In our last post on this subject we looked at the benefits of Twitter as a platform for B2B organisations. In this post, we look at some of the communications strategies that B2B organisations and their PR agencies can adopt when using this communications tool.
For some business users, the pressure to come up with 140 perfectly formed characters on a regular basis can be a bit overwhelming. But don’t let that put you off, with little effort, Twitter can be used as an extremely effective marketing tool for your business.
Work on your strategy before you get started. Understand the online community you’re going to engage with and how to get involved. Give some thought to the type of content you plan to post and how frequently you will be able to tweet. Also think about your objective – remember you probably won’t generate hundreds of leads through Twitter or be able to reach you customers but it will certainly help improve your sphere of influence. There are many reasons to embrace this platform and here are just a few:
Brand awareness – One of the most effective ways to engage with others and build your Twitter presence is to give your brand a personality. Followers will look to engage with people and not a business, so your Twitter personality should be genuine and personable. Sharing photos or videos of work-related events, offering opinion on a hot industry topics all work towards promoting a positive image for your business and will help shape and build your brand. Like PR, you should not expect a direct return in terms of new business leads, but you can expect it to help you increase brand awareness.
Share content – Use Twitter to share your marketing content – blog posts, articles, surveys, news clippings can all be shared via your Twitter feed to help position your organisation as industry experts creating opportunities for it to be retweeted as well as building links back to your website or blog.
Networking – Twitter allows you to network with other like-minded individuals, potential customers or industry contacts from the comfort of your desk, on the move or from your comfy armchair. Following and engaging with individuals or organisations you would like to work with or influence is now possible thanks to Twitter. In fact, contrary to the belief that Twitter is an all consuming mass of noise, the ability to use filters and searches to follow trends, people with specific interests and individual companies can be very easy and a great way of engaging with and building potential followers.
Website enhancement – Your company’s website is the prime location for anyone looking to buy your services so it should all be about participation and collaboration with customers and providing compelling, relevant content. Linking your Twitter feed to your home page is a great way of directing traffic to your website. Twitter also helps keep the website fresh and interesting and offers prospects or existing customers a quick and easy way to directly engage with your business.
Ultimately, Twitter is a free and easy to use communications channel and the pros far outweigh the cons. But don’t just tweet for the sake of it. Embrace your Twitter personality and use your presence to benefit your company and customers. What’s stopping you?
Fiona
