The idea is to tell a story that is relevant and relatable to the reader. He must be able to identify not only with the elements of the story but directly with the protagonist. This makes the story very personal to the reader. Heidi tells the story of the JetBlue steward who had had enough of his job and let himself off of the plane by exiting on one of the inflatable slides. Garnering more than 200,000 fans on Facebook who could identify with how the steward felt, the man has acquired the kind of following most companies only dream about.

The point is that you must provide content that:

1)      Is of current interest or relevance to your readers

2)      Taps into their passions

3)      Tells a story with a protagonist they can relate to

4)      Is easy to share

5)      And demonstrates your understanding of how they feel and what they need

For those of you who have composed case studies, you will remember how you related a story about a way in which you helped a client solve a particular problem. You wrote it so that your targeted readers could identify with the problem the company in your story was having. You filled it with emotional content through the use of customer quotes, taking your readers on both an emotional and educational journey. You helped them to feel a certain way about your company. Well, social media can be used in much the same way, only now your readers can interact with one another.

Many industrial marketers are just getting used to social media and have yet to really tap into the branding and marketing opportunities offered by the various online services. For those who are at least initiated with a blog and Twitter and Facebook accounts, for example, understanding effectiveness and return on investment remains a mystery. In his ClickZ post, Gold makes a very good point that “buzz does not equal revenue – revenue equals revenue.” I couldn’t agree more. He bemoans the fact that the “online marketing world is engaged in this never-ending symphony of wall posts, tweets, blog posts, and activities that fill the constellation of social media sites with their chatter hoping it gets traction with their target consumers” but that “meaningful tracking and optimization” is being ignored.

Gold stresses the importance of actionable data. He asks us to clarify the actions we want our audience to take and then to select criteria that measures that conversion success. For example, engagement is a central concern with any online media. The task is to select criteria that accurately measures interest for the particular type of social media with which your audience is engaging. The criteria for Twitter, as Gold points out, are tweets and for Facebook comments and ‘Likes.’  What topics are readers retweeting or commenting on? In other words, analyze their response to uncover their interests then respond accordingly by developing content that addresses those interests and engages them further.

Once you are able to present content on a consistent basis that you know is capturing your audience, it is important to learn what they are doing next so that you can guide them to do what you need them to do if they are not yet doing it. Remember: “revenue equals revenue.” The goal is to generate business. Understand what interests your readers and then uncover ways to get them to click through to your website. Continue to optimize your content until it yields the results you need. If you are not successful on your own then hire a professional content writer.

Social media, like any other online initiative, has to be measured, analyzed and continually optimized in order to ensure that it becomes or remains a revenue-generating vehicle. Determine the actions you want your audience to take, uncover their interests, and identify the specific ways to measure your goals for the type of social media you’re employing. Then use what you have learned to present content that interests, motivates and persuades your target audience groups to take the actions that convert them from a target to a lead and eventually to a customer.

Using Language that Reaches Your Audience

The deeper your understanding of your customers, and those target audience groups you wish to persuade to become your customers, the stronger your communications with them will be. Your target audience groups have very particular ways of communicating what they need from you. They use specific language to refer to those needs when they speak with your sales people on the phone or in person and when they search on the web. If this language does not appear in the titles, headings, meta data, links, and body copy (text) of your website pages, as well as your email marketing copy, or any of your off-site content such as blogs, newsletters, pay per click ads, social media sites, press releases, and banner ads, then they are not likely to be finding and interacting with your information.

Professional keyword research is important to your business because it provides you with the language you need to reach your audience groups who are actively searching for what it is you offer. An experienced keyword research professional utilizes industry tools and techniques to uncover the language your target audience groups use to refer to what it is you offer. There are many lists of valuable keywords that refer to the different aspects of your business that are needed. These include keywords and phrases referring to: your overall business; your specific products; your specific services; your specific brands; and any other marketable aspect of your business that is searched.

Whether you are establishing adgroups for your pay per click AdWords campaign or writing a blog post, your lists of researched and analyzed keywords and phrases provide you with the essential language you need to incorporate into your writings in order to ensure your content can be searched and found. Additionally, you will have more success attracting and maintaining the interest of your targeted readers by using language that is recognizable and known to them.

If you’re looking for professional Keyword Research & Analysis contact Industrial Web Solutions.

One of the easiest ways to make posts is by repurposing articles, news stories, and blog posts by mentioning them and attaching them to Twitter. Be sure to optimize the titles for the audiences you want to attract. And by all means, open up the floor for discussion. The surest way of gaining some audience traction in Twitter is to engage your target audience groups in a stimulating discussion about topics that affect them directly. Demonstrate to them that you know what is important to them and that you offer valuable and insightful views and information. If you find the conversation is getting pretty specific about their needs, then invite them to continue the conversation by phone.

Having customers link to your Twitter account means nothing if you fail to tweet. The value of the tool is the access it provides you to individuals and businesses who can benefit from what you offer – your insight as well as your products and services. Take advantage of the opportunity to let people know what a great resource you are. Keep track of the topics you initiate and see them through. If they are not stimulating any conversation, pick a new topic. Look to news sites and business reports for ideas. And keep tweeting!

Industrial manufacturers and resellers are the biggest industrial users of Twitter right now. Unfortunately, they are using it too often as a “flyer” to promote what they offer. The power of Twitter lies in your ability to engage your target audience groups in a conversation about topics important to them. “One off” tweets that do not generate discussion are tantamount to two four year olds engaged in a parallel conversation where statements are made but nothing comes of them: “I have a race car. Look.” The other four year old looks and says, “I had cake for lunch.” Both pieces of shared information are soon forgotten. You get the idea.

So what do you do now? Here’re some ideas:

Identify a topic of importance to your target audience group. Ways you can do that:

• Ask your sales team to relate concerns raised by customers.
• Read the trade news for issues that concern them.
• Read their company news for issues that concern them.
• Select a topic from your company news about something you offer or have introduced that helps their business to do better.

Make a list of possible Tweets. Imagine how the conversation online might go and prepare thoughts and responses in advance. It may not go the way you plan but you will have thought about it and researched it thoroughly so you will be prepared to guide the conversation more effectively.

If you haven’t done so already, invite customers to Follow you. If you really want to spark interest and build your Followers, announce the discussions you have begun on your home page, in an email, or some place you know you can reach your target audience groups effectively. Learn how to integrate Twitter into your site here.

Start tweeting, beginning with the most provocative tweet designed to get the conversation going. Keep tweeting on the same topic with your participants so that it makes it to the Trending List (seen in the right column on Twitter).

If your efforts are working but you still haven’t made it to the Trending List, sign up for a Twitter ad campaign once the ad service becomes available to everyone (I’ll let you know so keep checking back). Select keywords that will structure your campaign around the relevance of your established topic.

To support your ad campaign, select from your existing tweets relevant messages that will be promoted during the campaign. Simply click on any of your tweets that are already an organic part of Twitter to make them a Promoted Tweet.

Users who are not yet Following you can learn about your topic from related hashtags in their own timelines or by searching relevant terms that have to do with your topic. Once a user interacts with your Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends they can opt to Follow you, Retweet it, or Reply.

Twitter’s Promoted Tweets and Promoted Trends can also be used effectively with regard to trade show or other sales and promotional event appearances or sponsorships your company is planning. One final point, remember to closely monitor, measure, evaluate and make adjustments as needed to ensure the best results.

While you are waiting for Twitter to invite everyone to start advertising on their ad platform, adjust your approach to how you tweet and what you tweet about. Whether it’s a policy issue, a new product your introducing, or an upcoming trade show you will be participating in, actively engage your target audience groups about what interests them. Twitter can be an effective channel to keep your company name in the thoughts of your existing and potential customers by demonstrating your knowledge of and interest in topics important to them.

Additionally, I encourage you to communicate with Twitter at this time about the specific needs of the industrial business to business (B2B) marketer. Typically last to embrace new media technologies, industrial marketers are not generally considered during development phases of ad platforms so their unique needs are seldom addressed. By voicing your requirements now, you may avoid having to conform to a system that was designed to meet the needs of business to consumer (B2C) enterprises.