With more than 500 million active users, it is no wonder that Twitter is the preferred platform in the social media sphere. Why will you consider being a part of it to grow your business? Well, the answer is implied in the initial statement.
When it is so popular, how can it be that some of them aren’t your potential customers?
For a B2B company, a presence on this platform can lead to wondrous results in sales. It can help you build relationships, gain trust and credibility, recognize opportunities and carve out an identity in your niche.
Not only your prospects, but your competitors are there too. Most businesses have understood the importance of social media, especially Twitter, to reach their target market. Don’t be left behind.
Before you take any step, you need to make sure it creates an advantage. But it won’t do with a mere presence; you need to work wisely to gain the right kind of exposure. Tweeting into a meaningless void won’t be of any use.
What do you do to make Twitter work for you? Here are the steps to do this.
Step 1: Build your network of following, followers and influencers.
How do you find prospects from the millions of users? It isn’t as much of a challenge as it seems initially. Your first task is to identify the keywords and hashtags relevant to your business, and your customers.
Use the inbuilt search option to find your ideal customers. You can also use the data from your competitors. Find out who they are following with the help of tools such as Followerwonk and Klout. They will also tell you who is following them.
Once you have a considerable number of people you are following, it is time for some organization. Use solutions such as TweetDeck to create lists of the people you are following. It makes monitoring and searching a whole lot easier.
Next, you need to create a base of followers. To do this, create a bio section that elucidates who you are and what you do. When you tweet, make it remarkable, relevant, and regular. How do you do it? Here are a few pointers for help.
- Share quality content that you create and curate
- Use popular hashtags but make sure they are related
- Schedule your tweets with tools such as Future Tweets and Buffer
Don’t forget to shorten the links you share. You can easily do it with a tool such as bit.ly. It will save characters, and also help you keep track of clicks, saves and shares. This data will come in handy for future reference.
Identify the influencers. To do it, consider the number of followers as well as the followers to following ratio. Once you have done this, reply to or retweet their content to build a relationship. Request them for a share once you get them interested.
Step 2: Identify opportunities to create conversations and capture leads.
Once you have a good base to start off, monitor your Twitter feed to keep track of opportunities. Help anyone who asks for advice or opinion. If it isn’t within your capacity, retweet their request. Someone in your network may be able to help.
When you come across a possible sales opportunity or a sales cycle, participate in it to be noticed. Also, keep track of potential customers. Anyone who isn’t satisfied with a competitor or is looking before making a purchase decision can become a lead.
Create conversations. And once you have captured their attention, move away from the public forum. Use Direct Messages to find alternative ways of communication. Start with emails and calls. An offline communication has better chances to attain sales success.
Step 3: Conduct research to gain an insight into prospects.
To make a sales pitch relevant and substantive, it is necessary to have a complete view of your prospect. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to put in all your efforts on a single prospect. Instead, use a tool such as Social Mention.
How does it work? Well, it’s quite simple; with this tool, you can have a clear idea about what any user says about the prospect on Twitter. With this insight, you can understand their goals and challenges and create a sales pitch that caters to these points.
Step 4: Integrate your insights into a management system.
What good is it if you have a load of data to make Twitter work to boost your sales but you don’t share it with anyone? It is essential that you organize and manage every bit of relevant data you collect from this social network in a CRM solution.
Achieve better sales prospects for your business with the right use of Twitter.
About the Author: This article is contributed by Evans who is associated with leading UK based start-up – http://www.cableprotector.co.uk/.
Photo credit: Garret Heath
