Twitter for BusinessTwitter isn’t just for making connections, using Twitter for business can be very effective (and profitable).

Today Twitter for business is becoming more and more of a tool for executives to build sales (B2B and B2C), as well.

So, what are some effective ways of using Twitter for business that can impact your  sales? Let’s take a look.

Active Branding

Your brand isn’t a passive thing, is it? I hope not. Twitter is (arguably) the only avenue where broadcasting your brand regularly is not only accepted, it’s encouraged wholeheartedly. (I’m not talking spamming, though!)

When you think about it, you know you can’t email your potential clients every day without consequences but you CAN tweet every day — multiple times — keeping your brand in front of potential clients, while actually building rather than diminishing goodwill. That’s smart business!

Networking with New Contacts

If there’s someone in your field or industry you want to meet, Twitter can be a great way to get fast tracked to a successful connection. It can be very difficult to meet someone at a live seminar or to get through their assistant. But if you have their Twitter handle, you can start to build a connection on the social network that can develop into an offline connection as well.

It all starts with the simple act of following them. Retweet their tweets and @reply to any requests from them with helpful tips and resources. Get on their radar. Eventually, when an opportunity presents itself to introduce yourself, do so and they’ll likely know who you are.

That’s using Twitter for business!

Information Gathering

Twitter can be a powerful way of keeping track of exactly what’s going on in an industry. You can use it to figure out what your clients are up to, what your competitors are up to and what your clients’ competitors are up to.

Let’s say a competitor of a big potential client launches a new product. It stands a good chance of taking a big chunk out of your client’s business. That could be a stellar opportunity to come in and offer to help. It may or may not result in immediate business for you, but that offer for help will definitely turn into goodwill that can later turn into business.

Use Twitter to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry and identify the pain points of potential clients.

Tapping into B2B Events

B2B events will often have their own Twitter feeds. That can be a very powerful way to participate with your ideal target market. For example, participants of the event tweet to #twitterforbusiness.

By participating actively on #twitterforbusiness, you can build up a brand for yourself among potential leads at an event. Start doing this a few weeks before the event. By the time the actual event rolls around, a lot of people there will already know who you are.

These are a few ways that Twitter for business can affect your B2B sales. Twitter isn’t just a tool for consumers, but can be a powerful tool for building goodwill and gathering intelligence for making B2B sales.

Do you use Twitter for business?

If so, how are your results? Any suggestions, questions or concerns? Let us know in the comment section.

And just for fun…

“Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. Twitter rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with 200 million users as of 2011,[6] generating over 200 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. It is sometimes described as “the SMS of the Internet.” – Wikipedia

I joined Twitter in April 14, 2008.  Do you remember when you joined? If you don’t, you can find out here.

Related posts:

  1. Set Goals for Your Twitter Journey
  2. How to Improve Your Social Media Business Brand
  3. Empty Nest on Twitter?
  4. Is Your Business on Facebook?