Direct Messaging Is a Perk For Businesses
Elizabeth Lemuz | @lizrlemuz
Direct messages on any social media platform are exciting for some, scary for others, and just plain annoying to the rest. Twitter has now released news about how its direct messaging feature will allow messaging to anyone.
In order to send direct messages before, you had to have a mutual relationship on Twitter. Now, this feature is allowing the public to reach out to businesses or anyone in general with ease. Businesses can receive messages from their clients if they have any questions or comments.
This feature mentioned on the Twitter blog gives the public more information on how they can go about turning the direct messages on and off. Anyone can prevent a large amount of messages because the account holder is allowed to turn the feature on or off at any time.
Brands, however, will definitely need to be better about not sending so many messages to consumers to the point where it gets annoying. In an Adweek article about brands and the DM feature, many professionals talked about how they will have to resist temptation as marketers and be disciplined with direct messaging.
Is this going to be a bigger problem than a solution? More than likely not. Twitter has made it clear that this is an optional feature, but for businesses, it is best to be visible. Dan Swartz, SVP of Digital Marketing, mentions in a Forbes interview that a business foregoing this feature “sends bad signals to consumers that they are not interested in what they have to say.” Businesses need to know what is going on with the consumers and consumers need to know that businesses care. It is important for businesses to be seen in a good light, especially when online.
Quick How-To for DM setting:
Once logged into your Twitter account, you will click on Settings from your image drop down on the top right.
Select Security and Privacy from the left side tabs.
Then scroll down to the bottom and check the box to the left labeled “Receive Direct Messages from anyone”
