Life Is Tweet in B2B

You may not be using Twitter yet, but your customers are.

Leading US media monitors Jaxxon Flincher claim that by April 30, 2016, you’ll never be more than six feet away from someone you follow on Twitter. Actually, I made that up, but given the grasp this medium has on life and human society in 2013, this is highly feasible.

It came from literally nowhere in March 2006, and seven years on and it’s the insta-communication platform of choice for presidents, popes, prime ministers, and Rio Ferdinand all connecting to the world. They’re never out of touch, and know that every time they tweet, the world will hear about it one way or another.

It’s become the de facto communicator for major events, instant news, jokes, and comments, forging public opinion and your business.

It’s life commentary in real-time, never delayed and always reactive. In terms of scale it is beyond vast, there are over 500 million accounts generating over 340 million tweets per day.

Late adopter
Confession time: I’m a very late adopter. I viewed social networking as intellectually base and the preserve of the “its gr8 m8” generation.

I viewed this sort of thing as an Orwellian prophecy so horrifically brought to life that I also thought the construction of the Shard was the Ministry of Truth and part of a new social order.

However, my personal road to Damascus was from a very simple source — a band. Interpol, to be precise, who I saw at Brixton Academy in December 2010.

I wanted to hear more about them, so when I got home I joined Twitter and started to receive information about when they were next in the UK, future albums, YouTube, etc.

That was just the start, and the way in which this particular penny dropped opened my mind to what was really going on — this is where we all have the possibility to connect, across continents, time zones, oceans, and creeds. There are no longer any communication boundaries. This is really the future mapped out and this is where we properly connect.

Speaking as a former cynic, I initially thought Twitter just sounded frivolous, jokey even — not really something substantial, almost a game.

What it means to your fire business
I’ve since realized it’s anything but. I suppose I should view it as a threat to my exhibition livelihood, being new media versus old etc., but it’s actually a brilliant compliment to the real-life social networking a trade show fundamentally represents.

In such an environment, Twitter effortlessly comes into its own.

What other medium would let you instantly contact your customers in one place where they’re visiting and interacting in a focused and themed environment? You can’t possibly phone them all, but if they’re following you and they’re visiting FIREX or IFSEC you can draw them onto your stand.

Even better arrange a social meeting — a tweet up, in technical terms — where they can meet each other maybe for the first time. Once again it’s all about like-minded people bonding over similar interests, so imagine if it was your company bringing new friends together all with a shared interest in you?

What I’m getting at is that I was misguided in dismissing Twitter as a medium.

Commercially, it’s not a website, and it’s not really meant to be. But from a communications point of view, it’s unparalleled.

Not only can you promote your company 24/7, but you can achieve real contact with your customers across the world. You don’t even have to have anything deeply profound to say, just make sure you’re communicating, reminding them why you’re so important to them, and creating a regular flow of dialogue.

If you’re a user of trade shows, it needs to be a major part of your thinking as there’s a strong chance you’ll have customers and potential customers present who will come and see you. Twitter gives you the power to connect with them and bring them all together in one place. Marvelous!

I’ll let you know when I get around to Facebook. One thing at a time.