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B2B Marketing views, news and interviews.

On-Target: What’s New With Twitter For B2B Marketers In 2021

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis on Jun 2nd, 2021
B2B Marketing, Twitter

Twitter dartboard image.

What’s new with Twitter for B2B marketers in 2021?

With more than 199 million active daily users and available in over 40 languages, Twitter has continued its growth as a platform for both B2B and direct-to-consumer brands looking to creatively showcase products and services.

It’s also increasingly used to tell brand stories and as a customer communication tool.

When it comes to new feature launches, Twitter has ramped up its pace, helping it make significant gains as a social media platform not just for consumers, but also for a greater number of professional business users than ever.

Let’s take a look at seven of Twitter’s most recent feature roll-outs, changes, and announcements of forthcoming offerings, with an eye towards how B2B marketers can use Twitter in new ways .


On-Target: What’s New With Twitter For B2B Marketers In 2021

32 Top Social Media Marketing Influencers To Follow

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis
B2B Marketing, Twitter

32 Top Social Media Marketing Influencers To Follow

The social media marketing industry is bursting with innovative professionals — people who push the boundaries of existing social platforms, embrace new ones, and ditch low-performers.

With so many fine social media marketers, how do you find new innovators to follow on Twitter and learn from?

We’ve put together a list of 32 top social media marketers that includes a number of fantastic folks who may not already be on your Twitter “following” list, in addition to some industry stalwarts who those new to social media marketing would be wise to follow.

We’ve added a quote, tip, or short lesson from each to help inspire your own social media marketing efforts.


32 Top Social Media Marketing Influencers To Follow

5 Top B2B Brands Delivering Exemplary Twitter Engagement

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis
B2B Marketing, Twitter

Four happy businesspeople jumping above cityscape.

With more than 139 million active daily users and available in over 40 languages, Twitter has increasingly grown as a platform for both B2B and direct-to-consumer brands looking to creatively and effectively showcase products and services.

Twitter has kept up a steady pace of new feature roll-outs over the past few years that have helped it make significant gains as a social media platform not just for consumers, but also for more professional business users than ever.

It’s also increasingly become a destination for all manner and size of brands, and the users who frequent Twitter expect an experience markedly different from that offered by LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. As the following chart from MarketingCharts shows, over the last year Twitter has seen increasing satisfaction among social media users.


5 Top B2B Brands Delivering Exemplary Twitter Engagement

The Impact of Twitter’s Proposed Shakeup on Marketers and Influencers

The Potential Impact of Twitter's Proposed Changes

Twitter needs to change. This truth is acknowledged by everyone affiliated with the social media network, including its co-founder and CEO.

Jack Dorsey sat with Chris Anderson and Whitney Pennington Rodgers of TED last month for a roundtable discussion about the state of his company, and the path ahead. Specifically, their chat centered on Twitter’s conversation health, and how to improve it.

During the talk, Dorsey laid out some interesting ideas. Today we’ll touch on several of them — including one proposed shift that could fundamentally alter the platform’s very fabric — with an eye on the potential impact for B2B marketers and influencers.


The Impact of Twitter’s Proposed Shakeup on Marketers and Influencers

Why Twitter Lists Are Still a Great Tool for B2B Marketers

Lane Ellis
Lane Ellis
Twitter

Segments of citrus fruit image.

B2B marketers can benefit in numerous ways by taking full advantage of the power of Twitter lists. Whether it’s showing respect for and nurturing prospective clients, engaging current clients and fans, or helping to build trust in marketing, smartly putting Twitter’s many list features to use offers potentially large and oftentimes overlook advantages.

Twitter By the Tape

Why should B2B marketers care about using Twitter? Here are some recent statistics:

  • With over 321 million monthly active users worldwide including 66 million is the U.S., Twitter is among the top tier of social media platforms (Statista)
  • Twitter’s fourth-quarter 2018 revenue reached $909 million
  • Advertising revenue climbed to $791 million, a 23% increase for the quarter
  • 85% of B2B marketers use Twitter to distribute content (Statusbrew)

Why Twitter Lists Are Still a Great Tool for B2B Marketers

Twitter Has Renewed its Live Video Push & Here’s What You Need to Know

Nick Nelson
Nick Nelson
Social Media, Twitter, Video

Once a pioneer in bringing live video to the social media world, Twitter fell behind the likes of Facebook, LinkedIn, and others as this format rose to mainstream prominence. However, the platform’s recent move to make live video more easily discoverable shows Twitter is recommitting to video.

But the question is: Can Twitter recapture the magnetic energy of live video?

When I attended Jane Weedon’s keynote speech at Content Marketing World last month, I was deeply struck by this remark from Twitch’s Director of Business Development:

“Authentic and real-time video can be better than immaculately produced when it comes to engaging an audience.”

Her company’s model serves as proof of this assertion. Twitch welcomed more than 15 million daily visitors last year, and continues to see explosive growth, largely because of this dynamic.


Twitter Has Renewed its Live Video Push & Here’s What You Need to Know

Will Twitter Succeed in Defeating Trolls? The Stakes for Marketers

Nick Nelson
Nick Nelson
Social Media, Twitter

“I’m addicted to you, don’t you know that you’re toxic?”

I can guarantee this will be the first and last time I ever open a blog post with lyrics from Britney Spears, but the pop star’s 2003 tribute to perilous romance seems to perfectly encapsulate my relationship with Twitter — and I know I’m not alone.

via GIPHY

I love Twitter. It’s easily my favorite social network. I’ve been active on it for almost a decade, and during that time I’ve had countless enlightening conversations (mostly about baseball and marketing), become friends with people I never would’ve encountered otherwise, and wasted more time than I’d like to admit scrolling mindlessly through my feed.


Will Twitter Succeed in Defeating Trolls? The Stakes for Marketers

Social Media Marketing Benchmarks: What Works & Where to Focus

Social Media Marketing Benchmarks Report 2018

Social media marketers, how are you feeling? Take a minute to breathe if you need to. The last few months have been a wild ride. Fatigue, vertigo, and even a little nausea are perfectly understandable.

As I said before, social media isn’t dying, but it is changing. Marketers are used to quick changes, naturally, but it’s important to be sure we’re making the right changes. We should approach evolving our social media with the same data-driven, strategic rigor that applies to everything else we do.

The good folks at Rival IQ recently published their 2018 Social Media Benchmarking Report. The data points to some clear directions for the next evolution of social media marketing.

Here are some of the key data points – and, more importantly, what you should do about them.


Social Media Marketing Benchmarks: What Works & Where to Focus

Social Media Marketing Spotlight: U.S. Bank Rallies Local Allies for a Friendly, Engaging #MNNice #NiceOff

Caitlin Burgess
Caitlin Burgess
Social Media, Twitter

US Bank NiceOff

Roughly 120,000 visitors from 130 countries descended on the Twin Cities last week to take part in Super Bowl LII festivities hosted in downtown Minneapolis. To welcome visitors to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank—which just so happens to have its name on the stadium that hosted the big game—wanted to give visitors a taste of “what Minnesota is all about.”

For those of you who haven’t heard, Minnesota—where TopRank Marketing is proudly based—isn’t just known for its frigid winters and as the birthplace and residence of the late Prince Rogers Nelson. It’s also known for its “northern hospitality”—or as it’s affectionately called—Minnesota Nice.


Social Media Marketing Spotlight: U.S. Bank Rallies Local Allies for a Friendly, Engaging #MNNice #NiceOff

What Are Hashtags Really For? #Confused #Blessed #NoFilter

Joshua Nite
Joshua Nite
Social Media, Twitter

What Are Hashtags Really For?

In late 2014, the hashtag #WhyIStayed was trending on Twitter. Frozen pizza slinger DiGiorno, known for being snarky and clever on social media, wanted to join the fun:

DiGiorno Hashtag Social Media Marketing Fail

There was just one problem: #WhyIStayed started in response to a video of domestic abuse. Women used the hashtag to tell their own story of abuse and talk about the societal pressures that led them to stay with their abusers.

At best, DiGiorno looked clueless. At worst, it looked like they were making light of a very serious issue. All they wanted was a little brand visibility…and they got it, but not in the way they were hoping.


What Are Hashtags Really For? #Confused #Blessed #NoFilter

7 Examples of Brands Mastering Twitter for Social Customer Care

Caitlin Burgess
Caitlin Burgess
Social Media, Twitter

Twitter Customer Care

These days, there’s little doubt that social media is plays a pivotal role in a brand’s marketing strategy. After all, with roughly 2 billion internet users on social networks and counting, there’s massive reach and resonance potential.

But couple widespread adoption with shifting consumer preferences and expectations—and the smell of major change is in the air. Social media is no longer just a marketing tool and a space to encourage positive engagement with your audience, it’s a customer service opportunity that deserves every marketer’s attention and action.

As Dan Gingiss, McDonald’s Corporation’s Senior Director of Global Social Media, told me in his Behind the Curtain interview a few months back: marketers need to stop thinking that customer service is someone else’s problem:


7 Examples of Brands Mastering Twitter for Social Customer Care

What All Marketers Can Learn from Fast Food Giants Crushing Twitter

Caitlin Burgess
Caitlin Burgess
Social Media, Twitter

There’s little doubt among marketers that social media is an important part of their strategic digital marketing mix. After all, social media is part of the fabric of our daily lives—and arguably our identities. In fact, it’s estimated that there are 1.96 billion social media users worldwide—with that number expected to grow to 2.5 billion by 2018.

But increasing adoption and content saturation, as well as changing algorithms and the rising tide of paid social advertising, means all brands are facing stiff competition for audience attention and engagement. So, what’s a marketer or brand to do?


What All Marketers Can Learn from Fast Food Giants Crushing Twitter