As a technology PR person I’ve inevitably been involved in discussions with clients about whether they should consider using the micro-blogging site Twitter to support their PR and marketing. And to be honest many of them are still quite sceptical. 
Lots of business people still believe that a site on which people spend endless hours announcing to the world ‘I just had sushi for dinner’ and sharing links to ‘witty videos’ is no place for throwing scarce B2B marketing and PR resources.
So I was interested to see this post on AdWeek.com about a survey which asked people why they bother to follow company brands on Twitter. The key results were:
– To get updates on future products (38 per cent)
– To stay informed about the activities of a company (32 per cent)
– To receive discounts and promotions (30 per cent)
– For fun and entertainment (26 per cent)
– To interact ie share ideas and feedback (20 per cent)
– To show my support for the company to others (23 per cent)
The poll is not specific to B2B marketing/PR, but it does give some indication of why Twitter might be useful for a B2B brand. And the top reason – ‘to get updates about a company’s future products’ – kind of supports our own survey in which one in five IT executives said they use Twitter to stay updated about the IT industry, including news from technology vendors.
Photo credit MattHamm