Tweet Me Tuesday: Auto-Reply?

When you receive an email, you reply. When someone leaves a comment on your blog, you reply.

But when someone follows you on Twitter, should you send a reply?

I think so, but really it is entirely a personal preference. Maybe it's because my mom spent my entire childhood drilling into me the importance of writing thank-you notes, but I guess I just think it's polite. However, writing direct 'thank you' messages to dozens of new followers each week is not a good use of time. That's why I use SocialOomph.com to send automated messages. It's super-easy to do.

But there's a few things that you should know when crafting your auto-reply message:

1.) No one likes junk mail. Don't you hate getting spam in your inbox? Or junk mail in your mailbox? Well, auto-reply messages often spark that same response. So keep your message memorable, friendly and applicable to everyone who might follow you. Since mostly moms follow me, I use this as one of my auto-replies: "So glad you're following! I hope to help you on your parenting journey -- and keep you laughing at yourself (and me) along the way!"

2.) Don't leave your blog URL. I have read comments from so many people who are completely turned off by this. It amounts to an annoying sales pitch. Kind of like a telemarketing phone call. (Ugh!) If they've followed you, they've looked at your profile and can easily find your URL. Plus, if they like your tweets, and you tweet your posts, they'll eventually click on one of your post links.

3.) Rotate your auto-replies. SocialOomph.com allows you to write several auto-reply messages and will randomly rotate the messages sent to your new followers. This makes the practice seem a little less generic.

Before I go on to Tweet Me Tuesday, I just have to say THANK YOU for all the supportive and encouraging comments on my She Speaks post!! You guys are the best! I just got back a few hours ago and plan to post about my trip later in the week!

Okay, now on to Tweet Me Tuesday...

• Tweet this post! Then visit Kristen at MamaBytes. (Her blog has a new name and look! It's fabulous!) She is my wonderful co-host in this Blog Hop!

• Link up a post you’d like Tweeted using Linky Tools below. It can either be your most recent post or an older, favorite post you'd like to share with a new audience.

• Follow me and Kristen on Twitter! (if you’re not already)

• Visit the links below and Tweet as many posts as you'd like (linked below).

• Follow as many of these bloggers as you’d like on Twitter. (You can follow their blogs, too.)

• When you Tweet a blogger’s post, leave a comment telling them you tweeted it as part of Tweet Me Tuesday.

If you tweet at us/about us/for Tweet Me Tuesday please use the hashtag #TMT. It makes it easier for us to find your tweets! Not sure about hashtags? See Kristen's post.

Finally, please remember that Tweet Me Tuesday is about Linky Love! Please don't just leave you link and fly off! Visit as many of the others listed as you can. The more you interact with others, the more benefit to everyone.



<a href="http://parentingconfessions.blogspot.com/2010/03/tweet-me-tuesday.html"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Fvw3azj43OY/S3v5FXmOuoI/AAAAAAAAAmo/bv0vPeeZoQI/S1004-R/tweet-button.png" alt="Tweet Me Tuesday" width="178" height="170" /></a>



Alright -- get to tweeting!