Set Up Your Corporate Twitter to Bring in Qualified Sales Leads by InsideView

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Set Up Your Corporate Twitter to Bring in Qualified Sales Leads
by InsideView

tweetersBy now we?ve all been thoroughly inundated with the vague advice that businesses need to maintain a social media presence. We build and manage accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and a number of other social media sites, and post regularly. And because social media is where our customers supposedly spend most of their time, we expect a flurry of excited responses. But many of us just sit back and watch the digital equivalent of tumbleweeds roll by.

So what are those companies that do site social media sales victories doing right?

Following the Right People

To engage an audience on Twitter, users need to follow others. So how do you know who to follow? How do you single out a list of targets with whom you want to engage? Don't rely on Twitter's suggested followers. They offer a great starting point, but don't give you the network volume that will make an impact. Instead, find individuals that carry strong influence in your industry. A simple Twitter search for key terms will give 4 or 5 relevant profiles. That's nowhere near enough. Visit Kred and find out who the big influencers are in a number of relevant topics. Create a list of your customers and follow all their executives.

You should also follow individuals and companies with influence in your network. Most companies create Twitter lists of their employees, and Twitter allows you to follow a list. Follow your customers, and the employees on their employee list.

Interacting to be Appealing

Think of Twitter as a large conversation at a social function. A party is a great place to promote a business, but it isn?t done by solely limiting chatter to promotional talk. Mix it up by posting other related and relevant tweets that inform or help potential customers. Your profile should provide valuable content to your audience, but just tweeting overarching corporate messages misses a huge opportunity. Twitter allows you to interact directly with the people with whom you want to do business. Talk to people like they're people. Everyone knows that people manage Twitter profiles. Don't give your audience the impression that a corporate machine runs your Twitter feed. When you engage individuals, they will follow you Twitter account, retweet notable snippets, and become engaged promoters of your brand. Engagement is the key to social selling. Tweets meant for social selling should always contain hashtags to enable users to easily find them. When a user posts a related question to others in general, chime in and offer a word of advice, or inform them of the company?s services. Include a call to action or a promotional incentive to encourage them to get in touch.

Tying in engaged, proactive social selling with social media research services, such as those offered by companies like InsideView, is an excellent way to stay on track successfully.