I am absolutely passionate about helping businesses do better. With this in mind, when I see a learning moment that can help many businesses do better, I seize the moment to do so. This example evolves around a business trying to create visibility for an event they are running in Toronto. The goal of this post is to help business create a winning event without getting their account suspended.

Halifax Bayers Lake social media training for business

 

The concern was first brought to my attention on my Facebook Page. As I investigated further, I saw a discussion between Michelle McCann and Curvalicious Canada around the same tweet that was going out multiple times to many other accounts over a very short period of time.

My concern was that this account might get suspended, and all the equity that was build up might be gone in an instant. I saw an opportunity to help a business do better, and help them achieve their desired outcome. So here we go. Here’s a quick video to get us started:

I want to create a win-win for all parties. So we have to look and the good and the bad news to create a win for everyone. After all, there is still visibility to create and business to be done.

Bad News:

Let’s do the bad news first. Let’s look at what Twitter sets as its Terms of Service concerning the area of what it considers as spam. Here is what Twitter says [ Article can be read here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/18311 ] :

“Spam: You may not use the Twitter service for the purpose of spamming anyone. What constitutes “spamming” will evolve as we respond to new tricks and tactics by spammers. Some of the factors that we take into account when determining what conduct is considered to be spamming are [relevant points to this situation]:

  • If you post duplicate content over multiple accounts or multiple duplicate updates on one account;
  • If you send large numbers of duplicate @replies or mentions;
  • If you send large numbers of unsolicited @replies or mentions in an aggressive attempt to bring attention to a service or link;”

Twitter has some clear guidelines of what you can and cannot do. The bad news is that we cannot send the same message over and over again to multiple accounts. As a business, we risk account suspension if we get caught or someone complains.

What are the expected outcomes for sending the same message to many Twitter account?

  • Most will ignore the tweet and go on their merry way – wasted effort on our part
  • Some may mark our tweet as spam – Twitter looks and the account is suspended. Good luck trying to get the Twitter account activated.
  • A few may look at the link, but since there is no connection between parties, nothing gets retweeted or shared – wasted effort.
  • Maybe on the odd chance someone takes notice. What is their motivation to do anything with that tweet? If you hit the right account, an inquiry may come. This is a long shot and not a good way to create visibility and bums in seats.

Now we still need to create visibility and put bums in seats. So how do we proceed? Here comes the Good News:

The Good News:

Michelle McCann  first brought up the idea that relationship is key to success to event success. So what should Curvalicious Canada do now? Here’s some things that they can do right now:

  1. Find out who is running the key Twitter accounts for their industry and key news people. They need to start a conversation with them and ask for their help. The key here is that most people want to be helpful. Instead of hitting these accounts and running, Curvalicious Canad needs to invest some time with key influnecers. They need to create conversations that produce buy in.
  2. Second, they need to find the key industry hashtags. Once they have found them, they should add pictures to these hashtags to give the coming event life. They need to get people thinking, and in some cases, dreaming. Pictures generate a lot of interest on Twitter since they are viewed directly in the news feed.
  3. Thirdly, where possible, they need to use Vine to create cool 6 second videos that will grab people’s attention for the event. Vine play’s directly in the Twitter news feed.
  4. They then need to post great information and pictures for the even ton the Curvalicious Canada Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/curvaliciouscanada. They can use Twitter to drive traffic to the site and create conversations on what is there.
  5. They need to find key industry bloggers on Twitter and reach out to them. Again it will take some time to build relationship with them, but when they do, they can possibly create blog posts for their event. Bloggers are always looking for the inside scoop.

Using a shotgun strategy to create visibility on Twitter will not generate the interest that Curvalicious Canada is looking for. At best, it might create some, but it could annoy a lot of people on Twitter and get the account suspended. They need to take a sniper approach to creating results.

The real win for Curvalicious Canada is in the building of relationships with key industry influnecers and media personalities, with true influence and reach. They don’t have to make best friends with everyone. But they do have to create a relationship with others that will motivate them to act. In this case retweet and create their own unique tweets for the event.

As I alluded to in the video, it’s about creating deposits in the bank before hand. Only then can you make withdrawals in the future. Sending tweets out to strangers asking them to retweet you is like trying to draw money out of an empty bank account. It’s does not work.

Fastest thing Curvalicious Canada can do at this moment? Find a few key people and start asking them for help. Try to figure out who would best come along side to help.

Key things to look for in influencers and news media personalities:

  • Make sure that the Twitter account is having conversation with others; and not just broadcasting themselves.
  • Make sure they are promoting others on their Twitter account. If they don’t promote others, they will not promote you.
  • Make sure they get back to others in a timely fashion.
  • Try to determine if it is the actual person and not just a virtual assistant. You want to go directly to the influencer.

In summary, I wish Curvalicious Canada the best success with their event. Here’s to great visibility and bums in seats; the right way. And by the way, here’s the link to the event: http://www.clubcurvalicious.com/ [this is not an endorsement of the event, only a link for those interested in finding out more information].

I trust this has been a great learning moment for a lot of businesses. Stay on the high road for better success. Cheers 🙂