Do you auto direct message your twitter followers? Should you? It’s an ongoing debate amongst twitter users and marketers alike. Where you come out in the discussion really depends on a few things, including your niche, your twitter goals, and your beliefs.

There are basically two schools of thought on this:

1. Yes! Send automated direct messages when people follow you. Give people something free, and build your list while you do it!

2. NO! Don’t send a DM. People hate to be sold, and didn’t ask for your free stuff.

Both sides believe pretty strongly in their position.

Me ~ Being a reforming all or nothing thinker ~ I’m playing in the middle of this one.

I do send an automated DM to my followers. However, it does not have a link or give anything away for free. I simply say hello, it’s great to meet you and I hope they have a magical day. (or something to that affect)

I do this for a few reasons:

1. I want to connect with new followers ~ I want them to see my name so they will have it in their minds and be looking for my other tweets.

2. I think you need to build trust and some sort of relationship before you send people to anything, free or not. There will be plenty of time for me to send people to my freebie to build my list after they know, like and trust me a little bit more.

3. It’s what feels best and most in integrity to me and how I want to run my business.

So to Auto DM or Not? It really is up to you, and will probably be different depending on the niche you are in, and what your market will tolerate. You can always test it both ways and see which people seem to prefer.