Subscribe to Newsletter
Stay up-to-date with the latest tips & strategies. Get additional discounts & alerts on offers.
Marketing has always been the game of attracting an audience. It is the process through which the value of the product/service is communicated to customers. Even though the practice of marketing has been known to mankind since the origin of civilization, the term started being in use only in the late nineteenth century.
Having its humble origins through word-of-mouth, marketing is today an advanced blend of strategy & technology. It’s because in marketing- you either adapt or die. Whether it’s print, radio, television, or internet brands have been taking advantage of available mediums to communicate their ideas to the targeted audience, since the dawn of trade. What marketers have to do is to identify the mediums that will benefit the most – whether it’s for B2C or B2B brands.
Earlier, marketing was always in a linear path, which means prospects will see an ad, if they were interested in the product, they went to the store & bought it. But today, customers are finding information on their own. Marketers now have to create personalized experiences that resonate with potential customers to pull them in. The path is no longer linear even in the perspective of B2B marketing.
In a general sense, the goal of B2B marketing is just to generate enough interest around the product or service being sold and to analyze the market & uncover the most effective channels to reach the companies that are going to be the best fit for the solution on offer. And as mentioned above the methods of doing this have changed according to time. Technology has paved way for online mediums which has enabled B2B marketers & has changed the rules of storytelling.
Great content is only half the story in marketing, as distribution & promotion of it is the other half. Today, Twitter is one of the three most important online channels for business. But the majority of B2B marketers still struggle with Twitter as a viable marketing tool with excuses like “Twitter is for consumer brands”, ”Twitter is for celebrities”, “My customers are not on Twitter” etc. But according to the (study done by Twitter in partnership with Market Probe International), they discovered that:
This is because, on Twitter, brands can position themselves as thought leaders & at the same time captivate the audience in a fun way. There are certain practices that B2B marketers have to make sure while creating the tweets to keep the audience engaged.
After doubling its character limit to 280, B2b brands can communicate more information to their followers, provide more details regarding company announcements, events & promotions, which is something to be taken advantage of by marketers.
Take a look & check out these B2B brands that making a killing in the platform of Twitter, and let us know what you think:
Profile: @Cisco
Followers: 630K
Hats off to Cisco’s team who is doing their Twitter follow-up. The page lets the visitors know exactly what they get from the brand, followed by including a supportive description as well as a few other key members of the Cisco social team to follow for additional information or outreach, which gives the brand more personality. They also stay on top of current events & always include their brand whenever possible & appropriate.
Profile: @forrester
Followers: 380K
Known well as one of the premier sources of pragmatic & forward-thinking advice provider to leaders in business on a global level through research & analysis, Forrester maintain their Twitter profile to convey their brand message along with valuable business & technology information to followers. Twitter also provides Forrester with the opportunity to tweet pieces of statistics that will act as a catalyst that stimulates the follower’s emotions. This will result in the audience wanting more, which can lead to the complete purchase of records or subscriptions to their service.
Profile: @Dell
Followers: 682K
Dell was on a lot in talks when they generated $6.5 million in sales just by using Twitter. They follow a very clear-cut strategy when it comes to leveraging the platform. The brand is known for being brave evidenced by the huge number of B2B Twitter feeds it operates. The majority are dedicated to answering customer service inquiries while others simply deal with company news & announcements. To stay on top of things Dell has multiple Twitter accounts which including Dell Cares PRO which provides 24×7 global support & Dell for Business which helps out their clients from small & medium businesses.
Dell’s strategy is definitely a God model to aim for marketers as the majority of B2B companies are nowhere near having this type of capability & unlikely to get near it any time soon.
Profile: @VMware
Followers: 278K
VMware focuses on an industry-level approach, which can be understood by its official account with 100,000 followers. A leader in the cloud & virtualization market, VMware offers a range of services which includes “hybrid cloud mgmt., application and mobility solutions” to a variety of industries & learning sessions for followers to stay tuned on the industry & company’s pulse. Followers also have the option to decide what portion of the company’s feed they want to receive through their profile, “@VMwareNews”.
Profile: @generalelectric
Followers: 452K
G.E is a great example of a B2B company that understood the potential of Twitter & grabbed it with both hands. They have done all kinds of media post on Twitter which ranges from photos of their Jet engine undergoing ice testing to (Vine videos). They also engage their followers by asking trivia questions & posting attractive infographics. G.E makes sure that the content they tweet out is focused on the broader innovation & technology realm, than just tweeting out sales pitches or materials that are the only company-focused.
Profile: @ConstantContact
Followers: 75.3K
Constant Contact’s page makes sure that it conveys its brand message clearly through a brief description as well as a fun & colorful-looking background. The amount of quality content makes their profile a notable one. Their profile excels with its abundance of activity. They make sure that their followers are engaged with their steady stream of customer relationship tips, news, events, best practices (such as Q&A), etc.
Profile: @MaerskLine
Followers: 134K
The name of the company itself carries a hell of a lot of weight primarily by being the largest shipping company in the world with operations running in 130 countries with more than 88,000 employees. Maersk’s social media strategy is an answer to marketers that imagine B2B companies are too boring for social media channels. Maersk’s Twitter feed is a mix of serious news than their Facebook page, interactions majorly retweet from Maersk employees, as well as amazing photos & relevant content.
Maersk’s Twitter strategy is simply brilliant. They have 10 “official tweeters” (panel of employees which includes the chief commercial officer, a captain, head of anti-piracy and business managers) who are trained in the art of network – how to send interesting tweets, identifying best images, who to follow, etc. This way they make sure that their natural expertise stays in parallel with the social media setting for the best outcome. They also make sure that tweets are sent a few times every day, with specialized URL shortener & media & photos sometimes attached. They do not directly engage with other Twitter users, which shows a high standard B2B way of business.
Profile: @Adobe
Followers: 592K
Adobe’s Twitter strategy is more focused on tweeting replies to customers, than just broadcasts. It also manages to avoid being tedious by tweeting a broad range of content such as live updates from events, promotions & links to tits other social platforms and forums. They have managed to keep their page, eye-catching by using bright color schemes & graphics. They excel in CTAs & use words such as “watch”, “learn”, or “ask” to keep the audience engaged and to lead them to valuable interactions. They have also experimented with Vine Videos to share content from its various events which have resulted in attracting a large number of followers.
Profile: @HubSpot
Followers: 792K
The primary reason for HubSpot’s success on Twitter is the massive amount of quality content they produce, which ranges from white papers to funny videos. They update their page feed regularly & have attracted an epic fan following of 792K, which is an impressive figure for a marketing software firm. They also give their social media team the liberty to tweet random questions & engage in interesting conversations with followers rather than just trying to sell stuff. This indeed adds a bit of personality to its tweets which spice things up rather than just being a one-way marketing weapon.
Profile: @intel
Followers: 4.79M
With a whopping 4.79 Million followers & just following 1,266, Intel is a bit of a Twitter monster & has amazingly done for a B2B company. Intel employs multiple strategies to stand head & shoulders over other B2B Twitter accounts. They use promoted posts to boost their profile & update their account regularly to ensure maximum reach. Their feed shares a mix of company info, jokes, memes, articles & quotes that are just asking to be retweeted, just not in an overt & unsubtle way. They also interact with their followers from time to time which adds humane touch & do a great job in not only showcasing new products but also participating in hashtag campaigns.
We hope that all these examples have inspired the B2B marketers who doubted Twitter in its power in marketing communication. Having a B2B Twitter account is a great way to engage with other businesses on the platform & if used right, it is as good as advertising for free to hundreds of thousands of people.
Just make sure that you do not tweet any nonsense & keep focused on good content with a dash of personality. If you have felt that, we have missed out on any other B2B Twitter profile that you felt was great, please feel free to leave us a comment.
Also read our blog: TOP 10 B2B MARKETING PREDICTIONS FOR THE YEAR 2018
Show some love!
Subscribe to Newsletter
Stay up-to-date with the latest tips & strategies. Get additional discounts & alerts on offers.
Related Articles
Subscribe to Newsletter
Stay up to date with the latest marketing, sales, and service tips and news.
Enter Your Details