I have been using Twitter to keep in touch with affiliates and other online marketers, to share knowledge and learn from others, as well to post stuff about my personal life. At one point, however, I have realized that some affiliate marketers that I work with may not be interested in the pictures of my birthday cake, updated about my fishing trips, or how we flew kite over a weekend, etc. At that same I have noticed a fellow-OPM start a separate Twitter account to post news and promos pertaining to the affiliate programs she manages. I loved the idea! Yes, it’s simple, but it is ingenious. If you have two accounts (one – for more personal tweets [example], and another one – for tweets related to your affiliate program(s) [example]), your affiliates have a choice — whether to follow both, or just one of them.
Here’s my today’s video (co-starring Duckling Timofei from my daughter’s toy box) on the subject:
Additionally, it is good to remember that very often affiliates first find common ground with affiliate managers on a personal level (sharing the same offline passions, or being interested in what you’re posting about online marketing, or branding, or even related disciplines), and only later on decide to join the affiliate program(s) you manage, and start following your “professional” Twitter account too.
In the management of multiple Twitter accounts tools like Splitweet come handy. If you know of any other ones, please post them in the comments area below. I myself am still shopping around too.
Happy balancing, and have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Geno, I’m already managing two distinctly separate Twitter accounts and considering another for affiliate management, but I wonder how to discourage affiliates from discussing sensitive issues over Twitter.
Darren,
This is definitely something to mention in the “Online Bio” space. I encourage them to use e-mail for any sensitive questions.
Also, many affiliates will not join you as a “follower” (not to disclose their affiliate sites), but will lurk. So, a separate account for affiliate program management is definitely good to have.
Geno, we’ve had reasonable success corresponding with our affiliates via Twitter. We include our Twitter handle in our welcome email to new affiliates, our email signatures, mention it in our weekly newsletter and as a result, we’re gradually seeing an increase in activity. We have realized that to effectively use Twitter as a support channel, we have to monitor activity with the same vigilance as phone, email and instant messaging.