As someone gets more followers, more people ask for shout outs. No one was asking me for a shout out when I had 100 followers. Now I get some people asking me for shout outs. There are some people who I give the shout out (usually in the form of a retweet), but I avoid giving too many people shout outs. Plenty of celebrities are asked hundreds of times every day to give someone a shout out.
This does not go well with a lot of people because requests for shout outs will clog up these users’ timelines. In the end, shout outs rarely happen.
Let’s say someone asks for a shout out from a power Twitter user with 100,000 followers. If that person does give you the shout out, your Klout score will see a big jump, and the tweet may get retweeted and favorited a few times. Then, everything goes back to normal after the shout out is long forgotten.
You probably want someone in your niche with 100,000 followers to give you a shout out. We all do, and we all have that one person (or many people) who we want the shout out from. People ask for the shout out because they know the shout out will lead to more engagement for their tweets, even if that burst in engagement is short-lived.
The question should not be, “Can I get a shout out?”
The question should be, “How do I get a following like yours so people are asking me to give them shout outs?”
Instead of constantly relying on someone else who may not give many shout outs, create your own opportunity. Ask the person how he/she became popular on Twitter so you can become popular on Twitter and consistently get the engagement results that you want to see. I follow people in my targeted audience who are likely to follow back. That’s how I (and a lot more people than you would think) grow their following on Twitter.
Instead of asking someone with 100,000 followers for the shout out, do the work that will allow you to become the person with over 100,000 followers. It’s easier for everyone.
It is ironic that we are talking about relationship marketing and yet the author doesn’t like to give shout outs. I totally understand that most people with large followings do not want to clutter their feed with shout outs but I don’t see harm in doing it very selectively instead of “me me me”.
I understand that idea. I’ll get better at giving shout outs. I wrote this blog post at a time when I’d regularly get contacted by people constantly asking for shout outs over and over again. It got frustrating, and while I agree with this blog post, I can definitely give more shout outs. Lately, I’ve shouted out entrepreneurs with awesome projects that I am happy to support, but again, I can improve on this.
People haven’t caught on to “relationship marketing”. I think it’s greed that gets in the way. Every man or woman for them self. The internet is full of people who just want to make a buck. Really short sited. They aren’t online for the greater good of making the world better. Me, me, me. As long as they think this way, they won’t last. People forget that just because we’re online that we still need to build relationships. The shout out requests…and we get ’em… are so self-centered.
I agree. I don’t like it when people ask me to give them a shout out. Why not get the audience on your own?
That’s why I wrote this blog post. I am happy you understand relationship marketing and putting in the work. There’s more to any type of success than making money. Most of the people who do it for the money end up making no money.
Thank You so much for the information. i totally agree! Have a great day!
My pleasure Jill.
Love the positive attitude behind this, and your right, a shout out is momentary, building your own following last longer.
Thanks Johnathan. I am happy to hear that you liked the post.
You have much wisdom for one so young. Thank you for sharing it with us!
My pleasure Adrienne. Thanks for stopping by!
Marc,thank you so much for the advise.
My pleasure. I’m glad you liked the advice.
Thanks for following me on Pinterest…it gave me the opportunity to discover your site! Really good stuff. Very helpful, interesting and enjoyable to read.
Thanks for coming by. I’m glad you enjoy reading my blog posts, and I’m glad to be following you on Pinterest. Do you have any other social networks?