In case you didn’t know socialoomph.com (formerly known as tweetlater) has a free service where you can set up auto-DM (automatic direct messages) to send out to people when they follow you on twitter.
People see it as a great way to connect with your readers right off the bat without manually doing it themselves. However there’s a lot of debate about aut0-DMs. I’m on the fence about them. I think they can be effective if done right.
I went through pretty much all my direct messages the other day and thought I would share with you some of the suspected auto-DMs that I found EFFECTIVE.
Auto-DM’s that didn’t make me cringe thinking ‘oh, just an auto-DM’
Why did the chicken cross the Social Media Road? . . . .To Tweet of course! Thanks for following me & I look forward to Twinteracting with @JonneyJay
Thanks so much for following me on Twitter! It’s always nice to have new peeps to Twitter with! 
@lefinley
Thanks fur the follow! @mydeafcat
Note the name of the tweeter
Thank you for following me – much appreciated! If there was ONE tweet I could tweet about you or yr business, what would it be? Please DM me @iggypintado
Note: Although it was obvious the message from iggypintado was an auto-DM I still replied to him saying a bit about beginnerblogger. He then retweeted what I said to his entire list which is 13k+ followers.
The message he sent was: Meet Sarge from @beginnerblogger who is helping bloggers and beginner bloggers alike achieve success.
The result of that message was a lot of people adding me to twitter and even a few new subscribers to the blog. I had quite a few conversations on twitter as a result of that message and was able to help out a few people as well.
Wow-Thanks! I’m going to assume that you’re not lost & that you meant to follow me. Much appreciated! You won’t regret it. Well…hmmm. @TriciaAbney
Hi. This is it. The one & only automated DM message from me via Socialoomph.com. Congrats you found me! Now let’s talk like real people :O) @halfbakedseo
If ud like some free resources 2 help transform your life please check out my blog: http://bit.ly/x3Z9w I have nothing to sell u. Sorry. @JayCataldo
Hey, thanks 4 following. What Tweets do you like to read? @ZahidaKhan
Thank you for following me. I look forward to getting to know you. What are you up to today? @David_Michaels
Thanks for following. Just want you to know I’ll try to add REAL value with my tweets. I don’t sell on Twitter, only give! @LeadToday
Thanks for following me here on Twitter! Let’s connect and change the world one step at a time for the better…It only takes one step ya know…:)To your success,Joni @JoniBeadle
Thanks for following me…I really appreciate it! So what have you been up to? @MickSilvester
Thanks for following alicedesigns, tweet me ‘hi’ and tell me something about yourself so I can get to know you better! @alice_elliott
Thanks for the follow! How’s Twitter treating you so far? @ToddDickerson
Hey there! I’m an interesting guy! No, really! I’ve owned a restaurant, edited tv & commercials, rock out & do real estate. Let’s tweet! @mattgsilver
I don’t auto-follow, but I’d love to chat with real people. So feel free to send me an @reply anytime. I see them all. 
Happy tweeting. @davidrisley
Thanks for following… Would like to know more about you, do you blog? @steitiyeh
Hi there, open the door, let the sun shine in and welcome the new day. @affsaltra
Conclusions We Can Draw
Posts without links/selling that ask a question or get a laugh from me are most powerful.
I always suspect the first DM I get from a person is an auto-DM, even if it isn’t. So the worst thing to do is put a link in. Tell me about yourself or engage with a question. Get the conversation started!
Everyone says ‘look forward to your tweets’ or ‘thanks for following me’. Mix it up a bit – ask a question. I believe the best way to start a relationship with someone is to ask a question.
My one and only auto-DM you will get from me I try to engage with you. I try and and make them personal and encourage a response back so we can get the ball rolling.
Your Thoughts?
Do you auto-DM? Do you reply to DMs or click on links that are inside a suspected DM? Do you totally ignore suspected auto DMs? What are some great suspected auto-DMs that you’ve received? Let everyone know in the comments below!
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Enjoyed this post? Here are some more you may like:
1. How I Got 1000 TARGETED Twitter Followers In 30 Days
2. Top 5 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Following Without Begging For One
3. Twitter TweetDeck and some Tips
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I tend to ignore obvious auto DM’s. However, some of the ones you listed are clever or caring enough to answer!
I’m not using DM’s. I just can’t bring myself to. haha But, if I ever did, I’d want something like this one:
Hi. This is it. The one & only automated DM message from me via Socialoomph.com. Congrats you found me! Now let’s talk like real people :O) @halfbakedseo
Yeah I really liked that one too. Definitely one of the standouts. I altered mine similar to that, encouraging conversation by @replying me
DM sometimes make me piss of cause most of them are just trying to sell stuff and not making connection. Sucks huh??? So i never pay any attention to DM on my twitter I just deleted right away
Sarge,
Man, this is the best article I have read about auto DM and it expresses exactly how I feel!
Good stuff mate!!! So, you get a new follower and, got you listed as well. Looking forward to your content and learning from you. No doubt in my mind that your blog will help me.
To be honest I’ve not heard about this until you wrote this article about them. To me if they are asking a question and trying to start a relationship without selling me something to begin with, then, I’d probably take a look at what is there. If there’s just a link to sell me something, if I don’t know you, forget it.
Sounds interesting and I’ll have to check it out.
Excellent issue to raise Sarge, I used to use Auto DMs but nobody knew they were Auto ones and they used to reply to them! one of them was:
“Thank you for the Follow, I would like to know more about you, do you blog”
I just try to make them feel real in order to save time on me if I was busy to contact my new followers! I have never added a link or an Affiliate link to it, since it’s bullshit!
One more important point, changing it from time to another is healthy for an auto DM!
but now, I just stopped them cause I felt like i should engage with my friends PERSONALLY!
@Travelin – Yeah It’s a shame that people just try and sell you stuff right off the bat that it’s given a bad name to direct messaging in general, whether it be an auto one or not.
@Carlos – Haha I’m guessing maybe this was the only blog post you’ve read about DMs. Hehe at any rate thanks for message
Hope I can continue to help.
@Eric – Yeah, this is the approach I try and use. I don’t sell anything and try and sound as real as possible to encourage interaction. I see my auto-DMs sort of like the ‘out of office auto-reply’ message you get. My current auto-DMs are:
Hi there! Send me a message saying hello @beginnerblogger and we can speed up our new relationship. Im a real person checking twitter daily
Thanks for the follow! Feel free to contact me @beginnerblogger I see all my @replies
Thanks for following me! I’m looking forward to your tweets and getting to know you better. What are you working on at the moment?
Probably need to update them or just rid of them completely. But I really want people to reply to them as I get back to them right away. I would probably ask the same questions anyway (what are you working on at the moment)
@Steit – You were in my list dude, 2nd from the bottom
I totally get what you mean about feeling about changing your auto DM, I think this all the time but then it’s not like the same person will see your DM again (unless they refollowed you or have multiple accounts)
I am thinking I will probably just get rid of my auto-DMs as there doesn’t seem to be much love for them or DMs in general and it’s much better to actually engage in person like you said. @replies are much more meaningful than DMs, even if they’re not auto, they’re still suspected from people.
Hi Sarge,
I began by reading DMs every day but this soon turned to a weekend thing and then a monthly one and then a once-in-blue-moon thing.
Reading this post I saw a big blue moon ( of course) and have just looked at the last 100 DMs on my account. Not a great read to be honest – with only 1 definitely genuine message and 4 that look maybe maybe authentic. Don’t think I’ll be seeing any blue moons for a long time!
Cheers
Will
P.S. Thanks for joining me on my site – it’s great to include Beginner Blogger there
Effective Use Of The Auto-DM On Twitter…
Effective ways of automatic direct messaging on twitter. Do you auto DM?…
Nice, blog post.
I really liked the “Hi. This is it. The one & only automated DM message from me via Socialoomph.com. Congrats you found me! Now let’s talk like real people :O) @halfbakedseo”
It’s encouraging and has the sense of humor an auto-dm needs. To be honest.
Sarge, I am totally against the existence of DM’s. I shut off the notification it sends to you so my email box isn’t filled with affiliate links.
I see where they could be useful as an introduction, but the abuse by affiliate marketers has ruined the experience for the rest.
If Twitter would make a feature to block all DM’s with links, I would turn mine back on to get the ones that didn’t use links.
I must say that I don’t like auto DMs. It’s just another Emai that gets generated that I havce to manage and the info in the DM is bascially not worth a “cold call”.
The only exception, from your examples, that I like is fro @iggypintado – at least he has offered to do something for you(as opposed to offering you to come click something) AND he has followed through on it. I know iggy from his associatio with the helping group @12for1K so I am not surprised to see iggy’s unself approach to Twitter and DMs in particular.
But your point of view is a good one Sarge. Thre may be room for auto DMs after all.
Cheers!
- Don
Oops – should be @12for12K !
Cheers!
- Don
@Will – I’m starting to get a lot more personal DMs now. People are replying to me via DM instead of @reply. I have turned off email notifications for DMs so I have the DM column next to my @replies. That was a crazy couple of sentences… Great to be on the whatawebsite!
@Mikkel – Yeah a lot of people are enjoying that particular DM
I think they’re onto something. I really liked the ‘thanks FUR the follow’ one too.
@Keith – That would be a handy filter indeed. And you’re right, people have abused the DM so it’s lost what it’s really meant to be about which is sending a private message to people.
@Don – You can shut off email notifications in settings Don and then maybe just check your DM column in twitter periodically to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Might help deal with the annoyance a bit.
I hate the BAD DMs, this post was more of a ‘if you’re going to auto-DM here are some GOOD ways to go about it and not annoy the crap out of people’
Auto DM is a useful feature, but unfortunately I pretty much ignore all DM at this point because they are usually nothing but spam. that is the only drawback I see about Twitter.
I don’t really like them. I used to get so many DM’s filled with spam from musicians and ebook links from internet marketers that it became annoying. If I used it, It would feel like going backwards in a current social media atmosphere that says don’t use those practices. If it works for some, then more power to ya. Be human, its easier than trying to recreate the human element.
Forgot to mention, If used to initiate conversation then I’m all for it as long as a conversation continues. Nice angle, Sarge..
@Ms Freeman – Yep the constant spam that goes through has hurt the true foundation of what the DM was meant to be – a private message which would only be seen by 1 person, not the world. Sucks a bit.
@Mario – You’re right, if the conversation just continue then I think it’s a good thing. Unfortunately it doesn’t go through as much as I’d like. Then again I have been known to @ reply people (on a different account) and don’t get replies either (this was before following them, it was a random @ reply to help someone). Conclusion? People don’t like people surprised by people they don’t know, even if you’re not selling them anything. Highlighting the words ‘don’t know’
i have tried the socialoomph.com services and found that they are sending the wrong direct messages to my followers instead of giving my blog url they are redirecting it to the youtube videos .. in my opinion cheap marketing by socialoomph.com
Personally I don’t like auto DMs. Even if they are friendly etc I still don’t reply to them, because I know they didn’t personally send them to me. However, they are FAR better than the spammy ones that get sent around. Just not for me really!
@Gary – That seems odd – do you think that’s something socialoomph have done themselves? Maybe doublecheck the URL or short URL you are putting in your DM.
@Ruth – I agree. You just suspect any DM you get now, it may not even be an auto-DM you just sort of suspect it anyway. So tonight I got rid of my direct messages I am sending. It’s against one of my 3 words this year which is ‘Engage’. While it’s not exactly against it technically, it’s not real human engagement and that’s what I want to do.
The purpose of this post was to point out the non-cringeworthy DMs, wasn’t saying that auto-DMs are great, just that these were some that I took notice of and were bearable because I do hate those spammy ones that are just asking for a link.
This post and discussions over the blogosphere has been a great eye-opener for me. I guess that’s the power of the web, blogging and interacting with others. It’s awesome stuff. Thanks for all your discussion guys
Hi
There were some great suggestions there that you found so definitely something to play around with. Mine just says hello and how I’m looking forward to getting to know them. It includes my ‘real’ name too which people seem to like. I’ve had a couple of really lovely replies.
The idea of DM with no links is class. Is there any way we can suggest it so that Twitter might listen and implement? Sorry, I’m very new to this. Does Twitter welcome and act on feedback?
Thanks for giving me something to think about Sarge.
Eleanor
I do auto-DM myself but I have to admit I almost never read ones I receive. You make me want to take the time to read them. I especially can’t wait for an auto-DM from @iggypintado.
Thanks for the tips!!!