If you’re a B2B marcom pro considering extending your social presence to the Twittersphere, you need to think about how to set up your Twitter handles—the @name—to avoid future issues. I advise clients against using colleague names for two reasons. One, you need to consider what happens to that person’s handle when they leave the company and use their personal name to continue tweeting; and two, the handle offers a branding opportunity for the company.

Consider the following when setting up your Twitter handle:

• Remember that social media is about people and not brands or companies, try to work the person’s name into the Twitter handle when it’s not awkward to do so, i.e., @companymike or @mikeatcompany
• Some associates may prefer to keep their personal names for their personal Twitter use. It’s better to allow them to separate their personal Twitter profiles from your company profile. If you allow associates to post on the company’s behalf using their personal Twitter profiles, then your social media policy should instruct associates to include a disclaimer in their Twitter profiles.  i.e., “I am [an employee of] [a Contingent Worker for] Company Name. The statements or opinions expressed on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Company Name.” I like@anetah‘s disclaimer:  “(btw: thoughts expressed here are solely mine)” @anetah is the social media strategist for Pitney Bowes (see below).
• If you plan to extend Twitter activity beyond marketing and PR, then you may wish to have a handle that describes the functional area represented, such as @companytechsupport or @techsupportcompany. This method allows you the most flexibility should someone leave the company. However, you may also add a person’s name. Such as @companytechsupportmike or @mikeatcompanytechsupport. The downside is that at 25 characters, nearly 20% of your 140 characters is taken up by your handle. This is o.k. if you can offer simple answers or if you can redirect customers to a help file or other resource that will solve their problem in 140 characters or less.
• Channel partners’ Twitter handles can also provide B2B companies with extended branding opportunities. If your channel partners represent multiple lines and prefer to use their own brand, then at least have them add your company name in their Twitter profiles.

When it comes to images, my personal preference is to see a person; after all, social media is about people. However, when people are tweeting on behalf of a company or brand, it can be effective to use the company logo to help customers better identify with the brand. A good experience in the Twittersphere, can support and even elevate brand image.

Finally, if you have a number of people tweeting on behalf of your company, leverage the Twitter profile to describe the role of each Twitter account. Use keywords too. It’s another opportunity to brand your company and associate it with keywords on which your company wants to rank.

Here are examples of how several B2B companies handle Twitter handles:

• Dell uses its logo, but it also leverages the profile to promote other handles. i.e., the @Dell handle represents the official Dell communications team; however, their profile lets you know the handles for Dell support and Direct2Dell.
• Indium Corporation @IndiumCorp is operated by Rick Short, who also has his own personal handle, @rickshort21, that he uses for his music business.
• B2B agency, MLT Creative, @MLTCreative, uses its company logo; and the company’s associates tweet using their first and last names as a Twitter handle. In the Twitter profile, each associate includes the company name and his or her role in the company. Such as @gtaylor57, @billymitchell1 and @martinehunter Note that each handle includes unique content… social media good practice. MLT Creative also tweets “all things B2B” under a unique handle @B2BLaunchPad using targeted keywords and hashtags. The avatar has the MLT Creative branded look, but attracts a generalist audience.
• Pitney Bowes took an interesting approach by linking their@PitneyBowes account to a Twitter list of “Pitney Bowes Tweeps” who use their own names but reference Pitney Bowes in their Twitter profiles with a disclaimer, of course.

Additional Advice on Twitter Handles:

Twitter Handles Do’s and Don’ts – This is a good primer from @HubSpot.

Twitter help explains how user names are used in conjunction with your handle. This explains what people will see in your Twitter profile. Good advice when you set up or change your Twitter account.

Tell us, “How Should B2B Companies Handle Twitter “Handles”?

Thanks!
Joan
@copywriter4u

One of the most common questions that comes up in any initial Twitter related conversation is, “how should I act on Twitter?” My advice:

1.     Be Kind

2.     Be Generous

3.     Be Thoughtful

4.     Be Open

5.     Be Caring

6.     Be Creative

7.     Be Understanding

8.     Be Attentive

9.     Be Inspiring

10. Be Candid

11. Be In A Good Mood

How else should we *be*?

A related post:

• The 7 Things That Will Surprise You Most About Twitter

Imagine for a moment the following.

Jeremy: Hi, My name is Jeremy and I’m a social network addict.

Group: Welcome, Jeremy.

Jeremy: In May of 2009, I opened an account on Twitter and shortly thereafter I found myself launching a business. The barriers to entry and costs were so low; I was just going crazy getting started up. After 13 months, I realized I was using social networking sites 43% more than I used to. I discovered how easy it was to connect with people I hadn’t talked to in years. And I was like “connecting” with them, becoming “friends” again. I know crazy, right. Even learning things like how many kids they have (and seeing pictures of them), the businesses they were starting and running.

From a business side of things, I even connected with a CMO of a major corporation via of Twitter. I interviewed him. I became part of a community of B2B marketing executives contributing to advancing the discipline of marketing. I have established thousands of online connections and hundreds of in real life meetings.

But like I said, 43% more than I used to. That was when I found you, SNA (social networkers anonymous). You helped me see the error of my ways. Now, it’s me, my newspapers, and land line. Thank you.

Group: Thanks for sharing. Keep coming back, it works if you work it.

Completely ridiculous, right?

That was the thought going through my mind this morning when I read, Steve Rubel’s Stream and his recent post, Study: 43% of Online Americans Addicted to Social Networking.

And well, frankly it just frustrated the heck out of me! I really, really struggle with the label of “Addiction” on the increased usage of social networking technology. Here’s a passage:

Experian Simmons is out with a new package of stats that document the incredible growth of social networking in the US. (Experian is an Edelman client.) Here are some of the notable highlights…

First, some 66% of online Americans use social networking sites today, up from just 20% in 2007. This has been covered a lot before. However, what’s notable is that it’s an increasingly additive activity – 43% visit multiple times each day.

Advancements in technology have ALWAYS improved the lives of Americans. It’s never been easier to connect with, stay up to date with, and communicate with people. It’s never been easier to meet, find, and start relationships with new people. Using social networking technology to do this is a problem? An addiction? A dependency? Because I do it multiple times a day?

As more people discover the ease of use of the social web, as broadband and wireless reach more people, as new devices, (someone released something called an iPad, no?), and as Moore’s law continues to make it more affordable, is it right to use a term like “Addiction?” Isn’t doing so going to make the end result far more likely to turn people off to it, rather then having them embrace it?

Wouldn’t it be better to focus on the greater impact the social web is having on our society – like bringing us closer together, improving our economy, helping us quickly respond in times of crisis, and bettering our position in the global marketplace.

I wonder if back in the 1930’s they were saying, “43% Americans Addicted To Driving – Going to more places, getting further away from their homes”.

What do you think? Am I off my rocker? And simply justifying my social networking addiction in my own mind? Or is it time to stop with the “Addiction” label?

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

During the BrightTALK Microblogging Summit this week, one of the questions that was asked during the Make Good Media webinar, The Do’s & Don’ts of Building a B2B Community, was,  “What sites do you use and recommend for finding followers?” I thought if the attendees had the question, so might you.

Let’s just remember that during the #B2Bwebinar we defined community as:

A group of like minded people that share common interests, feelings, situations, and experiences.

So you want to use search terms and phrases, and pick categories of topics, that define your community.  Once you do that first step, the question is where to go?

Here’s my list and ratings. What’s yours?

1. Followerwonk.com

Twitter bio search. That is the easiest and best way to describe the Followerwonk. It offers very specific advanced search options to allow for very targeted searching of Twitter bios– including by location. The creators are located in Portland, OR. Rating: 4.5 out of 5

2. Twellow.com

Twellow is a directory of public Twitter accounts, and a service of WebProNews. With hundreds of categories and search features to goal is to help you find people who matter to you. Rating: Personally unrated as I have never used it, but colleagues have found it to be very useful.

3. wefollow

wefollow is a Twitter directory and search to help you find like minded people with common interests created by digg. Excellent UI on this site and you very easily can add your Twitter account to the categories most important to you. Rating: 4 out 5

4. Listorious

From the Listorious About page, “Listorious has the best Twitter people search on the web so you can find anyone by topic, region or profession — powered by data from the tens of thousands of list curators.” I REALLY enjoy using this site since it focuses on the “Lists” that have been created by Twitter uses. It was created by Sawhorse Media. Rating: 4.5 out of 5

5. Twitter ADVANCED Search

Of course, let’s not overlook the awesomeness of Twitter itself. The advanced search functionality offers loads of options – including attitudes, date range, places and more. Even better, for any search, you can then grab the RSS feed and add it to your favorite reader. I love it, I use it every day, and quite honestly, it’s led the way in real-time search and Facebook, Google, and Bing all changed as a result.  Rating: 5 out of 5 <- start here!

Some final advice on how to find your community of like minded people that share common interests, feelings, situations, and experiences –

• Mine the list of followers of your competitors
• Mine the list of followers of trade publications in your industry
• Mine the list of follower of industry associations and events
• Before, during and after an event that was your industry– find the Hashtag that was used – and search. If the tweet contains the hashtag, you know you at share that in common.

Have any other tips or advice to share with the community?

Two of the most common questions asked when some begins using Twitter are, “Who should I follow? and “What should I look for when doing so?”

There are a couple of schools of thought on the answer and it ties directly to what your goals are with your account. Some focus on growing the follower number as high as possible as quickly as possible. Others focus on building a targeted community of like minded people, associations, and brands – with the goal being more focused on the quality of the list versus the quantity of followers.

For me, I take a combined approach – find and follow as many people, brands, associations etc. as possible that share common interests, feelings, situations and experiences with me and that align with the buyer personas I have for Make Good Media and B2Bbloggers.com. It is a very systematic and careful approach to who I follow with both of my Twitter accounts – @B2Bbloggers and @jeremyvictor. Why? Because I have a specific purpose defined for each account. So in this article, as my aim has been with all of our Twitter for Business related posts thus far, I am sharing a how-to.

The 7 factors to consider before you follow someone on Twitter.

1. Tweets

The tweets of the Twitter account are going to reveal the most important information about the account (person or brand) and will likely have the highest impact on your decision. I suggest at the very least you should review the first page of tweets that are displayed. Here are some things to look for when making your decision to follow:

• Are the tweets topical, interesting, and relevant to your interests and your Twitter account?
• The amount of tweets that are “noise” or random, non-specific thoughts. Now, realize every account on Twitter is going to have its share of “noise.” It’s inherent in the nature of the medium, you’ll need to determine your tolerance level for it.
• The number of tweets that are broadcasts versus conversational.
• The number of tweets that are promotional.

2. Background, Profile And Link

Most users of Twitter take advantage of the 160 character BIO to describe themselves and the nature of their tweets. Twitter also allows users to provide one link to anywhere on the web. This could be to a blog, a LinkedIn profile, a corporate website, a book for sale … you name it. If need be, take a minute and check it out, you’re bound to learn more to help you with your decision. And finally, many accounts utilize the background image to share even more information. Be sure to check there too

3. Followers

First thing to look at is the number of followers.  Don’t let it be the sole discretionary factor in your decision.

While it does give you a sense of the accounts influence within the network, it tells you nothing about the type or topic of the account.

Next take a quick look at a couple pages of the account’s followers, do you have common interests? With the new @anywhere platform, you can hover over Twitter names to reveal the account’s bio for quick look. This can give you a sense of the types of people that are following the account you are assessing.

Do you share common interests with them? Also when you first get to the page, if your accounts have followers in common, you will see “following” next to the name.

4. Lists

Twitter lists provide uses the ability to organize and categorize groups of Twitter accounts any way that they would like. Every user’s Twitter page displays the number of lists an account is a member of. By clicking the number, you can see the lists the account is on, but more importantly you can see the “names” of the lists.  This is yet another quick way to see how other members of Twitter are describing and categorizing the account.

5. Favorites

Did you know that Twitter allows you to favorite tweets? Yep,that’s right, in the case of my favorite tweets, I use them as bookmarks so I can go back later to read the content. So what does that tell you about me? Exactly, things I like, and things I am likely to tweet about. Simply more information to help the decision making process.

6. Follower To Following Ratio

When an account is following thousands of people and is in the teens for followers, that’s a BIG warning sign and I don’t recommend following these accounts.

But what do you do in the case when, the ratio is not so drastic – say following 1,400 and is in the 300s for followers. Make recommendation is to take pause, and further assess the content of the tweets, tweet volume, etc. Many people (in their thirst for knowledge) may spend a lot of time early on following lots of people … and suddenly realize whoa, no one is following me back. Just in these cases when the tweet volume is low (i.e. a newer account), don’t be too quick to not follow. Look at the other information a bit closer and decide from there.

• [Sidenote: Do I sound like I speak from experience? Yep, that was me, in my thirst for knowledge, when I first joined Twitter I think I was following 500 people in a few days – lesson learned and now shared with you.]

7. Tweet To Follower Ratio

You are bound to get followed by an account who has sent 4 Tweets and has 14,321 followers. Honestly, I don’t know how or why or what these accounts are, but I don’t follow them and usually I block them from following me.

Phew –

That is a lot of information to review, digest, and assimilate just to decide whether or not to hit the Follow button.

But the fact of the matter is you are inviting someone into your stream? And your intention is to have them return the follow. Why not be prudent? Right?

You tell me though, did I go too far? Are you thinking, uh, all it takes is a second to unfollow someone, why bother with all this? It is certainly a reasonable thought – let me know what you think below. I’d be interested in the dialogue. Oh and tell me too – what am I missing?

Twitter is one of the pillars of social media communications, or so we are told, along with corporate blogging, Facebook, web. The reasons for being on Twitter are numerous:

• Competitive and industry intelligence
• Brand monitoring and “listening” to the conversation about your industry and your brand
• Interaction with industry influencers: editors, bloggers, analysts
• Learning new trends in the industry, in the marketing discipline, and what the movers and shakers are up to
• Catching up with other B2B marketers (which #b2bchat is part of)

  So assuming that B2B companies need to be on Twitter, we’ll discuss the ins and outs of managing corporate (brand) and professional (yours) Twitter accounts: 

• How do you set your Twitter objectives? What are you looking to accomplish?
• If you manage a corporate Twitter account, do you also maintain a separate “professional you” account? How do you balance the two?
• How much do you know about your followers? Do they engage with your brand?
• Who should and should not corporate accounts follow?
• How to avoid a Twitter burnout? Or is some time away a good thing?

 Join fellow B2B marketers for a discussion on Twitter best practices, tips and advice!

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About the B2Bblogger: Ksenia Coffman is senior marketing manager at Firetide, a wireless infrastructure mesh company, where she is responsible for Firetide’s marketing strategy and technology solution partnerships. Her articles on wireless infrastructure appeared in various publications, including Security Products, Law & Order, SecurityInfoWatch.com and Communications News.

An ASIS member (an international association for security professionals), she is a frequent speaker at industry events, including ASIS workshops and IWCE conferences. Ksenia launched @Firetide – with 800+ followers, it’s is one of the most active Twitter accounts in physical security and wireless infrastructure space. You can read more from Ksenia at Mesh Without Wires blog.

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Thanks to everyone who joined us for the first #B2BChat last Thursday night – our new weekly twitter conversation for B2B marketers.

The objective is to bring the B2B marketing community on Twitter together while discussing topics relevant to us as B2B marketers.

So Mark Your Calendars For March 11th at 8:oo PM EST.

In this week’s #B2BChat, we take on the topic of seminars and roadshows and attempt to answer the question, “Effective Lead Generation Tool or Glorified Sales Pitches?”

With travel budgets slashed, and time away from the office at a premium, 1-day seminars and road shows are gaining momentum. But some pundits judge them to be nothing else but veiled sales pitches.

• How do you create appealing educational content, while meeting lead generation goals? Do you need a guest speaker (industry expert or educational partner)?
• How do you maximize registrations, and minimize no-shows?
• How to effectively integrate social media tools in the event promotion, and during the event? Should you focus on Twitter, create a LinkedIn group, or employ other tactics?
• And last, but not least, what door prizes and give-aways are most in demand?

Join us for a live conversation with other B2B marketers who face the same challenges that you do.

Follow @B2B_chat for updates and join us this Thursday, March 11, at 8 pm Eastern as we tackle seminars and roadshows.

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About the B2Bblogger: Ksenia Coffman is senior marketing manager at Firetide, a wireless infrastructure mesh company, where she is responsible for Firetide’s marketing strategy and technology solution partnerships. Her articles on wireless infrastructure appeared in various publications, including Security Products, Law & Order, SecurityInfoWatch.com and Communications News. An ASIS member (an international association for security professionals), she is a frequent speaker at industry events, including ASIS workshops and IWCE conferences. Ksenia launched @Firetide – with 800+ followers, it’s is one of the most active Twitter accounts in physical security and wireless infrastructure space. You can read more from Ksenia at Mesh Without Wires blog.

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Thanks to everyone who joined us for the first #B2BChat – a weekly twitter conversation for B2B marketers. The chat came together quickly – Kent, Jeremy and I briefly discussed via email, set the time and date for the first chat, and off we were!

With minimal promotion (barely a couple of hours before the chat) we got about a dozen people participating and helping shape the chat going forward.

First, about the chat – the objective is to bring B2B marketing community on Twitter together while discussing topics relevant to us as B2B marketers. There are many great chats on Twitter, but none specifically focused on B2B, so the #B2BChat fills this gap.

About the moderators, under the umbrella of @B2B_Chat:

• Jeremy Victor (@JeremyVictor) is the founder of Make Good Media and Editor In Chief of B2Bbloggers (@b2bbloggers)
• Kent Huffman (@KentHuffman) is CMO of BearCom, a wireless solutions provider in Dallas TX, and also tweets as @WirelessWoman, bringing together wireless community on Twitter
• Ksenia Coffman (@KseniaCoffman) is marketing manager at Firetide, a wireless infrastructure company in Silicon Valley; she tweets for @Firetide

We started off discussing key challenges facing B2B marketers today. A few take-aways:

1. We are still grappling with the role that social media should play in the marketing mix. Nobody advocates ignoring it, but setting priorities and allocating the time can be a challenge.
2. Dealing with squeezed/reduced budgets and headcount resulting from the 2009 recession and at the same time dealing with the increased need to produce new content on a regular basis for all the phases of the buyer process …  what @JeremyVictor is calling the “2010 B2B Marketers Dilemma.”
3. Content creation demands for the new channels can also be overwhelming, creating a marketer’s dilemma in the form of the old-fashioned ‘writer’s block,’ as @joezuc pointed out.
4. Tying in social media with lead generation (or even determining if it can be done) is also a challenge. @b2bento commented: “Convincing clients that Social media is NOT another demand generation channel [is a struggle]. Without crossing the thought leadership and engagement bridge – jumping to lead generation is suicidal.”
5. Social media resource allocation and understanding the changing nature of the digital buyer

The second item on the agenda was to discuss expectations and the chat format going forward. The feedback was to center each discussion around a particular topics. Some of the suggestions:

• Facebook for B2B marketing.
• Integrated marketing and not fall into a social media only focus –
• How Print Advertising is being thought of right now
• Marketing Software
• Direct mail
• Marketing dashboards
• Email marketing
• CRM software to monitor multi-channel efforts

Other topics for consideration: setting up user groups and best practices working with the sales teams. All ‘core’ B2B marketing tactics – no fluff here. On the other hand, we will explore how integration with social media and implementing viral campaigns can benefit our traditional strategies – we are not luddites after all.

It is important to point out direct mail elicited quite a conversation! Here are a few tweets to prove it.

What can you expect next from #B2BChat? Weekly conversations on the topics that interest you – the B2B marketer: thoughts, questions, opinions and best practices that will help you do your job better, while connecting you with the business to business marketers on Twitter.

Follow @B2B_Chat for updates and join us on every Thursday at 8 pm ET. Topic for the next discussion will be posted shortly! DM or @ relply to @B2B_Chat with questions and suggestions for upcoming topics.

Join us!