Is Twitter Dead?  You have heard friends and industry professionals talking about how Twitter is a dying social media.  But let’s look at the facts:

Twitter Statistics

• 77% of B2B marketers use Twitter to distribute content (Source).
• The platform earned a total of $665 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2018–a 21% increase year over year.
• 71% of B2B technology marketers said Twitter is their top social media platform for product launch(Source).
• B2B marketers rate Twitter as the tsecond most effective social media platform after LinkedIn.
• There are currently 326 million monthly active users on the platform.

Does that sound “dead” to you? I don’t think so.

What is the Difference between Twitter and Facebook?

So why use one over the other, or spend time on both?  Let’s check out some of the differences for industrial and other B2B marketers.

• Twitter networks ideas and topics while Facebook networks people.
• Twitter is thought to be easier to use than Facebook which allows more options.
• Twitter’s call to action is to follow while Facebook allows likes and friends.
• Inside of Twitter you will ReTweet or Favorite something. Inside of Facebook you will Like or Share something.
• On Twitter, you can find the latest topic trending – like the News, Politics, and more.  You can find your old high school friends or love interest on Facebook.
• A Tweet has a much shorter lifespan than a Facebook update.
  • According to some interesting insights from Sysomos, about 92% of engagement with a Tweet happens within the first hour after being tweeted.
  • A Facebook update will be on people’s timelines for much longer. It can often stretch over several days until all interaction with the update dries up.
• Twitter posts are strictly short-form and only one “type” of posts.  Facebook posts vary depending on the module you choose – feed/timeline posts, albums, events, notes, etc.

So there are significant differences.  You should consider surveying your clients and finding out which social media they use.  They may be divided and you will find a need for both.

Using Twitter to Your Advantage

In my opinion, this is how you should use Twitter if you are in the business of Industrial B2B selling.

1. Don’t just sell, sell, sell.   When all you do is push marketing, people tune you out and scroll on by.
2. Engage with other businesses content over time (commenting and retweeting) until you become familiar enough to send them a message noticing that you may be able to help them with X.
3. Monitor & Engage their Twitter channels and wait for the chance to arise from their daily business activities for relevant conversations about how your business’s product or services can fit a particular problem.

With Twitter and other social media, we can gather a vast amount of knowledge about our customers.  It is up to us to use it to our advantage and build solid relationships that may lead to increased sales.

Other Posts of Interest

Industrial Social Media Marketing 2019

5 Tips for Successful Industrial Social Media