In one of our bi-monthly #marketochat’s, we discussed How to Build a Vibrant Community on Twitter with Social Media Influencer, Madalyn Sklar. Twitter continues to be a place that people go in order to find out brand information, so it is critical that you are building the right community for your brand and follower base.
In this blog, we’ll cover Madalyn Sklar’s advice on building a vibrant community on Twitter from a recent #marketochat.
Why is engagement on Twitter so important for B2B marketers?
Engagement on Twitter is crucial for B2B marketers because the more you increase your engagement with your followers, the more you increase brand awareness, customer support, and advocacy. By increasing engagement, you are able to personally interact with customers and prospects, which in turn can drive leads, sales, and ultimately profits.
What steps do you consider when developing a Twitter engagement strategy?
The first step is to look at your community. It is important to understand who they are and what they like because they will be the ones sharing your content. The next step is to actually map out your plan and think about what will drive long-term engagement. You want to ensure that the interaction between your brand and your community continues to develop over time. It is important to take note of what works and what does not so that you can make changes to your strategy and continue on the path of long-term growth.
What kind of content do you recommend posting on Twitter?
Posting a variety of content on Twitter is essential to show the “human” side of your brand. Besides posting relevant articles pertaining to your niche, it is also necessary to focus on incorporating some of the more popular content like images and videos to bring more attention to what you are sharing. With videos, in particular, you have the power to really connect with people and boost engagement. It’s important that not only do you pay attention to the overall performance of your posts but see if you can recognize types of posts that perform better than others—for example highly visual posts, versus just text.
How frequently should businesses be posting on Twitter? Does it differ for B2B vs. B2C?
For someone who is just starting out on Twitter, it would be best to start off with 3 to 5 posts a day in order to build up your brand and audience. You can try out different things to see what works best for you and your audience. Frequency does differ from business to business because what the audience wants and expects will vary, so it is really best to experiment. Once, you do find that sweet spot that works, stick with it for a while but don’t be afraid to continue to experiment.
Any tips for encouraging executives to let you be a little more fun and personal on the company social channels?
In many organizations, there is some hesitation around having a looser, more fun version of your brand on social channels. To allay the fear that your executives may have around this, it may make sense to build a set of posting guidelines that you and your executive stakeholders agree upon. In those guidelines, you would define things like voice, tone, hashtag usage and types of posts. Additionally, you may want to make the case for giving your employees a chance to take over the company social channels. Employees are your best advocates and can give new insight and perspective into the company, and with an agreed upon set of guidelines you will have something to guide your employees as they share their perspectives.
What’s one key piece of advice you’d offer B2B marketers just starting on Twitter?
The most important part of social media success is listening to your audience. You should be in there tweeting every day and replying to all of your notifications. Followers today expect almost immediate responses across social channels, but especially on Twitter. Participating in Twitter chats is also a great way to engage and connect with other influencers and people on Twitter too.
Final Thoughts
Twitter is such an awesome platform for businesses, as it really allows them to connect with their audience as a brand; however, you need to have a strategy behind what you do. A strong strategy will allow you to gain a strong follower base that continues to grow long term. This will, in turn, create more leads and business for your company.
What strategy have you found that works best to build a brand on Twitter? Let us know in the comments, and be sure to tune into our next #marketochat on August 31 at 1 pm PST for tips on How to Drive Authentic Engagement on Social Media with guest Brian Fanzo.