Angry
  • N/A
  • Other (Please Specify)
5. Did you take any action as a result of the automated response?
  • Replied to message
  • Read message but took no action
  • Ignored message
  • Deleted message
  • Unfollowed the sender of the message
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
6. What is your impression of Twitter users that use automated/robot replies? (This does not include personal messages, only automated ones.) Choose the best one even if you agree with more than one.
  • Professional
  • Savvy
  • Smart
  • Cool
  • Interesting
  • Nice
  • Reasonable
  • Rude
  • Uneducated
  • Uninteresting
  • Lacking etiquette
  • Unprofessional
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
7. Do you follow or like any pages in Facebook or Google Plus? Pages here being defined as brand pages, author pages, movie pages, blog pages – *not* a personal profile.
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure
8. If you do like or follow a page on Facebook or Google+, what kind of information do you *best* like to receive from that page? (Please choose only the best one, even if you agree with more than one.)
  • News about the company
  • News about the product (including books, blog posts and movies)
  • News about an *unrelated* company, author, movie, etc.
  • General news items (like current events)
  • Fun visual items (funny or clever pictures, animations, videos, etc.)
  • Fun written items (jokes, clever blog posts, sayings, quotes, etc.)
  • Surveys
  • Games
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
9. Have you ever unfollowed or un-liked a page on *any one or more* of Twitter, Facebook or Google+?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure
10. If you have unfollowed or un-liked a page on *any one or more* of Twitter, Facebook or Google+, choose the best reason below, even if you agree with more than one.
  • Too much content about the brand or product (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Too little content about the brand or product (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Not enough useful content about the brand or product (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Too much content about *unrelated* brands or products (including blogs, books, movies, etc.)
  • Too many fun/silly posts
  • Not enough fun/silly posts
  • Too many games
  • Too many surveys
  • Too much content in general (i.e. clogs stream)
  • N/A
  • Other (please specify)
As far as survey design. I’ve never done it before, and I see several flaws in the way I worded and structured the survey. I could have made better use of my limited survey questions for sure. I also think I have too many areas for free text. Free text replies often fit quite neatly into something I’d already set forth as a category, though I definitely like having some free text. Context can mean a lot, and some of the replies were insightful or funny – or both.
Anyhow, here are the important results. I think questions like “how often do you use Twitter” for example turned out to be pretty useless, so I don’t include things like that here. The pie charts are from the presentation I gave at Polaris on this topic, “Self-Promotion on Social Media: Tips, Tricks and Cautionary Tales“.
Here is the breakdown for “In the last month have you retweeted or re-shared?”
This is important because it shows that most users are sharing content that they find on social media. 
The next one is about the emotions that resulted from receiving an automated/robot DM. I focused this question on Twitter since it is most prevalent there, but I wish I’d asked it about all platforms.
This was an interesting one because not only were there results here that showed fully half or people responding to this question were indifferent, but that a large minority were irritated. There were also some interesting text replies for this one. Here’s a sample (emphasis mine): 

Negative association. It’s impersonal, and frequently common to users who are marketing rather than communicating

Meh. I dislike them. Usually used to push a service which makes me want to go unfollow them immediately. I believe it can be done well, but usually isn’t.

It’s answers like these that helped me solidify my opinion that social media are first and foremost social, which implies give and take, back and forth. Communication is no longer a linear process, after all. 
This chart is of the answers to “Did you take any action as a result of the automated response?”
This one shows that only one person out of all of the possible choices, actually replied. Most effectively ignored the message (“ignored message” and “read but took no action”) but a few deleted them and the same number of people unfollowed. One of the text replies fit into the “unfollow” category as well. I thought this was very important, because it shows the cost of pushy communication. One reply for indifference and actual loss of audience. 
This chart is one of the most important in the survey results. It is the breakdown of people’s impressions of users who use automated direct messages/replies on Twitter.
This one is especially interesting because I gave a large range of options, equally distributed over positive qualities and negative qualities. The list on the left shows all the choices that no one chose. Note that they are all the “nice” qualities. A few kind replies among the responses, two saying “savvy”, three saying “reasonable” but the rest were all the negative qualities listed, with the winner being “lacking etiquette”. Think a few people are missing from this pie chart? You may be right. This answer had a heavy free text reply result. Here are all of the text replies, in a few cases condensed where people’s answers were similar: 

Lazy and indifferent/Lazy
Conceited and stupid
Spam/Spammy/Endless Spamming
Impersonal
I believe it can be done well, but usually isn’t.
Dude, you just don’t get it, do you?
Unless you’re George Takei, it’s rarely necessary
It depends on the nature of the auto reply
Naive
Convinced of their own celebrity

All of the replies are valuable, but as before I’ve emphasized replies I thought were of particular interest. Once again we see that a push or broadcast isn’t well-received. 

This is the last chart, and it’s for the “why did you unfollow/unsubscribe” question:


This is another question where I wish I’d worded the replies differently. I ended up grouping most of the “too much” responses together into one, because ultimately they were. The text replies showed me that I’d worded the question badly, which is why I chose to combine them in the visual examination here. The lesson? You really don’t need to tweet all day or post on Facebook frequently. Twitter is ephemeral, sure, but three or four times a day for one message is enough in almost all cases. Facebook? Post it once. Facebook and Google+ posts live a bit longer in people’s streams, so there’s less need for repetition. 

My conclusion is that social media functions as a conversation. If you’re just blathering on and not listening or reacting or sharing with others, you’re missing the point and turning off potential customers/readers/viewers/listeners. It’s OK if growth is a bit slower than you like. The number of followers and subscribers and likes isn’t really as important as engaging the audience you already have and being social and conversational in the process of finding new ones. 

So is social media free? I don’t think we should think of it as free at all. The time investment can be costly and should be figured into the process. If you don’t have time for a conversation, now may not be the time for you to use social media for your promotional purposes.

There was a lot more to my presentation last weekend, but I have an upcoming podcast where I get into more detail, so keep an eye out for that if you want more. I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions in the comment section.