The Importance of Twitter for B2B Marketing
Estimated Read Time: 3 minutes
Intended Audience: B2B Business Owners, B2B Marketers, Microsoft Partners
Many B2B marketers are under the impression that Twitter is only effective for B2C brands, but this is far from the truth. While B2C brands are more likely to use Twitter to promote their products, maintaining a well-established Twitter presence is necessary for any organization, including B2B. Today, B2B organizations looking to easily connect with clients often use Twitter to engage and attract potential and returning clientele.
Over 82% of B2B content marketers utilize Twitter to promote their business, and this number will only continue to increase as companies begin to take advantage of the full capabilities of Twitter that allow them to connect with their audience.
Why Brands Should Utilize Twitter for B2B Marketing
While LinkedIn is the most popular social media platform for B2B marketers, Twitter is not far behind. Many brands use Twitter to get their message across to a different audience segment, at scale, including authoritative decision makers, thought leaders, and subject matter experts. Twitter allows companies to easily connect with their audiences by providing informational tidbits, bite-sized content for people to consume quickly.
One feature that makes Twitter unique is the ability to address customers directly via private messages. Even though the target audience of many B2B companies is likely to be present on LinkedIn, users cannot directly message an organization’s page on LinkedIn. On Twitter, brands can engage directly with prospects and existing customers by addressing their queries and concerns in the private message feature.
In addition to being able to directly speak to end users, brands can use the search tool on Twitter to see what people are saying about their company in real-time to join the conversation. If you are active on Twitter, you have probably noticed the traction gained by brands that take the time to directly reply or retweet their customers. The time dedicated to engaging with interested leads is often appreciated on channels like Twitter, so much so that a good response could go viral! Regardless of how widespread your interaction is, it is instrumental for promoting your brand.
How to Successfully Use Twitter for B2B Marketing
By using Twitter for your B2B marketing efforts, you can increase your brand awareness to build a strong community and in turn, generate more leads. It is also a great platform to monitor your competitors and learn what consumers are saying about them in real-time. To make the most of the platform and ensure your B2B marketing efforts are successful, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Demonstrate thought leadership: Demonstrate your knowledge to potential clients by engaging in industry-specific topics to position your brand as a thought leader and increase your brand value. Thought leadership can improve your brand’s reputation and help your audience see why your services are valuable.
- Interact with decision makers: Encourage your skilled staff, including Microsoft MVPs, speakers, and those with a prominent online presence, to engage and interact with the company account through retweets and replies, as this can give your account more merit and make audiences more likely to trust that your brand is indeed an authority in the space and fountain of knowledge.
- Display your subject matter expertise: Show your audiences that you are an expert in your field by live tweeting about important industry events and taking real-time interaction to the next level. Publish valuable content and insights that answer commonly asked questions or queries to indicate that you have an advanced understanding of the pain points that customers in your industry are facing.
- Engage directly with your audience: Engage with and join trending conversations to build credibility and community to drive brand awareness. Take the opportunity to respond and address clients’ and prospective clients’ queries directly, whether by replying to tweets or direct messaging.
- Monitor your competitors: Twitter allows users to customize timelines with lists and topics, which can help you find other brands in the same space and target their followers. By customizing your timeline to see news from your industry, you can gauge how your competitors are driving engagement, messaging and brand advocates.
All in all, Twitter is the platform where clients and prospects are likely to feel most comfortable publicly engaging with your brand, asking questions, and sharing their concerns. B2B businesses should consider establishing a Twitter presence and developing valuable curated content as part of their social media and content marketing strategy.
Let the Mavens Help Devise Your B2B Marketing Strategy
As social media has proven to be an effective way to reach target audiences and raise brand awareness, many B2B marketers are including social media marketing as a crucial piece in their overall strategy. As a software service provider, enterprise technology giant, or Microsoft Partner, Twitter can help you build your equity online.
The Mavens are experts in optimizing social media accounts to help get more eyes on your organization and its services. If you are looking to attract more visitors to your website and reach a wider audience, we can help you expand your strategy across social channels. To learn more about how to leverage Twitter for your B2B marketing efforts, check out our blog or contact us directly with any questions you have about your social media marketing strategy.