Hey Rocky. Some thoughts:
"What kind of approach should be taken when communicating with people?"It depends on the person and what your goal is. I'll give you an example. I wanted to connect with this one entrepreneur who had sold his company for a good chunk of change and had also founded a previous company I worked at at the time. I had been following him on twitter for a few months. He tweeted something about how he hated how people used the term "peeps." I sent him a picture of the peeps marshmellow candy via twitter mention and was like "These guys like it.". He sent a mention back saying "haha you made my day."
I then emailed him saying glad you liked the picture on twitter, my name is ___ I'm used to work at ____, I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk. Would love to pick your brain on ____, and it lead to a nice call.
I had a small connection to the person but needed a reason to reach out. My goal was to learn from them via a call.
Personally, I always notice people who tweet my articles and mention me or retweet my tweets on a regular basis or reply to things I tweet out with comments. Over time, I get to recognize their name/profile image. If they use the same name or profile image in their email when they contact me or mention they have been following me on twitter for a while, I'm more likely to reply to their email.
It also depends on what your goal is or what you want from them.
"Should you come right out and ask for help spreading the word/ask for retweets etc?"You can. Some accounts like mine (@Kickstartforum, @crowdfundingpr_, @crowdcrux, @sbriggman), I'll retweet campaigns on a regular basis, but that's because this is my industry. If you're going after an influencer who is not familiar with Kickstarter, they might register it in their brain as spam or a plead for help and ignore it. Most people on twitter are hyper-aware of their industry's news, so if, for example, the influencer blogs about wearable tech, you might tweet "Loved your article on ___ Think this Kickstarter campaign is going to transform the wearable tech industry. Thoughts?" and see if they reply. Obviously, may need to get the characters down if it doesn't fit.
It comes down to trial and error, but always try to personalize and connect the pitch with what the individual is doing or working on. It's hard to sell directly on social media, unless you have an established following. Use it as a way to get influencers to reply to an email, a DM, or retweet you.
If at all possible, support what the influencer is doing in some small way. By retweeting them actively or commenting on their articles, you'll increase the chances they will notice you. It's kind of like buying a girl a drink at the bar. They feel more compelled to listen to what you have to say.
I would also mix it up. See if you get responses asking for a retweet. If you don't, change it up.
Would it be a good idea to go beyond simple tweeting at people who have shown a strong interest and direct message them asking to help get the word out or is this asking too much?This is just me, but I would always try to move the conversation beyond twitter. Try to use the twitter conversation to get their email address where you can then have a larger convo.
Give them a specific way to help your campaign and why they should. If possible, do things for them before you ask something of them (goes back to sharing their content or commenting on their stuff). You can also say if they aren't comfortable sharing, is there anyone they could introduce you to who might be a good fit for the campaign or writes about your topic.
I'm not an expert on social media, though I do use it a lot. Like most things, it comes down to trial and error. I invite others to provide advice.
Resources:How to market your campaign using twitter:
http://www.crowdcrux.com/marketing-your ... g-twitter/Social media guide for first time entrepreneurs:
http://www.salvadorbriggman.com/first-t ... ial-media/Also love these blogs related to social media:
http://www.crowdcrux.com/blogs-to-read- ... -campaign/