Friday is a great day! We have the whole weekend to look forward to, and (if you’re like me) a “Follow Friday Recommendation List” to view on Twitter. Or, then again maybe not?
Follow Friday has become a day where quantity seems to outweigh quality. And with that, come Tweets like: #followfriday @xyz @tptfm @jklol @msnstkr @zyx. The value added has seem to diminish. Really, who cares about those people if you can’t even tell me why they are a #followfriday?
I don’t think this is the way Micah Baldwin intended the #followfriday.
We must, as “devout” Tweeps, get back to (or start) giving honest, thought provoking and sincere Follow Friday Recommendations. There is no huge secret to it. As a matter of fact, I think there are 2 simple “rules” that if we all accept, will make Follow Friday much more meaningful.
Here are my 2 Simple Rules:
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- Rule 1: Blog Post. Since you only have 140 Characters to talk about your Follow Friday, why not create an entire blog post about the person (people) and tweet that out? I have been doing this for a few weeks now. Not only does it allow me to really explain why I follow them and why you should, too, but it puts them up on a pedestal that you just can’t do in 140 Characters or less. I think they appreciate the extra effort and the recognition. With or without Rule 1 comes….
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- Rule 2: Don’t Forget the “Why?” Just because you tweet out to Follow Friday someone, doesn’t mean they are actually a follow for everyone in your network. If you say, “#followfriday @nik_nik because she’s cool,” I probably won’t follow her. You haven’t said anything meaningful about her. I think most people are “cool!” But if you say, “#followfriday @nik_nik sassy blogging on real estate tech with a passion for dance-grams,” I would almost always follow her! (And for the record….you should follow her. She was one of my Follow Friday Posts.)
Following these 2 Simple Rules can make or break the difference in actually obtaining a Follow Friday for someone (or being “Follow Friday-ed” yourself). (Unless, of course, you are in that select few who, when you say “jump” people respond with, “sure – like off a cliff?)
I’m leaving you with a video from @docrock and @crystalakana. They have given me (and many people) a reason to follow them (but had I not shown this video and wrote this Blog Post, would you have followed them?!) Perhaps my Follow Friday “Rules” are solidified! Make yours count tomorrow!
You point out the one word that so many people forget to really think about: Why?
In this digital marketing age, many advisors talk about how to get more traffic — but without relating it to the benefit of having all that traffic.
In social media, many advisors talk about how to get more friends, followers, and stockers — without explaining (or, perhaps understanding) why that might be good.
So many business people are focused on tactical marketing actions without giving enough thought and understanding to the strategic “why” they should spend time and money doing them.
The motivations for human behavior — including the customer buying process — are rather well-defined. I like the motivation models such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Technology Adoption Cycle, and the use of personas, but there are other good ones, too. They all help marketers answer the question “Why?”
Once you know the answer to why someone would be attracted to a blog, commerce site, product, etc., it’s easier to prioritize the tactical options, such as social media, search marketing, paid advertising media, etc.
In other words, when you know they answer to “Why will they respond?” its easier to answer the question “What do I do?”
Cliff,
Thank you for the comment. You are exactly right. I appreciate the follow up and the thoughtful comment!
Enjoy your day!
i stopped doing follow friday because i kept seeing people doing it to get more followers, not actually recommend someone for their qualities.
I agree, Jim! That’s why I have changed HOW I do approach mine. I will rarely recommend anymore than one person now. And I write an entire Blog Post about them, why I follow them and why I recommend them to my network. The person (typically) truly appreciates it and my followers don’t just get a bunch of random @xyz people.