So, Paul Chaney and I were having a discussion about, well, everything and then we started talking about social media pet peeves and things you can and can’t do and we discovered there are no hard fast rules or absolutes, it’s all in the way you do things that separate the fail from the un-fail. So, in honor of our conversation, we are starting an AA meeting meme for recovering social media purists. So, here goes…
The first step in any recovery program is to admit you have a problem…
All The Twucked Up Twit in Social Media!
My Name is Mary and I am a Social Media Purist. It all began when I created my first Twitter account. It started off slowly by just broadcasting some blog posts then I started interacting with my friends, next I knew I was engaging with everyone and anyone, retweeting posts in my stream like a crack head on a bender and even getting snarky with the industry insiders on the “conversation proposition.” I became an “engagement junkie.” It was bad… I was the first to shout from the rooftops how Twitter was all about engagement and conversation and if you had a brand or were building one you MUST interact. I poo pooed on “broadcast only” accounts saying there was no place for them and how they “missed the boat.” I’m not gonna lie, I’d hit rock bottom. I was basically mainlining the industry jargon and social media propaganda…
But then, it happened… I found no engagement accounts that worked. They served a purpose, created a follower base and converted followers to leads, referrers and even sales effectively. They were gems among the coal mines of accounts, they were shining little points of light that made me rethink the whole idea of broadcast only accounts.
So what makes a successful broadcast only Twitter account? Most the successful broadcast only accounts have a proven format for tweets they stick to – see Fmylife. They provide humor, news, tutorials, tips, quotes, etc. They serve to collect large user bases and seek to drive traffic either back to their site for conversion there or build enough social equity and content to entice publishers to offer them book or editorial deals. These types of accounts have reformed my perception of broadcasting instead of socializing on Twitter. They have helped me to understand that there are no absolutes when using Twitter. If you have a goal and a strategy, you can bend Twitter to your will and do what others say cannot be done or should not be done. But, here’s the clincher, if you are going to go against the glut of social media “gurus” and use a broadcast only account, you just have to do it well. You have to offer something valuable in the content and push your visitors to a place where they can convert to customers. Below are a few broadcast only accounts that do it very very well that helped me realize I needed a 12 step social media program to cure my purist thought ways!
AmazonDeals announces Amazon’s daily deals and drives readers back to conversion pages where they can learn more about the deal and make a purchase
Groupon Announces a daily local deal to followers (obviously, I follow the Boston area deals) and drives readers back to conversion landing pages where they can immediately act on the deal or join the mailing list to have the same deals delivered to their inbox
This Is Why You Are Fat Hilarious photoblog of food images that scream, “this is why you are fat.” I cannot tell you the hours Nick and I have spent on this site laughing hysterically and pointing out what we would secretly sample! Oh, and what makes this site business savvy? The author got a book deal!
Texts From Last Night TFLN is not only one of my favorite guilty pleasures but it is a brilliant business model. The Twitter account just broadcasts all new content from the site and drives readers back to the website to read more. Started by 2 Michigan grads, TFLN is populated by user generated content of hilarious drunken texts. The site went viral, generated over 1 million in advertising dollars in less than 8 months and sells related merchandise like T shirts. But, its best claim to fame is, it too got a book deal.
Shitmydadsays Hands down the most side splitting account on Twitter. This account is just one man’s chronicle of all the crazy stuff his dad says. With not even one post per day, this account went viral, has over 500K followers and tons of natural PR. This account recently earned the first TV deal from Twitter.
FuckYouPenguin Another hysterical Twitter profile to book account. FUPenguin is basically a photo blog of cute animal pictures with snarky commentary basically telling these “cute animals” to F Off with their cuteness, they’re not fooling anybody.
FakeAPStyleBook The high brow version of all the above Twitter profile to book deals. FakeAPStyleBook is the hilarious “rules” of the Associated Press and Journalistic editing. Going way beyond “i before e except after c” and giving us gems like “Use of words for “killing.” It’s a sliding scale depending on how metal the death is, with “slaying” being the most metal.”
Cracked Who doesn’t stop by Cracked.com daily to get your daily dose of potty humor and Wikipedia knowledge? This Twitter account is simply a broadcast of all new posts that drive traffic back to the site so they can make their money on advertising.
Resource: Is Twitter a Broadcast Medium or a Conversion Medium?
So, in true AA style, I invite you to join this meme. To add your social media recovery story, just write a post on your blog about one of your social media fails and how you discovered ways in which it is not a fail. Then promote your blog post on Twitter with the hashtag #unfail. To really go all out, openly invite anyone reading your post to do the same and personally invite 5 other people.
Shameless bribe… if you join this meme and use the hashtag #unfail on Twitter in the next 36 hours, I will link to you from this post.
Linki Love to #Unfail
My Name is Paul and I Am a Recovering Twitter Purist by @pchaney
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