Tips to "handle" Twitter for better results

Any successful B2B social media plan includes strategies and tactics to forge relationships and build a brand. Building a brand through social strategies doesn’t happen overnight – it requires a sustained commitment using effective strategies for engagement and relationship building. This holds true when marketers consider building a presence on Twitter – only marketers who use the right strategies build and contribute to lasting social engagements. To understand which strategies attract followers and boost lead generation, consider the following 12 tips.  1. ReTweeting If something is valuable, marketers should share it – this is what ReTweeting is all about. ReTweeting accomplishes three goals; one, it allows you to share additional relevant information with your followers.  Two, it shows respect to the follower you are ReTweeting and three, it exposes the person you’re ReTweeting to your followers, potentially expanding their network.  It’s also a good idea to thank followers for ReTweeting your tweets with a simple reply like “Thanks for the RT!”. 2. Reporting news Today, news moves at the click of a button. When news breaks in the B2B arena, consider sending out updates and insightful information to followers and encourage them to share it with their audience. 3. Original content One key to B2B social media success is sharing original and insightful information. Sharing content from other B2B sources is a given, but be sure to include links to your own content from newsletters, B2B blogs, white papers and other sources in your tweets. 4. Hashtags On Twitter, getting your content in front of a particular audience is as simple as a hashtag. Adding a targeted hastag to a message  can put that message  in front of potential prospect searching for information based on that hashtag. Research tags already in use and utilize them in your B2B social media campaign. 5. Thank you Although simple, thanking someone for sharing your message goes a long way. As part of a total relationship campaign, share and thank all those who spread your updates. 6. Listening Understand what’s being said about a brand, service or product by listening on Twitter. Utilize keyword searches and hashtag monitoring to identify and engage with prospects while boosting lead generation through B2B social media. 7. Offline events This effective way to promote online events works equally for offline events. Utilize Twitter to send out resources and insights to offline events, such as industry and user conferences, before, during and even after. 8. Customer service Consider using Twitter to answer questions on products and services or customer service issues. Not only does this give customers and prospects faster results, it gives marketers valuable statistics for B2B social media campaign strategies. 9. Keywords Consider researching keywords relating to a brand, product, and service niche and learn the needs and wants of prospects. 10. Tools Going beyond the default interface, third party Twitter tools and clients increase  productivity, search and other operations. With these tools, you can schedule, import and effectively manage numerous accounts associated with Twitter. 11. Other networks Powerful B2B social media strategies dictate using multiple networks and tools. Consider integrating other networks and content platforms including: Facebook, B2B blogs and LinkedIn. Some allow automatic or scheduled updates from or to Twitter. 12. Lists Twitter lists not only give marketers the opportunity to categorize resources within lists, it lets those contacts know the marketer considers them as go-to resources for particular subject matter information. Source: Marketo

CHECKlist for creating NEW CONTENT

Marketers are working hard to create great content that can be used to create sales leads, drive website traffic, promote brand, and educate customers and prospects.  Unfortunately, not all content is created equal.  To ensure you get the most out of your content marketing efforts, you must follow these six rules:

1. It is not promotional – promotional materials will neither excite nor inspire, both critical com­ponents of content marketing.
2. It is relevant – generic materials that are not highly relevant to a reader will not result in increased success. When writing content you must make sure it will be useful to the reader, regardless of whether it supports your company message.
3. It closes a gap – content marketing should answer a business question or problem. Giving people information about topics where there is no need for information will be a wasted effort by the organization.  An added benefit of this useful information is it’s ability to be used in lead nurturing. 
4. It is well written – poorly written thought leader­ship may not only provide poor results, but may also hurt the company’s reputation. Take time to ensure content is presented in a thoughtful man­ner and is free of errors.
5. It is relevant to your company – if the content you create does not support business objectives in any way, it is a waste of resources to produce. Keep business goals in mind when creating content.
6. It gives proof  – since you write to support a business goal, your content may seem biased. Make sure that content you create gives proof either through quotes and testimonials or through actual metrics and statistics.

Keep this as a check list when you are creating new content, and review again for it goes live.  And this checklist isn’t just for white papers, content includes everything from webinars to articles to videos.

Source: Marketo

Think Like a News Editor for Content Marketing Success

Blogging and social media offer marketers the opportunity to publish their own content to attract customer attention, as well as pitch the media.

This strategy requires a balance of content that provides fresh news while also covering ‘evergreen’ topics.

For best results, think like a news editor. Create a regular mix of current events, original research and timely commentary for all-round reader engagement.

Here are three key elements you need.

Monitor and anticipate trends

Use social media to participate in larger conversations beyond just pushing out your company news. The more your brand interacts with timely content, the more people will see the brand, and its digital offerings.

Monitor trends in the news, pop culture, and the lives of your customers. Map out how your brand can participate in these conversations, via social media, blog posts, or other appropriate media. Don’t get involved in every conversation. Instead, focus on stories that relate to your overall brand strategy and messaging.

Create evergreen content that your customers need

Know your customers’ pain points, busy seasons, challenges and strengths. Create ‘evergreen’ content and address long-term issues that don’t go out of date.

When your customers search topics that regularly impact their lives, you already have relevant content out there. Customers and reporters alike will come to rely on your brand as a resource for their research, they’ll become more engaged with your timely content as well.

Leave room for real-time

24-hour news is your brand’s opportunity to offer instantaneous commentary. Remember the Super Bowl blackout? Oreo’s social media team was on standby and capitalized with timely humor. No one could have anticipated the blackout, but they seized the opportunity as it happened.

For maximum effectiveness, create an editorial calendar. Consistency is key: by regularly publishing quality content, you can drive more traffic, more leads, and more revenue as you nurture those leads into customers.