What is your one tip on how B2B marketers should leverage social media? This is what I was asked by ClickDocs, a great source of information on content marketing. You can read other insights from other experts here. Here’s my answer:
Small business professionals who want to attract people for their products and services through Twitter often start off on the wrong foot. They look at it and answer the question, “What are you doing?” Who cares?
Start off by doing a search for keywords in your field. Use the search button at the bottom of the page and type in “Need help with …XYZ” and see what comes up.
On any day, people are asking for help with things on Twitter. You can answer their questions, refer them to your blog, and offer to help. Be sure to follow them when you do.
The next thing you need to do is set up alerts for keywords in your field. I use TweetLater.com. Every time someone is tweeting about my area of expertise, say content marketing, or leadership and executive coaching, I get an email alert.
That way I can respond to their tweets and be helpful. I can also stay informed of the latest buzz.
Small business professionals who want to attract people for their products and services by using Twitter should use two important features:
1. Use the search feature on Twitter. You can use the words your prospects might be using. Go ahead and try it. You’ll be amazed at how many opportunities there are for helping other people.
2. Set up alerts for key words in your field. That way you get email updates each time someone talks about your area of expertise. You can find people in your field or prospects and then follow them. You can use a Twitter alert service through TweetLater.
Twitter is only as good as you make it. Don’t tweet like this:
• “I do executive coaching in Podunk, CA.”
• “I write web copy for you.”
• “Best real estate property in the state.”
Be Helpful
Focus on others, what you can do to help them. Act like you’re a new arrival in a cocktail party. Don’t try to draw attention to yourself and your business. But be sure to be helpful by sharing where they can get helpful information to help solve their problems.
I’ve got my blog posts set up to feed automatically into Twitter by using Twitterfeed.com. I blog most days, or at least every other day. People see my tweets on Twitter, and click to read my blog posts. It’s a major source of traffic to my blogs. People from Twitter are more likely to leave comments on a blog.
Since this is done automatically, I don’t spend any time on this. Apart from that, I read my TweetLater alerts in my inbox. I go over to Twitter when I see an alert and I can respond or re-tweet something helpful.
Sometimes strangers will see one of my blog posts they like and re-tweet the headline with the link. Be sure to thank them and follow them, since they are a great source for you getting known. Be sure to re-tweet other people’s good blog posts too.
Ask for Help
When I was about to write this tip, I used Twitter to ask others for their best tip. Here are two responses I got:
• @xposure (Nigel Lamb)@Patsiblogsquad: Use the search for keywords. Answer questions that are your area of expertise. Recommend others, so they return the favor.
• @leeodden (Lee Odden) @Patsiblogsquad: Search twitter using queries that describe prospects in a state of need & be helpful to them.
On Twitter, I asked people how they would answer the question “What is your one tip on how B2B marketers should leverage social media?”
Just imagine how you could create content for articles, blog posts, and white papers. The next time somebody says, “Twitter? Who’s got time for that?” you’ll know why it’s smart to use social media sites for growing your business.
Patsi’s on Twitter, click here and follow me!
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