Republished with permission of Comms Dealer
First published in Comms Dealer Dec 2014, p.31
Twitter is probably one of the most underrated platforms when it comes to B2B use, especially in the telecoms channel.
For telecoms companies, lead generation is a top priority, but often the biggest challenge of them all. Did you know that 82% of social media leads for businesses come from Twitter? That’s a big number for a platform where 140 characters seem hardly enough to say much.
These companies tend to tweet whilst using the platform as a megaphone to push sales, regardless of who is listening. The advantage of doing this on Twitter is the high level of personal feel and personalisation. Users nurture their own feeds to suit their interests and preferences, and businesses aim to build a relevant and loyal following.
At the same time, a high number of companies use the platform as a customer service unit. The nature of Twitter make interaction timely, efficient and instant, so it comes as no surprise that a lot of customers take to Twitter to ask for support. They see the platform as a mechanism to truly interact with brands and learn more about them.
Whilst some may be deterred to use Twitter for business due to the time it takes to strategically steer a business in the right direction over social media, it’s worth mentioning that good etiquette and social media behaviour brings a 47% lift in site traffic. Adding to that, relevant website content tweeted out can increase your brand consideration in the eyes of users by 150%.
Businesses shouldn’t fail to take into account that decision-makers across the entire company funnel resort to Twitter to monitor, evaluate and educate themselves. Merely not joining in on the conversation results in untapped, wasted potential for both prospective clients and possible partnerships.
One of the major aspects companies tend to overlook is that Twitter is a two-way street, and the traffic on both ways must be equally seamless for your activity to be a success. Think about it like being a guest at a party – you’re there to join in, educate, entertain and entice, but you don’t own the place. Praise, strike interest, comment or just add something positive to someone’s experience and you’re taking first steps into an extremely powerful lead generation tool.
The next article in this series will focus on LinkedIn and its importance for business.
To view the article click here
