3 Ways Manufacturers Can Use Lists on Twitter
by MGB2B
From content discovery to lead generation, Twitter is one of the most effective social media channels for manufacturers. Yet many manufacturers are ignoring one of the channel’s most useful features: lists. From organizing your favorite accounts to tapping into your competitors’ content, Twitter lists can produce an endless supply of valuable insights.
Here are 3 ways you should be using lists on Twitter:
Organize the accounts you follow. The most basic application for lists on Twitter is to simply organize your favorite accounts. This can make your time spent on Twitter even more efficient by gathering updates from similar sources into individual streams. For example, as the CEO of a manufacturing company, you might have one list for your favorite business publications, another for your customers, and a third for tracking the latest fantasy football updates. Scanning the updates from each of these lists is like diving into a vertical Twitter universe.
Stay up to date with your customers. While your customers’ corporate Twitter feeds likely won’t reveal the inner workings of their business strategies, regularly browsing their updates is a great way to stay in tune with what they’re talking about and, when appropriate, engage with them on social media. Creating a list of different customers that operate in the same industry can also help you spot new opportunities. For example, if multiple customers share a similar perspective on an issue facing their industry, you could generate a white paper or share an article speaking to that topic.
Keep an eye on your competitors. Just like monitoring your customers’ conversations, staying up to date on what your competitors are talking about is a great application for lists on Twitter. From new products to chatter about the latest trade show, “listening” to your competitors on Twitter can keep you in the loop about what they’re doing and how they’re serving their customers. It also gives you the chance to spot their missed opportunities; if a question tweeted to your competitor goes unanswered, you might consider stepping in to help out – and make a new connection.
Manufacturers can glean a lot of valuable information from Twitter, and organizing accounts into individual lists can help the discovery process move even faster. Just like you check your email and personal social media accounts every morning, scanning updates from your company’s customers and competitors on Twitter can help you gain deeper insights into what makes them tick. And using this intel to fuel your company’s own content strategy helps keep your brand at the forefront of thought leadership. Need a hand to get the ball rolling? Drop us a line.
Tags: B2B social media strategy, competitive monitoring, content strategies for manufacturers, lists on Twitter, social media for lead generation, social media for manufacturers, tips for Twitter