My Experience with Promotion Bots: The Sequel
So far, I've tried to be a little scientific in my approach to studying Steem Promotion Bots. I've tested the options carefully, collecting data points here and there.
But this approach is fundamentally flawed in one respect: I only post three times a week.
That means I only collect three data points per week, which is not enough to make a meaningful conclusion in this ever-changing crypto world.
![](https://steemitimages.com/0x0/https://images5.aplus.com/uc-up/180fa8e6-7108-4cd2-8217-f320efa83bf2/180fa8e6-7108-4cd2-8217-f320efa83bf2.inline_yes.gif)
I'm saying this because a few commenters have specifically asked me to keep them updated on my experience, because they want to know if using promotion bots is worth the effort, and my approach has this blind spot that needs to be acknowledged before I can make any claims.
With that out of the way, I believe I have learned a few things over the course of the past week.
Timing
For monday's post (Muppets: Infinity War, Part 3, in case you missed it). I decided to space out my use of promotion services.
As usual, I submitted the post to MinnowsBooster right away, but I waited ten minutes before submitting the same post to Smartmarket/Smartsteem. This produced good results, as I finally managed to get Smartsteem to use the entire SBD I sent them. Meaning I did not get a large refund, but the result was still welcome.
This, however, did not work for my post on Wednesday (Netflixing: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Season 4, in case you missed it), in which I got more than 75% of my contribution refunded from Smartsteem.
It would appear that Smartmarket operates according to a very particular time schedule, and it can be difficult to get the timing just right. They seem to have a very large audience, so being able to use 100% of your contribution could really make a difference. But, alas, it is not so easy to hit that sweet spot.
Two SBD are Better than One?
For wednesday's post, I decided to splurge and give 2 SBD each to Minnowsbooster and Smartmarket.
Unfortunately, as stated above, Smartmarket used less than 25% of my SBD, and I got a 75% refund. Meaning that instead of spending 4 SBD, I only spent 2.5.
For most of my past experiments, my final cost came to about 1.5 SBD, so Wednesday's post ultimately only had 1 more SBD spent than usual.
And the results are...inconclusive. The post made about $12 overall, which is definitely on the higher end of what I usually get, but monday's post, on which I spent only 2 SBD, netted me an $11 total.
So for the additional .5 SBD, I only got 1 U.S. dollar.
On the surface, it would appear that giving each bot 2 SBD instead of 1 SBD is not more profitable. But then, I've only tried it once. And with just one data point, I can't conclusively say that this is the case.
TipU
Astute reader @milano1113 has encouraged me to try out the TipU service for greater returns. Steemit user @cardboard, who I think is the human who runs the TipU service, has also reached out to me, and I feel like I should give the service a chance.
But, at the moment, the TipU service is still small, and can only vote a few times before it needs to begin a cooldown period. From what I hear, it's trying to expand to the point where it can handle a much larger user base (and based on its popularity, it may well reach that point). Still, for now it is even harder to time than Smartmarket, though I'm still open to using it.
However, TipU can also be used as an investing service, where you send a certain amount of Steem or SBD to TipU and get a percentage of TipU's curation rewards back. I haven't tried this, but it seems like you can invest this way at any time, even during the cooldown period.
The way I understand it (and I could be wrong) is that if you want to get a TipU upvote, you send the SBD (or Steem) to TipU with the URL of your post in the "Memo" line. Whereas if you want to invest, you send the currency with the word "invest" in the memo line. Investments can apparently be done whenever, whereas getting upvotes can only be done when TipU is active (and you will get refunded if you try to get an upvote during the cooldown period).
Keeping in mind that I have not personally used TipU yet (though @milano1113 has used TipU to tip me), I can say that it seems like one of the more interesting options for raising a posts profile at this time.
Conclusion: More Data Points Needed
Like I said, I only post three times a week, and this doesn't give me a lot of opportunities to branch out and experiment.
Unfortunately, posting more frequently is not an option, as I simply do not have the time, and I am more interested in producing quality rather than quantity.
But, though I may not have any answers right now, I have gathered enough data to narrow down my questions to the ones that are most helpful:
- Is it advantageous to space out the time at which you give contributions to promotion bots? Giving to the two big ones at the same instant may not be the best strategy.
- Does the size of your contribution scale? or does giving more lead to diminishing returns?
- TipU is getting very popular. Is it the Steemit solution I need? or will its own popularity keep me from being able to use it?
These are the results of my current dabbling. Thank you.
[Update: By sheer luck, the @tipu cooldown period ended shortly after this post went up, so I sent TipU 5 SBDs. I got a $10 upvote, so it looks like TipU has a good ROI.]
Interesting to read more about how users are trying to optimize their returns.
I sent smartsteem and therising to 5 sbd yesterday. Smartsteem gave me 8 something and therising 9 something.So,I think smartmarket and tipu is best bot
Check my wallet for all details
@talanhorne sir...
I'm agree with U... tipu is best bot service...but he have more rest times in the day...
Great explaination sir...thanks...
@talanhorne sir...
Actually I think most bot services are not profitable...I'm already used all bots in bot tracker....but some time profit...more times waste our SBD or Steem...
Thank u so much for sharing ur exeperince with others...
Excellent review, my friend and you are right, you can post a thousand messages a day, but if there is no quality, then there will not be much sense in it, and vice versa, you can post one message and succeed. Your questions are very relevant and make you think how to improve our implementation. Thank you @talanhorne
I've used @tipu once or twice and have profited more than by using other bots
excellent post ..loving to your blog.thanks for sharing..
In the past month I have been experimenting with bots as well. In the beginning I was loosing on my investment. One of the reasons was the Steem price dropped. You just have to figure out when it’s the best time to use them. Eventually I have used @tipu as well. His ROI is one of the best and I will continue using him. @smartmarket is great as well since he upvote you right after you send SBDs to him, which means before 28 min your post was published. This give you most of the curation rewards as well. Keep experimenting and letting us know.
You are completely right! You have to experience it yourself to figure out what’s best for you. Everyone has different goals and motivations. You seem to try promoting you content in a good way. There are people sending $100-$200... to get upvote from bots, which is not the right way these bots should be used for in my opinion. It should be used to boost your content. Look at the trending page with $700,$800...rewards and check how they got it.
I don't think to using bid bots. But I used before for promote my posts. I think it's not in good to mine. With your idea I think Tipu is better option. Before I need to check it out. Excellent Bid bots review @talanhorne.