Twitter has become more than a way for individuals to let people know what they had for lunch. This social media tool has quickly become a key component of business marketing. Not only is Twitter a great way for business-to-consumer marketers, but for business-to-business marketers as well.

I recently gave a presentation on the usage of social media in a business-to-business setting and here are two of the key points I stressed when using Twitter.

Make Connections

Many businesses use their Twitter accounts to only send out sales information or blog post notifications. An effective use of Twitter is to create a dialog between your company and the customer. While sending out messages that do promote sales or blog posts are a good tactics, the real goal is to create a connection between your company and the people following. I suggest using Twitter to respond to customer service issues, to send out links to articles that may be of interest to your client base and to just engage your customers in a conversation. The Twitter conversation might not have anything to do with what your company does, but might be a general concern or topic that impacts your client base.

By creating a dialog with your potential customers you’ll have better success with your social media campaigns and create connections and relationships that will last longer.

Measure Effectiveness and Set Goals

The ROI of social media is a well debated topic among marketers. Many businesses feel that if they don’t achieve sales directly from social media that it is a waste of time. There are many metrics to look at when viewing the value of social media not just revenue generated. I look at clicks and retweets as well as revenue.

It is also very important to set realistic goals for your social media campaigns. Don’t expect each tweet to generate revenue or even significant traffic. Be sure that all of your goals are realistic and held to the same standards as all of your other marketing efforts. There are a number of social medial analytics tools that are ideal for tracking success such as HootSuite and ArgyleSocial.

If you keep working at enhancing your company’s social media profile, and use the medium effectively, over time you will have success.

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