By now, you’ve probably heard of automated twitter replies and Coca-Cola’s fiasco with their automated tweet generator. The worst part is, this isn’t the first time an automated tweet or automated twitter messages got a company in trouble. It happens all the time. Frequently.
That’s why, I’m going to say it one more time: never. Schedule. A tweet. Period. And here are five reasons why.
One: you look like an asshole
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True story. Nobody likes that guy. That guy sucks. Whether it’s a conference or a networking event, you need to engage first. And the same goes for Twitter. It’s the easiest thing in the world to start a conversation on that platform. Just do it. Provide value before you go in for that sale.
Two: it gets you in trouble
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And how do you think that went for them? You have no power over what could happen at any given moment. Something terrible could happen, and your tweet goes out, and you are in hot water with all your followers and any media that can get their hands on it. Keep that from happening by just not automating.
Three: what the GIF said
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What if you’re a huge Jets fan, and something amazing happens during a game, but your automated tweet of “What’s your favorite book?” goes out instead. You look out of it. It looks like you don’t know what’s going on. Stop that.
Four: it leaves so much room for error
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Remember this regrettable tweet from the Patriots? Guess why it happened. Yep. Because the replies were automated. There are so many mistakes to be made when you don’t have a human checking on the other side. This campaign was easily executable with a strong social media team.
Five: do you really need another reason?
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Seriously. Just don’t do it. Stop.
