The potential of social media, and Twitter in particular, is a very hot topic among B2B online marketers these days. It seems that for every one person in this discussion singing the praises of Twitter for B2B, there are 50 others saying either “What’s Twitter?” or “Using Twitter for business makes absolutely no sense to me - what’s the big deal?”.
For all the B2B Twitter-philes and Twitter-phobes out there, let’s be clear about the current state of affairs – as an emerging communications channel, Twitter really is confusing, and not just for B2B marketers. Don’t feel bad if you don’t get it. No one really gets it completely at this point because so many of the rules have yet to be written, including how other communication channels like search will interact with Twitter.
Knowing B2B marketers, this debate is going to go on for a LONG time until there’s a solid body of experience, demonstrable (and repeatable) results and best practice recommendations spanning a wide range of industries and company sizes.
Until then, you have a choice – do you want to be part of writing the Twitter rules for B2B, or would you rather let the dust settle and pick-up clear best practices as they emerge? Either is a viable choice, but don’t torture yourself (or your company!) by bouncing between the two.
If you’re currently in the majority that doesn’t understand Twitter for B2B but want to get a jump on your competitors by being a proactive participant in the emergence of this new communications channel, then here’s a few pieces of advice:
1) Set-up a Twitter account
You can’t understand a new communication channel from the outside. Visit http://twitter.com to create an account.
2) Ignore the hype – its still marketing!
Twitter, and social media more generally, are hot topics in B2B marketing and will probably stay that way for the next several years. Forget the hype. Focus on what you know about good marketing and communications regardless of the channel, and look at Twitter through that lens.
3) Build up your own body of evidence
Get a group of B2B marketers together to discuss a new marketing strategy or tactic and you’ll inevitably hear “Do you have any examples of this working in my [industry/company size/etc]?”. The “does this apply to me” question is absolutely the right one to ask. While you’re likely to hear the same B2B Twitter examples over and over again today, keep asking the question of different people and groups in your network. For example, ask about Twitter for B2B in a LinkedIn group, ask vendors in the next trade show you go to whether or not they’re using Twitter, find out if associations you belong to are addressing B2B social media and search Twitter regularly for references to your industry.
What about the obvious – asking a question on Twitter? This isn’t going to work very well for the interested-in-Twitter-but-don’t-get-it-yet audience to which this post is directed. To get quick responses to questions on Twitter, you really need a very engaged set of followers (like a number of your friends) and/or a lot of them – hundreds, preferably thousands. You can ask as a Twitter newbie, but don’t let a slow response, or lack of response, sour you on the medium.
Most of all – don’t stress about not understanding the role Twitter will ultimately play in B2B marketing. You’re in good company, and we’re all figuring this out together.
Thanks for the link to my post—I hope it proves helpful to people. And I wish Twitter themselves would realise that Twitter needn’t be as confusing as it is.
A very realistic and measured view of B2B Twitter. New trends pop up so quickly these days and how B2B marketers choose to approach the next big thing will impact on the response from stakeholders. The more reasonable and justified your pitch is, the more you’ll earn the trust of your company to try innovative concepts that you believe will be effective.
I love this: do you want to be part of writing the Twitter rules for B2B, or would you rather let the dust settle and pick-up clear best practices as they emerge?
Every marketer and business should be asking themselves this kind of question regularly. The answer might sometimes be no but if you’re in a position to innovate and initiate instead of follow the leader, think of the benefits to your brand name (and your portfolio)!
Tim J – was a great post and you’re entirely right. Twitter, like most new media, doesn’t need to be nearly as complicated as it seems to be. Early adopters have a double-edged impact on new media – they drive improvement through very active use, but they also create a lot of insider jargon and apparent complexity which makes it harder for the mainstream to really understand the core value. Definitely the case with Twitter for B2B.
Mandi B – very well said. So much depends on the basic pitch around using a new media.
If the pitch amounts to “it’s AWESOME, all the cool kids are doing it and we have to as well!”, that’s just not going to fly in B2B. At least, I’ve never seen it work.
A more successful pitch starts with a simple statement like “Twitter is the fastest way for us to get new product news to our most passionate and socially networked customers”. This is a more rational appeal focused on a tangible business challenge (getting new announcements out to product evangelists) and value (faster than other media) which tends to resonate much better with B2B senior management.
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