Twitter Marketing for B2B Marketers

As a SEO professional, you’re probably aware of the important role Twitter plays as an online marketing tool. This social networking site enables you to post quick updates and read those of other users. The updates are categorized as micro-blogs, since they are comprised of only 140 characters or fewer. Like other forms of social media, Twitter can be a good way of reaching out and communicating with anyone who may be interested in your business.

This is why many of those who work for a professional SEO company are looking for ways of successfully using Twitter not only for B2C, but also for B2B marketing.

Why is there a need to use Twitter for B2B marketing? Since a site like Twitter is primarily used by businesses to reach out to their target customers, you may think it’s more suited to B2C marketing. It is our opinion that B2B companies can benefit more from using social media as a marketing tool. Even other experts agree. Remember that the information you provide in B2B marketing is typically more technical than what’s provided in B2C marketing. In making this type of information available on a site like Twitter, you are therefore making it more accessible to your target customers. Social media marketing also allows you to communicate with several people at once, rather than one at a time.

B2B marketing on Twitter allows you to make technical information more readily available to your target market. Image source

Of course, in using Twitter for B2B marketing, you have to make sure your followers are all worth your while. Many people have the incorrect notion that success in Twitter marketing depends on the number of followers you get. But, no matter how many followers you have, they actually won’t do you any good if they’re inconsequential followers. A study has shown that about 90% of the Twitter followers of B2B companies are irrelevant and some aren’t even real. Irrelevant followers are those who don’t belong to your target market, who can’t deliver your message to your target market, and who aren’t influencers in the buying process.

The reason why a lot of B2B companies get such worthless followers is that they have quantity as their primary metric for success in Twitter marketing. Some social media managers also make the mistake of treating all followers the same way and following back anyone who follows them. This can only lead to having even more followers of poor quality. Another possible reason for having worthless followers is the inability to create and post interesting and relevant content that’s sure to get your target audience’s attention. Even if you’re guilty of just one of these shortcomings, you’re bound to waste your efforts in Twitter marketing.

What should you do, then? Whom should you follow and what kind of followers should you focus on attracting? One of the best things you can do is to assign someone (three persons should be the maximum) to handle the company’s Twitter account. You should then make sure that whoever’s assigned to handle your Twitter account understands that the metric for success should be more on quality than quantity. When you’re measuring growth in terms of quantity, it’s best to exclude inconsequential followers who have no impact on, or simply don’t belong to your target audience.

It’s best to focus more on the quality rather than the quantity of your Twitter followers. Image source

In choosing who to follow, it is best to check whether a follower is a legitimate prospect. If so, then you definitely should follow him back. In fact, you should do more than follow. You should also thank each prospect for following you. You could also retweet their posts and offer links to more relevant content from time to time. And when you come across key influencers following you, be sure to engage them regularly so you can encourage other people like them to follow you as well. You should also ensure that direct messages are answered so your followers wouldn’t feel that they’re being ignored.

As mentioned above, the inability to create interesting and relevant content is one of the biggest reasons for an SEO company to fail in their Twitter marketing efforts. For this reason, you’d do well to increase your efforts at creating and posting high-quality content on Twitter and other social media sites. Having the right type of content will go a long way towards giving you a good number of followers who are all worth your while. One of the biggest advantages of Twitter marketing for B2B companies is that it allows you to share your message to an entire community at once. You therefore have to ensure that each message is valuable, so that it gets passed on to other relevant users.

Increase your chances for a successful B2B marketing campaign on Twitter by posting high-quality content. Image source

Hash tags can also be very valuable when doing B2B marketing via Twitter. Among other things, hash tags make your content available to users other than your own followers. Not only does this help you build a wider following, but it also helps ensure that your followers are all or at least mostly relevant. Use existing popular hash tags in your industry and create hash tags of your own to use on your posts. Bear in mind that there are a lot of B2B buyers who begin by searching for popular Twitter hash tags. This is what makes this tool valuable to your marketing efforts.

Using the appropriate tools is very important, as they help ensure that you’re able to put your B2B knowledge and social SEO strategies to good use. This is why it would also be wise for you to research what Twitter tools you’re likely to need in order to enhance your social media strategy. Other than hash tags, other Twitter tools you may want to consider include analytic packages, directories, client tools, and search tools. You’d also do well to remember that sharing is among the keys to ensuring success in your B2B social media campaign. So you may want to share some truly relevant content from other people to increase your authority and to encourage these people to share your content as well.

Make sure you use the right Twitter tools for your B2B marketing campaign. Image source

One of the best things about Twitter is that there are diverse ways to make it work for you. Try to see how new strategies can aid your efforts and strive to make them work well for your business. Take the first step and find out if your followers are worth your while.

About Emma-Julie Fox

Emma, aka the "Foxy Lady", writes and promotes Pitstop Media's articles about search engine optimization and social media. She is a fun loving person and likes to help others with good advice. She is also a caring mother of a beautiful daughter.