B2B Twitter Research Report Uncovers “Secret” to Success

BtoB, The Magazine For Marketing Strategists, just completed a B2B Twitter Research Report analyzing B2B companies using Twitter as part of their marketing programs. Over the next few posts, I’ll present and expand upon some of their key B2B Twitter Research Report findings. To start, BtoB discovered that:

B2B companies who invest in using Twitter for business marketing and use it more frequently, experience greater success and satisfaction with Twitter.

Reminds me of growing up on the Gulf Coast of southern Alabama. Back when the beach sand was white and the water crystal blue, our family would go to the beach on the weekends. We’d often go to the “still water” side where the fresh water lakes were. Dad would launch our boat, attach the ski lines, toss out the flotation devices, and splash the skis in the water to the waiting skier.

The first time I clamped the skis to my feet, gripped the ski rope, and leaned back in the water waiting for the boat engine to roar to life, I was scared to death. Any second the 185hp Evinrude motor would jump from idle to full power in just a few seconds. When it did, all of that power would flow into the ski rope and into my 11-year old body, violently yanking me to the surface.

To successfully ski, I would have to focus that energy away from what felt natural—my upper body, arms and hands, which were clinging to the ski rope for dear life—and toward what felt quite awkward—my feet. I had watched many other beginning skiers go through the same routine. They’d get in the appropriate posture, signal they were ready, the boat engine with roar, thrusting the boat forward and yanking the ski rope out of the would-be athlete’s hands.

The boat would circle around and we’d go through the process all over again. Eventually, the skier would transfer the energy, rise up out of the water, briefly. They’d look like a catapult springing to fire but never releasing its payload. Just as the catapult would smash the unlaunched projectile straight into the ground, the sudden force of the boat engine would propel the skier face-first into the water.

It’d make my story better to tell you I went through the same thing. However, because I studied other newbie skiers from the time I was six, just waiting (and begging) for my chance to ski, I was determined to get up the first time. When my chance finally came, I leaned back against the natural flow of energy and refocused it into my feet. At first it was unbelievably awkward. It was far from natural. I didn’t know if it would rip my arms out of their sockets or simply drag me through the water.

After the few eternal seconds of awkward resistance, I came up out of the water and was soon gliding effortlessly along the surface.

Many B2B companies jump into the Twitter water right away. Though they may have watched a few other firms jump in, they probably haven’t seen too many succeed. They’ll try out Twitter just long enough to have the rope jerked out of their hands—maybe they’ll experience a Twitter storm of angry customers posting negative tweets or links to embarrassing content about the company. When they quit Twitter, they’ll say, “Twitter is a waste of time,” or “Twitter just doesn’t make sense for our company.”

Those that hang in there longer maintain their grip on the rope but begin to feel the unnatural energy of social media pulling them along. The natural energy for them has always flowed out from the marketing department into a mass market. That’s the way they’ve done things for generations. It’s the way the PhD professor in grad school told them (and still tells them, sadly) the world works. (Don’t believe me? Watch any political campaign, for example. Count the number of times a candidate says, “We just need to get our message out.”) Because the friction of the water is so intense, and the movement through the water feels so unnatural, many first time skiers and Twitter newbies purposefully let go before they reach the surface.

Successful skiers hold onto the rope and keep the tremendous energy of the boat engine focused on their feet—the leading edge of contact with the water. The resistance is intense and feels like it won’t go away. I remember feeling that if my arms did stay in their sockets, then my legs would probably snap in two. Eventually all the energy and forces of nature aligned and I enjoyed the exhilarating sensation of water skiing.

BtoB’s B2B Twitter Research Report suggests companies who hold on long enough, and stay focused on giving value to recipients, not only experience greater satisfaction with Twitter, they also get new customers and make money!

If you want to be successful with Twitter for business:

• put more into it
• stay with it longer
• focus on your audience and away from yourself.

If you do, you’ll:

• get more out of it
• enjoy it more
• be more successful.

It really is just that simple.

[The learning to ski story is adapted from my upcoming book Spitball Marketing: Using what you’ve got to get more of what you want.]

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About The B2Bblogger: Trey Pennington (@treypennington) uses technology, marketing, and stories to connect businesses with the people they seek to serve. With an educational background in marketing, including an undergraduate degree in marketing management and an MBA, combined with a masters in education, Trey understands the need for businesses to discover and develop their core story and to engage their marketplace in making the story their own.

His book, Spitball Marketing: Using What You’ve Got to Get More of What You Want is due out in 2010. You can read more from Trey now at his blog www.treypennington.com.

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image source: Ines Hegedus-Garcia Creative Commons