I recently heard someone say that using the @ symbol on Twitter and Facebook is a way of “tagging” your status updates. And that makes me VERY nervous!

The purpose of the @ symbol is to engage someone in a one-on-one conversation.  And yes, the fact that an @ is a link gets you traffic and exposure.  But it totally degrades the medium to think of it in those terms.

here’s how it works (the right way).  you’ve got keyword alerts properly set up in twitter, so you notice that one of your customers tweeted about you/your product/real estate in general. You have a helpful comment to add so you reply to him: “@JohnRealEstate If you’re having trouble with your advertising have you tried … ”

• Now JohnRealEstate thinks you’re a super-swell guy, so he will probably thank you publicly “Thanks @YouTheExpert that worked great! Here’s another Q for you … ” which gets you more traffic and exposure.
• And perhaps @SueRealEstate, a follower of John’s, saw and liked your helpful suggestion to John, so she RT’s your message & tells the world she likes it:  “RT @YouTheExpert @JohnRealEstate If you’re having trouble with your advertising have you tried … >> great stuff, You!”
• From now on, Sue and John are watching your tweets closely, since you provide such helpful information.
• But it’s not just Sue and John.  This exchange happened in public, so all of Sue’s, all of John’s, and all of your own followers also saw your helpful advice and are likely to now be following you closely.
• And what is the bottom-line advantage of lots of people watching you closely, because they like what you have to say?  Your bottom line, of course!  That’s right, sales.  If people click your link 5 times to get helpful free information, how likely do you think it is they’ll check out your link when you’ve got something to sell?  Virtually guaranteed.

What I’ve described is how to effectively engage in conversation on Twitter to provide value, increase your following, and ultimately make sales.  And yes, the method of conversation on Twitter could technically be called “tagging.”  But ….

here’s how it works (the wrong way).  You have a link for an offer so you post a tweet and “tag” a bunch of people in it: “Best affiliate offer http://bit.ly/wifa @JohnRealEstate @SueRealEstate @MyNewestFollower @SomeRandomFollower @AFollowerWhoMightBeABot @SomeoneWhoNowHatesMe”

Are all the people you mentioned in that tweet going to see your tweet, and see your offer?  You bet.  There’s virtually a 100% open rate on @replies.  But what are they going to do with it?  They’re not going to click through, no indeed.  Instead they’re going to  1) unfollow you  2) block you  3) report you to Twitter as a spammer.  And of course if enough people (not very many) do #2 and #3, you can say bye-bye to your Twitter account.

Same exact thing is true on Facebook.  If you’re going to tag someone in your update, remember that you’re essentially walking up to them, tapping them on the shoulder and saying something directly to them.  If it’s part of a conversation, if it’s genuinely interesting to them, if your update includes a few words of why you’re saying this particular thing to them – fine.  Go for it.  But if you’re just trying to spread your message, “tag” at your own peril.

One final word.  If this all sounds unbearably time consuming to some of you – “I don’t want to have INDIVIDUAL conversations with all my various customers.  that would take forever, and be so boring!” – remember that every one-on-one conversation you have on Twitter is had in public.  You get a huge bang for your buck.

And of course, we here at Green Island are always here to help.  This is what we do, we help real estate investors and other entrepreneurs figure out how to get the most mileage out of their social media efforts.