B2B customers don’t find products or services through Twitter, do they? Actually, they do. Research by Optify, in January, found that Twitter has the highest B2B conversion rate of any social network. As well as better figures than organic and paid search. B2B customers don’t just use Twitter; they convert from Twitter.
That research offers the perfect encouragement for B2Bs that want to get on Twitter and take advantage of the opportunities it creates. The problem with Twitter, or any social network, is that once you have an account you have to use it. The advice for businesses on social networks is always the same. Get on social, post as often as you can.
You have to post often to get enough visibility to build a following. The problem is, most B2Bs don’t know what to post. So they create accounts that sit there, updated once a day with a blog post or a quick comment. To be really successful on Twitter you need to post regularly. So how do you fill out that timeline?
Automate
The best way to guarantee that your account stays active is to take the posting responsibility out of human hands. There are many services available that allow you to automate your Twitter timeline. You just need to be careful with how you manage the automation. Services, like Hootsuite and Buffer, allow you to schedule posts to go out at a certain time. Meaning you can spend a few minutes each morning putting together a schedule of content to tweet for the day and let the app do the rest. Minimal effort for maximum impact. Buffer even lets you know if you’ve recently posted the same content to help you avoid spamming your followers with repeat content.
Curate
Whether you choose to automate your tweets or do it manually, the best way to fill a B2B Twitter timeline is to curate the best content in your industry. Follow people in your industry, or that comment on it, and share the best content they have to offer. This works best if it’s mixed in with your own content too. Some B2Bs are reluctant to share content that they see as ‘rival’. However, people don’t want to follow every single account on Twitter, they’ll look for the accounts that post the best content. If you fill your timeline with quality, the followers will come.
Reiterate
Another great way to keep your timeline topped up is to revisit some of your old content. If you wrote a blog six months ago that’s still relevant and useful now, share it. New followers and those that missed it then may still get some value out of it. Never feel tied to a particular day to share your content, as long as it’s still relevant it’s shareable.
Debate
Outside of content sharing a lot of B2B Twitter users struggle to come up with ideas on what to tweet about. The great thing is, you don’t have to. If you can identify and search for hashtags or trends relevant to your industry, you can just take a look at what others are saying. Then join the debate.
Speculate
Of course, you can spark debate too. Offer your opinion on an industry topic or a piece of industry news. You don’t need to have all the answers, if you have an opinion, share it. You may find that many others have a similar opinion. Even better you may find some people willing to engage in reasoned debate, adding credibility and shareability to your Twitter profile.
The challenge for B2B Twitter accounts is building a list of relevant followers. Anyone can create a good-sized list of followers by chasing any topic or follower they can find. That’s not the goal for B2B’s, if you want conversions you need to share business-relevant content. By sticking to your expertise and posting regularly you can build a qualified, relevant following.
Social Media marketing can be tricky in B2B communications. Why not take advantage of SiliconCloud’s free Social Media Evaluation for your brand, company or products.
