Telecom channel partners, like a lot of business-to-business marketers, are curious about Twitter and how can they use it to sell more telecom products and services. To find out, PHONE+ spoke to social media market expert Amanda Vega, CEO of Amanda Vega Consulting.
We chatted about why and how channel partners can use Twitter and she also shared some best practices (see Twitter 101, Twitter Etiquette and Twitter Cheat Sheet).
Twitter is a microblogging tool that keeps people you know (followers) updated. It’s like sending an IM to all your contacts at once. But, the important thing to keep in mind is that it’s a two-way communications medium. “It’s not about pushing your product. It’s more like a networking meeting or a party,” Vega said. “Success comes from connecting with people in multiple conversations just like in real life.”
Remembering that is critical. “When you are using Twitter or any other social media, you need to connect with people, talk to people that have the same interest categories and go about it the exact same way as a networking meeting,” she explained. So, for example, you wouldn’t walk into a networking meeting and say “Hi, I’m Amanda. Want to buy some telecom?” Instead, you would say, “Hi, I’m Amanda. I like your shoes.”
If you think that sounds ridiculous, think again. Vega said her own public relations and marketing firm has converted more Twitter followers to customers by talking about her car, her pugs and, yes, her shoes than by talking about social media or PR. “People do business with people they know, like and trust,” she said.
And, she said this can be especially true in commodity businesses like telecom. “You can get five people calling on you at the same time ... why not give the business to your friend?”
So how do you get from Tweeting about shoes to a sale? Going back to the networking party analogy, it works much the same way in that your goal is to secure a face-to-face or phone meeting where your normal sales process kicks in. Twitter does not replace what you are doing, but it offers another channel to expand your network of prospects.
So, if you attended a chamber of commerce meeting, for example, the conversation about shoes eventually would come around to what you do, etc., which can lead to a meeting or a referral. On Twitter, the same rules of behavior apply. “You would not be at the chamber saying, ‘Buy this, buy this.’ You don’t want to be name tag surfing and looking for people who are influential or potential buyers,” Vega said. “You want to be polite and talk to everyone and talk about all sorts of things outside of your business. Your business will come up in natural conversation.”
