@ # GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER MARKETING SALES Venture Accelerator Partners www.vapartners.ca SOCIAL MEDIA
Content Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 You need to be on Twitter Chapter 3 Twitter Basics Individual or Company profile? What is a Twitter Handle? Following Strategies What Should I Tweet About? What is a List? What is ReTweeting? What Should I RT? What is a #Hashtag? Chapter 4 Getting Started Checklist Chapter 5 Twitter Analytics Chapter 6 A Typical Twitter Day Chapter 7 Tools for Twitter Chapter 8 Resources & Contact Info
Getting Started With Twitter Venture Accelerator Partners, Inc. Chapter 1 Introduction Getting Started At VA Partners, social media is an integral part of our marketing efforts. As a part of our social media marketing strategy, we are active on a daily basis on Twitter. Tweeting has helped our company to make connections and foster engagement both for ourselves and for our clients. Our well-defined Twitter strategy has resulted in an increase in traffic to our website, as well as an increase in both online and offline brand awareness. Planning and consistency has been incremental in enhancing the effectiveness of our marketing efforts with Twitter. Our wins include: Finding a $380,000 opportunity through Twitter Leveraging LinkedIn to close three accounts worth $70,000 Booking over 50 meetings with key contacts using social media Finding 4 leads/week through Twitter for a clean tech account Website page views growth of 340% with aid of social media This whitepaper will address the following topics on how you can use Twitter to enhance your sales and marketing efforts: Why do I need to be on Twitter? Should I have a separate account for myself and my business? How can I make connections on Twitter? How do I use Twitter for Sales? How do I qualify a lead from Twitter? QUICK FACTS There are 140 million active Twitter users 65% of the world s top companies use it 340 million tweets are sent each and every day Twitter is a great tool for developing your sales pipeline and qualifying prospects Twitter can help you build your brand, scale your marketing, and improve your customer service Try and foster engagement with local followers first You can be successful with Twitter in as little as 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon How much time should I be spending per day on Twitter? What should I do in that time?
Chapter 2 Why You Need To Be On Twitter The short answer? Twitter can help your business. It s an extremely fast growing social media tool that is increasingly being used by B2B influencers and businesses all over the world. Twitter can be used as a customer service tool with the ability to measure consumer responses and feedback to products and/or services, as a brand management tool, as a vehicle for communication and engagement, as a sales tool, and more. It can be helpful to think of Twitter as a large networking party. There are many conversations happening at the same time and the conversations you engage in and the people you meet are the ones that interest you or could help you in some way. Twitter works the same way. Sales and Twitter Twitter can be a great tool for developing your sales pipeline and qualifying prospects when used correctly. As you develop your Twitter account, you should proactively monitor who engages with your content and who your followers are. Start researching what company they come from, the positions they hold, etc. and than analyze whether or not they would be a considered a prospect. It s important not to overemphasize Twitter s role in the sales cycle, but with a sound strategy and well-defined processes, it can result in new leads, client meetings, and eventually, closed opportunities. Twitter Statistics 340,000,000 tweets per day 140,000,000+ active Twitter users 250,000,000+ Active twitter users by end of 2012 65% of the world s top companies have active Twitter profiles Source: http://thesocialskinny.com/99-newsocial-media-stats-for-2012/
Chapter 3 Twitter Basics Twitter is a communication tool that creates an open dialogue through 140-character posts. It is the most popular form of microblogging. Twitter allows businesses and consumers to exchange information and communicate about news, products, services or any imaginable topic of interest. Twitter allows consumers to voice likes, dislikes, concerns or interests and on the other end, businesses can build their brands through interaction and listening to their customers. In addition, people who share the same interests, concerns or points of view of another person on Twitter can comment, interact and engage in conversation. Twitter s Logo Individual vs. Company Profiles There is a difference between having a Twitter account for your company and having one for yourself. For those who will be in charge of managing their own personal account and a company account, it s important to understand why you are doing so. A company profile represents your business and your team. Your aim should be to enhance your company s image and to generate brand awareness; a company profile is a large part of any marketing strategy to gain traction within an industry. An individual profile allows for more flexibility and individualized attention to topics of interest that do not necessarily coincide with said company s values, interest, services and products. Individual accounts can be used to complement company accounts, however.
Chapter 3 Creating a Twitter Handle Your Twitter handle is essentially your name. Twitter handles have @ affixed to the front of user ID s to differentiate a user name from content. It is how people will identify you on Twitter, so pick a name that closely resembles your own or your company s. When creating a Twitter handle for your personal account, remember to: Use a name that resembles your own or reflects your goal or being on Twitter. i.e. If your name is Mike Scott and your in marketing: @MikeMarketing or @MikeScott Try to avoid numbers, unless it has to do with your branding Avoid a Twitter handle that could undermine your expertise. i.e. @flowerchild When putting together a Twitter handle for your company, remember to: Find a handle that resembles your company name as closely as possible. i.e. Venture Accelerator Partners is @vapartners Avoid the use of numbers unless numbers are a part of your company name Following Strategies Followers on Twitter are equivalent to people saying they are interested in your brand/ company and what you have to say. Each additional follower that a Twitter account adds is one more person who knows about your brand/company, increasing your brand awareness and reach and providing you with more engagement opportunities. +1 People you should be following include: Prospects Customers Competitors Thought Leaders
Chapter 3 What Should I Tweet About? What a company or individual tweets about will vary based on their goal and/or purpose for being on Twitter. If your company intends on using Twitter to position itself as an industry leader, post information relevant to your industry such as strategies, tactics or overall help. A marketing services company, such as ourselves, posts articles, blogs and tips, such as: How to execute a marketing strategy How to integrate social media into your company How to use email marketing to reach your customers As a company looking to position themselves as an industry leader, stick to the following content: Tweets that redirect to content hosted on your website Tweets that direct to webinars, information forums or events that directly relate to your industry (also make sure you mention if you will be attending) Tweets on Articles/Blog from 3rd party sources that directly relate to your industry, services, or products As an individual whose goal on Twitter is to stay up-to-date about your working industry but also personal interests: Post articles and blogs that relate to your industry and in a few words in the tweet describe how these are helpful RT others in your industry 2-3 times per week Personal interest tweets: these are up to your own discretion. We advise you include the following in your bio: All points of view are of my own.
Chapter 3 What is a List? Lists are used on Twitter to organize information and people. Examples of lists may include: Prospects, Customers, Industry Leaders, Competition, etc. The lists can either be Public or Private. Lists such as Competition should be kept Private, whereas lists on Industry Leaders can be made Public. What is ReTweeting? ReTweeting (RT) is when someone re-posts your tweets. In order to provide credit to the original source of information, an RT will appear in front of the Twitter handle belonging to the account who first sent out the message. ReTweeting is an excellent way to give credit to someone who posts relevant and interesting content and provide your feedback on their content. RTing is also a great way to make a connection and introduce yourself. What is a #Hashtag? Hashtags are used within a post or at the end of a post in order to enhance searches. Hashtags help to put twitter accounts within particular search engines and help others on Twitter find the content they are looking for. Taking the example from above, there are 2 hashtags: #GHVF (an event), and #finance (a topic). Placing a hashtag in front of each word allows for your tweet to show up in searches alongside other content with the same hashtags. You want to appear in searches especially if your goal on social media is to be an industry leader, are aiming to make connections or if you want to broaden your brand awareness.
Chapter 4 Getting Started Checklist Do Some Research Who are you going to follow? Take a look at your customers, competitors and some prospects and see whether or not they are on Twitter; also take a look at their team pages to see which employees are on Twitter. Create Lists Lists can include: Prospects, Customers, Competition, Employees of Company X, Industry Leaders, etc. Begin following different users and make it a best practice to add each new person you follow into a list. They make it easy to find specific information during searches. Schedule Your Social Media Time Stay on top of your Twitter efforts. If you plan to visit Twitter during the first 15 minutes of your morning and for the first 15 minutes after your lunch break, work this into your schedule. Find New Sources of Information Every Week Reading more about your specialities, interests or expertise will provide you with a greater database of sharable content. In order to stay relevant on Twitter, your profile needs to be interesting and up to date. Add Value 3-5 Times Per Week Instead of simply RTing content you find interesting or worthy of sharing to others, add your own comments before the RT. Adding value to a tweet will spark conversation and make it easier to build connections. Tip Create lists they make finding specific information easier
Chapter 5 Twitter Analytics Quantitative Metrics These include your follower count, how many other Twitter users you follow, the number of click-throughs your links generate, and the frequency of RTs and mentions. By measuring metrics such as these, you ll be able to assess your influence among those interested in your industry, products and services. Assessing your follower growth, for example, aids in understanding just how many people believe you re worth paying attention to. Qualitative Metrics QUICK These include such things as assessing who is following your account, the nature of what people are saying about you, and what kind of conversations circulate around or involve your brand. In order to assess the impact of your quantitative data, context is key. The conversations about your brand may have doubled, but what exactly are people saying about you? In many respects, staying on top of qualitative metrics is most important. Setting Actionable Twitter Goals We recommend evaluating your goals every quarter to stay consistent in your analysis. At the end of each quarter, evaluate and measure the following: Has the traffic to your website increased? Set a goal for page views per quarter (in %). Take a look at your web traffic that comes from Twitter through Google Analytics Are people engaging with your brand? Are you seeing RTs/mentions or comments on your posts? Set a goal for Twitter engagement per quarter Set goals for additional social media efforts, including, newsletters and blogs. These goals could include newsletter sign ups or sign ups for blog RSS feeds. It is important to remember that social media has one major difference from traditional marketing: companies are no longer talking AT their customers, they are talking WITH their customers. Broadcasting messages over Twitter and ignoring comments, likes and those sharing your content are wasted opportunities. Take the time to thank your customers and/or listeners. Listen to what they are saying and respond accordingly.
Chapter 6 A Typical Twitter Day The first question you need to ask yourself is how much time you have available to spend on social media. We typically suggest half hour per day for starters. The following is an example of the timeline we provide to our customers on how to be successful with Twitter in 30 minutes a day: 15 Minutes in the AM Look over your Twitter stream for interesting posts Follow-back any approved accounts that have started following you Visit 3rd party sources for news and information Schedule 2 tweets (from Twitter Stream and 3rd party sources). Avoid scheduling tweets on the hour every hour (ex. 9am, 10am, etc.). Instead, you want to schedule tweets seemingly at random to ensure your followers don t red flag your information as automated (Ex. 9:12am, 10:33am) Tip 15 minutes is the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon may be all you need to find success on Twitter 15 Minutes in the PM Search 3rd party database that were not visited in the morning Make a goal of following 5-10 new Twitter accounts Schedule 2 tweets for the afternoon (try for 4pm, the most retweeted hour of the day)
Chapter 7 Tools for Twitter At VA Partners, two tools we use on a daily basis to manage our Twitter efforts efficiently and effectively are TweetDeck and Hootsuite. Hootsuite Hootsuite is a social media management tool that lives in the cloud (it s a web based program). This has a number of benefits, chief among them that you can access your information from anywhere with an internet connection. Hootsuite allows users to access the same information as Tweetdeck, but there is a limit of 10 active streams at a time. Users are able to schedule tweets as far in advance as they wish and can go back at anytime to edit times or content. Hootsuite has an easy to navigate user interface and is recommended for those just starting with Twitter. Tweetdeck Tweetdeck provides many of the same features of Hootsuite, but it resides on your desktop as an application. The program allows users to add an unlimited number of accounts and streams. With up to date information, users receive tweets as soon as they are posted by users. Tweetdeck incorporates all the functionalities of Twitter, such as: viewing followers and following lists, viewing user profiles, following new users and sending tweets. Tweetdeck allows users to schedule tweets as far in advance as they would like, a function excellent for those who do not have time to frequently check social media. Tip Take advantage of analytics tools offered by Twitter managers like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck. These tools provide the ability to analyze the performance of your tweets and provide a basis for making appropriate adjustments. Ultimately, both tools are valuable. It s a matter of choice and accessibility in the end.
Chapter 8 Resources & Contact Info If you are an ardent reader, here are a few books that we recommend that will help you with your social media campaigns: The Social Media Sales Revolution by Landy Chase and Kevin Knebl Twitterville by S.Israel Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, and David Meerman Scott How to Make Money with Social Media by JamieTurner and Reshma Shah The following are news outlets that we ve found are a useful source of information: Mashable The Globe and Mail, Business Inc.com Social Media Examiner Mark Evans Tech Entrepreneur Magazine VA Partners also has a blog with great sales, marketing and social media content that is posted every Tuesday and Thursday. Here are a few of our previous posts on Twitter and social media: Contact Us For more information on VA Partners please find us at: www.vapartners.ca Email: info@vapartners.ca Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/venture -accelerator-partners-inc. Choosing the Right Social Media Tools for Your Startup 6 Easy Ways to Measure Your Twitter Success 5 Tips for Managing Multiple Twitter Accounts Use Social Media Etiquette to Make Valuable Twitter Connections