6 Ways to Use Twitter for Business to Business Marketing

Learn 6 secrets to seeing results using Twitter for business to business (B2B) marketing.

When it comes to supporting your B2B marketing efforts with social media it seems like everyone is flocking to LinkedIn, but while the professional network can be a great platform to see success and engage with prospects (more on that here) it’s not the only one.  In fact, 87% of B2B marketers are already using Twitter to distribute content, build credibility, reach audiences across the funnel, and generate leads.

So, how can you start seeing results with Twitter for business to business marketing?

Tweet to Spark Interest

With 500 million tweets sent per day, it’s important to put some thought behind your content strategy. Strike a balance between showcasing the value of your product and sharing industry insights. And remember just because your audience is B2B doesn’t mean they want your content to read like a sales sheet.

According to an eMarketer survey, 96% of B2B buyers said they wanted more insight from industry thought leaders and 92% wanted less focus on products and more focus on value.  Find your internal thought leaders and put their knowledge to good use. Ask them to write blogs you can share on Twitter, or take over the feed for the day. Asking internal influencers to share expertise can build credibility and show you know your stuff in a way that makes people stop and listen.

Make Data Easily Digestible, Searchable, and Sharable

In our increasingly digital age, even B2B buyers conduct research online but that doesn’t mean that their purchasing decisions begin and end with a Google search.  Your B2B buyers are also taking to social media and other digital channels before they make a purchase, and more often than not they’re doing so on mobile.

Tailor your tweets to this mobile-centric audience by keeping it short and sweet for those waning attention spans we keep hearing about. After all, just because Twitter allows 280-characters now doesn’t mean you have to use them in each and every tweet if you can get your point across without them. Create and share relevant images on Twitter to make data or product features easier for folks to digest. Use hashtags to improve the searchability of your tweets and get discovered by new (and relevant) eyes.

Interact with People

There’s a place for everyone (media, employees, customers, industry peers, you name it) on Twitter, across industries and the globe. Don’t believe us? Do us a quick bio search for your industry and you might be surprised. Build a community with these audiences and remember to talk to them not just at them. How? Use Twitter polls as an informal way to research what matters most to your followers, experiment with exclusive content your customers can only see on Twitter, host and participate in industry Twitter Chats, and don’t forget about customer service.

Integrate Your Efforts with Sales Teams

Using Twitter for business to business marketing doesn’t mean you have to leave out your sales team. While Twitter should never be used as a direct sales tool, a little co-operation goes a long way towards earning those all-important conversions. Remember those customer service inquiries I mentioned? Share any insights gained from these and data about conversations you’ve had on Twitter with the sales team (and ask them to do the same). Keep track of who you’re talking to and make sure leads earned through Twitter are added to your CRM so you can keep the conversation going and nurture them without being pushy.

Spread the Word Again (and Again)

If you’re reading this blog then it’s probably not a surprise to you that the B2B decision process is a long and winding road. What does that mean? Repeated exposure to messaging is your friend. While it’s true that you don’t want to copy and paste or sound like a broken record with your tweets, it can often take multiple touches to drive action.

In fact, someone who has seen a company’s message four times is 335% more likely to click on a link in a tweet by that business than someone who has only been exposed to the message once. That’s huge! Because there are so many tweets sent out in the Twitter-sphere, messages tend to spend less time front and center in the feed. But don’t be discouraged. This means you can reshare important information without seeming so repetitive.

Track Your Results

When it comes to using Twitter for business to business marketing (and really to using digital marketing in general) diving into your analytics is crucial to measuring your impact. Start by deciding which KPIs to track, developing a measurement plan and establishing a baseline. From there it’s all about optimizing to improve your results.

These are just a few of the ways B2B marketers can see results with Twitter. Put these into action for your brand and you’ll be well on your way to using Twitter as another touch-point in the journey from prospect to customer.

 

Have you used Twitter for your business to business marketing efforts? Tell us about your results in the comments.