Social Media Marketing

Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 5 - 10 Ways to Find Quality Followers on Twitter

While I don't advocate amassing thousands of followers on Twitter, I do believe in consistently cultivating quality followers - and my list of followers has grown slowly but consistently over time, since I got serious about using Twitter.  A quality follower to me is someone who meets any of the following criteria:

• Potential or current customer
• Potential strategic business partner
• Vendors
• Various marketing communications experts, some could be competitors
• Social media expert
• Source of industrial business news or other news in personal areas of interest (for instance, politics)
• Industrial companies that have a Twitter presence (these companies are blazing the trail)
• They're just fun or interesting people (these are a minority, since I primarily use Twitter for business)

 

I'm sure with the exception of "potential or current customers" YOUR perfect list of followers will be different from mine.  Think about the various types of people you might possibly want to connect with on Twitter so you know who you're looking for.  Once you've determined that, there are plenty of ways to find them.

Read more: Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 5 - 10 Ways to Find Quality Followers on Twitter

Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 4 - Good Citizenship in the Twitterverse

By this time, even if you're an industrial marketer, I've convinced you that you need to be on Twitter. This post isn't about what Twitter is, is not, or how you can use it as a business tool. This is a post about Twitter etiquette - or more succinctly, how NOT to annoy or offend people on Twitter.

Whether you're Brittney Spears or a small manufacturing company, regular Twitter users generally fall into three main categories. There are "relationship builders," who use Twitter as an interactive communication tool; "promoters" who use it primarily for self promotion or micro-blogging; and there are "power users" who have tens of thousands of followers and seem to be tweeting constantly. I must say, however, in the manufacturing and industrial marketing area, I mainly see Promoters.

The three types of twitter users do not seem to appreciate one another. In fact, I would say each wishes the others would disappear off the face of the Twitterverse.

Relationship builders think that Promoters are self serving and only out for profit. They think Power Users, by and large are grandiose, arrogant blowhards.

Promoters think that Relationship Builders spew ongoing bursts of meaningless drivel that only clutters the Twitter stream with unnecessary chatter. (They pretty much see Power Users the same way as the Relationship Builders do.)

Power Users are probably not even sending their own tweets most of the time. They rarely comment directly to their followers and are really just providing a micro blog that their followers will want to stay tuned into.  (If it were up to them, they'd be the ONLY one with followers on Twitter.)

None of these three types of users thinks the others know how to use Twitter properly.
In case you're not sure about which group you fall into, here are a few hints.

With the exception of true spammers, Relationship Builders almost always follow people who follow them. They try hard to insert many @ posts, which acknowledges someone else or engages them in a conversation. If you are a Relationship Builder, you will feel offended if you send someone a direct message (DM) and do not receive a response, and confused if you follow someone who does not follow you back.

Promoters rarely post anything of a personal nature. Almost every tweet is about what they do for a living, what their company does, or well . . . promotes something about them or their company. They think it strange when someone DM's them (unless of course, the person is a potential customer.) They don't care much about @ posts, unless it's a customer or vendor extolling their marvelous products or services. (As I said, sadly, most industrial companies fall into this category.)

Power Users have many, many more followers and very few people that they follow. They post frequently and sometimes it seems tweeting is their full time job. They rarely post @ comments OR DM's. A Power User can be a celebrity or someone from the business world who has practically achieved a celebrity status.

If you want to know which style I think is more affective as an industrial marketing tool, follow me and send me a DM (Twitter name: kerrysomalley.) I will definitely follow you back and respond.

Consider these major differences, and you can see the potential for misunderstandings and breaches of what is considered true Twitter etiquette. Whether you're a Promoter, Relationship Builder, or a newbie, if you want to be a good citizen of the Twitterverse, here are my top ten "Twetiquette" tips to help you out. (I didn't include Power Users, because they think they know everything already.)

Read more: Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 4 - Good Citizenship in the Twitterverse

Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 3 - How Industrial Companies Can Use Twitter

If you're an industrial marketer and a social media skeptic, it will be hard for me to convince you that Twitter can be valuable to your business. I'm not going to try and do that. Because Twitter is arguably the last major social media frontier for industrial businesses, this post speaks primarily to those of you who already see some possibilities for social media use in your business and marketing plans.

I won't even completely disagree with the skeptics, because there are some industrial companies who will be hard pressed to find their customers and prospects ON Twitter. I'll admit, that can be a little discouraging; but it will only dissuade those who think that the only thing social media is good for is sales. Social media - and especially Twitter - are SO much more than sales and marketing tools.

Read more: Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 3 - How Industrial Companies Can Use Twitter

Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 2 - What Twitter IS

What is Twitter, really? That's a question I get a lot since I began my quest to understand social media in the context of the industrial world. Even outside of industry, there are still plenty of people who just don't understand Twitter. Basically, Twitter is a relationship-building tool, a way to have short conversations with others, and a way to stay connected.

I read an article in which the author likened Twitter to "friend ESP," letting you know not what people are physically doing, but what they're thinking about, planning, reading, watching, and paying attention to. Because Twitter is so short, so quick, so instant, and so easily disseminated to mobile devices, it's the closest thing we have to direct brain monitoring. Pretty useful, wouldn't you say? No service has ever before been convenient enough and widespread enough to capture this data, and Twitter does it in real time. Incredible, when you think about it!

For those of you who were nodding your heads when you read the first sentence above, here's a short explanation of what Twitter IS.

Read more: Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 2 - What Twitter IS

Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 1 - What Twitter is NOT

Of all the major social media sites, I find Twitter to be the most misunderstood. I even have to admit that as recently as a year ago, I was one of the "unenlightened" ones. I had a Twitter account, but I really couldn't see how it was going to enrich my life or benefit my business. During the past year I became motivated to unlock Twitter's secrets, and determine once and for all if it did or did not provide opportunities for the industrial marketer.

Today, I have a much better grasp of how powerful Twitter is and the ways it can help individuals, both personally and professionally. I see how it can be a communications tool for manufacturers and industry, just as it is a tool for other types of businesses. I love to have conversations about Twitter with my industrial business associates. The misconceptions about what Twitter IS - and is NOT, abound. I had many of them myself, at one time!

In my next blog post I'll write about what Twitter IS; but sometimes I find that explaining a complex subject in the context of what it is NOT helps to make things more clear.  So following is what Twitter is NOT.

Read more: Twitter for Manufacturers, Part 1 - What Twitter is NOT