Are You Atwitter?

All hype aside, Twitter is for real and here to stay. As a tool for instant mass communication, the microblogging site has opened up expansive possibilities for b2b marketers to engage the marketplace.

Here are a few basic tips to get started on Twitter:

1. Go to Twitter.com [http://www.twitter.com] and create a profile for yourself or your company/brand.
2. Search for any key customers, colleagues and industry thought leaders already active on Twitter and follow them.
3. Search your company, brand and/or product names, and any relevant industry keywords at search.twitter.com [http://search.twitter.com/] and set up an RSS feed on those search terms. This will give you a convenient real-time feed of the chatter in the tweetosphere that contains those terms, giving you the opportunity to instantly engage your customers and industry peers. If you are new to RSS, this RSS in plain English video [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU] provides a great crash course on getting started.
4. Make a point to post at least one industry-relevant tweet per day. Since a tweet can only be 140 characters long this should be easy.
5. As with other social media, authenticity and content are key. As a b2b marketer, represent your product without hocking your wares. Be an honest commentator on industry trends and news.

Source: MetalformingMagazine.com