Flattery Will Get You Everywhere

How giving complements on @twitter, can increase followers, mentions, retweets, favorited posts, and ROI

Lorenzo Dickerson
5 min readMar 28, 2014

Well, maybe not everywhere. But delving out genuine and honest complements to your favorite @twitter users, can take your far and help establish your credibility as a Thought-Leader in your chosen field.

If more followers, mentions, retweets or favorited posts are what you’re looking for you’ve come to the right place. It’s simple. When you see a post that you really enjoy, whether it’s within @twitter or maybe an article you found elsewhere, let it be known that you liked the piece. Send a thank you and complement the Author or the subject.

The bottom line is: Everyone likes complements. If you were trying to pick up a hot girl or a cute guy in a bar, or at the club one late night, what would you do? You would reach into your bag of complements and begin to delve out a bit of flattery, right? The same strategy holds true for social media.

Take notes. This is how it’s done.

Mentions

That girl or guy that you like so much will never know how you feel if you don’t introduce yourself and express your feelings. At some point you will have to step to the plate and get the job done. If not, you will be forever going home alone. So speak up and scream your sweetheart’s name. Make your presence known. Maybe you’ll get the coveted first date.

So how do you get people talking about you, your thoughts, and what you’ve posted? Easy! @Mention them, and they will mention you. It’s untold @twitter etiquette and it’s just that simple. SAY THEIR NAME! And when someone @Mentions you back, they do it for all of their followers to see loud and clear. You just become a tad more famous than you were just a few seconds ago. Here’s an example:

@storify

Retweets

After you mentioned their name and expressed your interest, the first date went very well. Now it’s time to re-up, and schedule that second date, to get to know this person just a little bit better. While on this second date, your job is to not only listen to your partner, but to tell a bit about yourself. Keep them interested and wanting more. Remember, your goal is to secure yet another date out of this.

What you want is to tweet content that is important and thought-provoking enough to first catch the eye of the reader. Second, keep their attention. And third, encourage the reader to want to share that content with their followers. Here’s how to get your content retweeted:

@alexisohanian

Favorited Posts

How do you compare to his or her’s previous dates? Are you their favorite?

This is truly an honor. Someone enjoyed what you say enough to call it their favorite. Your content is considered better than all the rest. All that flattery has not only gotten you the date, but he or she has enjoyed your company enough to actually propose marriage. Marriage to your @twitter post that is. Want people to fall in love with what you say? Here’s how:

@ErinTeague
@simplymeasured
@buffer

New Followers

Now that this very special person you are dating, thinks the world of you, its time to meet the parents and announce your engagement. You’ve made such a good impression on your new Fiance, that they love you enough to allow you the opportunity to also make that same positive impression on their Mom, Dad, Siblings, Friends, etc. They think highly of you, and they want their people to as well.

New followers equals more people to mention you, and retweet and favorite your posts. Its exponential social media growth. The more people that follow you, the greater reach you have to share your ideas, tell your story, and promote your brand. You have made a great impression, and now others are vouching for your abilities. The content that you are creating is relevant and useful to others. A new follower is the ultimate reward.

Return-On-Investment (ROI)

The date is set, and the wedding is just around the corner. You’ve done all the right things. You’ve flattered, purchased gifts, talked on the phone, gone to dinner and movie, wrote love letters, shared stories and intimate moments, and even met the family. All you’re hard work has paid off, and you are now ready to live HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

What did a simple show of affection actually cost you? In just a few seconds, you paid someone a genuine complement. You bestowed upon them, a little bit of flattery, let them know how their content effected you in a positive way, and in return you received at least a @Mention and a “Thank you”. At most, you were rewarded with a retweet, a favorited post, or even a brand new follower. That’s a pretty good payout for a few seconds of work. These are the types of return-on-investment you can expect.

Again, always use social media flattery genuinely and with honesty. There’s nothing worse than someone whom is just saying all the right things to get the other person in bed. It might work in the short-term. But in the end, you will ALWAYS end up alone.

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Lorenzo Dickerson

Documentary Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Storyteller, Traveler, Husband, Dad.