Should new communication channels be leveraged in the same way as older channels? Is bulk direct messaging on Twitter SPAM or simply a powerful way of leveraging this channel? If a tree falls in the middle of the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Tough questions to answer, I know…
As you may know, Jeffrey Hayzlett, soon to the former Chief Marketing Officer at Kodak, has written a book. The majority of his Twitter activity is spent promoting this book, no problem. Yesterday afternoon, around 3 PM ET, I received this direct message from Jeffrey’s Twitter account:
“Wow! @TheMirrorTest made TheDailyBeast-This Week’s Hot Reads list, is #261 today on Amazon& #9 on “Mover &Shaker” List! http://bit.ly/hayz“
To which I promptly responded:
“Congrats. You should send me a copy 
“
Now… I know I have a problem with “occasionally” being sarcastic… Some consider it charming and others consider it annoying…I digress though…:-)
While I considered the DM a bit too self-promotional for my taste, is it SPAM?
- I choose to follow Jeffrey on Twitter. This gives him the right to send me any message he chooses.
- Twitter does give me options. I can report the message as SPAM and let Twitter decide how to treat it. I can also choose to stop following Jeffrey’s account.
- My response, meant as a test of sorts, was never responded to by Jeffrey or anyone monitoring his account. Engagement was missing, this was purely a one-way push of information.
- With more than 20,000 Twitter followers it is likely that this blast resulted in at least a couple hundred new book sales.
- With more than 20,000 Twitter followers he has also received coverage, at least by me and I am sure others.
Here is the question though… Was this smart marketing, poor marketing, or SPAM. What do you think?
John
May 28, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Thanks for the good read it had great information !
May 27, 2010 at 3:10 am
This was a wonderful read loved all the information on it !
May 18, 2010 at 2:34 pm
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May 18, 2010 at 11:35 am
John,
I received a few similar, and take it as them not knowing any better, but your example is different. It is SPAM, because it’s part of a marketing process he has in place, and while I wouldn’t unfollow or report as such, for some people, it may be just what they wanted. I would give one pass typically, and next time unfollow. I expect people to promote their product, company, family, food, etc in this arena, so a little is OK. THis author has simply decided to be very clear on what he is using SM for. TO some it’s SPAM, others not.
May 18, 2010 at 12:13 pm
I agree Darrel. While we will not know if the return on this action was positive or negative, in terms of revenue, for a while, I do hope to chat with Jeffrey soon. Will let folks know what his thoughts are as soon as I have that conversation.
May 17, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Spam.
A self-serving message posted in the Twitter stream – not spam. Individual @ messages and DM messages directed specifically to the one person you are addressing – not spam. But, auto-generated messages sent to thousands of people – certainly Spam.
Email now requires senders to get double opt-in from recipients. This is certainly no different.
Another way to tell it’s spam? Just do a search on Search.Twitter.com for “@jeffreyhayzlett & Spam” or “@jeffreyhayzlett & DM” and you’ll see a bunch of people who, without prompting, wrote back to Mr. H and said, “Hey, buddy…… cut it out.”
May 17, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I know Jeffrey from the conference circuit, and it became apparent a few months ago that he was no longer promoting Kodak, but promoting Jeffrey. I feel bad for him, because I think he’s worked really hard, and I’m sure there are some useful things in the book.
Sadly, his complete self absorption has cut him off from the audience that propped him up.
SPAM.
May 17, 2010 at 6:52 pm
SPAM SPAM SPAM!
Stuff like this makes me cringe. It demonstrates not only a complete lack of understanding of the medium but also a healthy disregard for the “social” communicational norms and social media ecosystem. How did this guy get to be an authority on social media when he doesn’t even understand or care to understand how it works? I digress…
Unsolicited promotional DMs are immediate grounds for unfollow, in my book. People asking for an RT via DM are not much better. Unless you and I have history discussing this particular issue, I have *no right* DM’ing you a blogpost that I wrote. I do this sometimes, but only when there’s context around it – this way it’s not as self-promotin-y.
here’s the thing about SM. When you put a message out there, if it’s *actually* valuable, people will find it, RT, share it on FB. If no one is RTing you, maybe it’s because your stuff isn’t valuable. Just sayin…
Maria @themaria
May 17, 2010 at 6:26 pm
It’s a fine line, isn’t it, you have followers who want to hear what YOU say as a person — or as a brand. Which are they following?
JH has tried to make himself a brand and sell a book at the same time using old marketing techniques and not living in the present with relationship marketing as a reason people want to support you.
Even more amusing he just posted up to Twitter: “@JeffreyHayzlett: Sending a message toyour followers is a targeted message and for those who do not want it they can opt out– it’s called a dm.
”
Here’s the solution… Opt Out from following him. Why didn’t we think of that.
If you want to see more of his brilliant marketing just check out his fan page where he has a contest going one for a winner to receive 15 minutes of consultation time with him (if you submit the winning photo of YOU with HIS book).
SPAM… Opt Out.
May 17, 2010 at 4:51 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Moore, Anna OBrien. Anna OBrien said: RT @JohnFMoore: Is it SPAM or just smart marketing? http://bit.ly/aO9xLv 37% of you say SPAM [...]
May 16, 2010 at 5:36 pm
John, thanks for framing this issue which goes well beyond this one person, book, DM etc. I have very little issue with the specific incident given the mechanics of Twitter. I do believe it was poor marketing for the simple reason that there was no apparent “connection with intent to engage.” Stated directly, it was useless. Over the years we have all learned that marketing, promotion and sales work best when engagement sets in. Engagement requires some value to be present. In this case there was no value (although had he sent a free copy that would have been value!). In the end, it all seems like a waste of effort that probably generates a few sales “by the numbers” and not much more. Aaron
May 15, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Hi John…thanks for your reply and clarification. We’ll have to see. Book site is all shameless promotion on his book. His personal site is shameless promotion on himself not just the book. His supposed convos aren’t really too engaging.
Keep us posted, should be interesting to find the outcome.
May 15, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Need to put a both option on you Poll Daddy poll to make it more fair and unbiased.
Excellent responses to John’s question. My answer is both.
Hayzlett aka @TheMirrorTest tactics are both spam and poor marketing. John I understand the impetus of your experiment.
Spam unsolicited tweets or dm are spam. Old sales rules no longer apply, especially if I don’t know you.
Social media for all of its pros and cons-is here to stay whether we like it or not. And we need to learn how to use these mediums properly for customer service, leverage and conversion, or just idle chit chat.
It’s still about building relationships. Also, social media shouldn’t be your only promotional tools for your product and service. John you clearly pointed this out in your description that he didn’t engage back.
Clearly his site and many others use Twitter as shameless self promotion. Definitely poor marketing on his part because he doesn’t understand the medium.
John where did you get Jeffrey/@TheMirrorTest’s 20K followers–arbitrary/hypothetical number? Because of the way he’s misusing Twitter he’s got 285 following him while following 75.
Good article, thanks for sharing John.
Liz Isaacs
LotusWriting & Communications
Writing & Marketing Communications Strategist, Coach, Author & Screenwriter.
liz@lotuswritingcommunications.net
info@lotuswritingcommunications.net
http://lotuswritingcommunications.net
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812.336.1645 office
May 15, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Thanks Liz. Happy to change the poll to all multiple answers, all set.
The 20K number is Jeffrey’s personal account, @JeffreyHayzlett which has this number currently.
Will be interesting to see if anyone comments that this was a good marketing decision.
John
May 15, 2010 at 5:33 pm
An impersonal DM with nothing but self promotion and no follow up to your response? SPAM!
When you followed him, I assume you opted in to hear his opinions and learnings, but be an endpoint for useless push marketing.
Thanks for the post, now I know at least one book I DON’T have to bother with.
May 15, 2010 at 5:02 pm
[...] Is it SPAM or just smart marketing? [...]
May 15, 2010 at 3:16 pm
I’d consider it Poor Marketing — and the lack of two-way conversation confirmed his true intentions. He (or a minion) could have simply replied with, “Great idea, we should organize a contest” or some other throwaway comment.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say “It’s SPAM,” but then, I’m not currently deluged by self-promotional messages or auto-DM’s. Thanks for sharing the story, John!
May 15, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Agreed, thanks Karl.
May 15, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I got that one and promptly used Twitter’s nice features to block and report Mr. Hayzlett for spam. A reciprocal follow relationship doesn’t give him special access to my time, and I actually use DMs for real messages. I hope everyone who received DM spam will begin/continue reporting and blocking – it’s good for you, it’s good for Twitter.
May 15, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Great feedback, Adriel. Not a bad move, wonder how many people did the same?
John
May 15, 2010 at 12:39 pm
This is one of my favorite subjects to poke at.
Using Twitter for brand recognition is one thing. But if all you are doing is making people aware of your “brand” then you are just a billboard.
Can you talk to a billboard and discuss the product it is selling? Is your company on Twitter just making noise and not a using it as a two-way communication system? If your Brand on Twitter is not looking for feed back you are just a billboard.
It becomes POOR MARKETING when all you are doing is adding to noise and creating a negative vibe. Therefore achieving the exact opposite goal you set out to do. Your potential customers will see you in a negative perspective.
Automated software like TweetAfter, TwitterOnTheRun, and other Autofollow, Autoreply apps cheapen your brand because you remove the human element.
To put that into perspective. Push 1 now.
May 15, 2010 at 1:50 pm
Great feedback Jay, thanks for sharing your thoughts.