When building your Twitter following, it can be hard to create a personal connection with each and every new follower who joins your network--but there are still ways to reach out and make that connection without spending hours sending individual messages to welcome hundreds or even thousands of new people. You can make first contact with your new followers and establish a base for future conversation by sending auto responses to your new Twitter followers.
Auto-responses aren't to be confused with @replies. Twitter @replies are part of the public stream and simply target a public tweet to a specific user name; while these can be automatically generated, they often get lost in a cluttered tweetstream and lack the immediacy of a private message. Good auto-responses are sent via Direct Messages (DMs for short), which let you send a private, 140-character message visible only to the recipient. When used manually DMs are good for quick personal conversations, but can be time-consuming when used to initiate contact with a multitude of followers. When automated, DMs let you easily auto-respond to new Twitter followers the moment they first follow you or return your follow. It's simpler and faster than using copy-paste, saving your clicking fingers and your patience.
The automatic DMs are generated by a third-party application (commonly referred to as an "app") that accesses your Twitter account, monitors your new follower activity, and automatically sends a direct message response when a new person adds you. The most commonly-known app for this is SocialOomph!, formerly known as TweetLater. Although both free and paid versions are available, with different ranges of features, the free version offers the same Twitter auto-response capability as the paid version.
SocialOomph!'s interface lets you enter a default welcome auto-response to new followers, and saves the message to be used again. This message is limited by the same 140-character count as standard tweets. Your Twitter auto-response can consist of a thank-you note to your new followers, a welcome message, a link to information they might find interesting, or some other communication that invites interaction and provides an opening to create a connection. Most advise against blatant self-promotion, instead preferring to build social currency through conversation. New follower auto-responses are a great way to start that conversation and make your new contacts feel like a valued part of your Twitter network.
By using a social app to automate messages to your new Twitter followers, you can save a great deal of time--time better spent engaging your followers in real conversation that provides added value and builds relationships throughout your online sphere of influence. You can "set and forget" your new follower auto-response without forgetting to make contact wit the friends, business contacts, and partners you've integrated into your ever-growing Twitter network.
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