Conversation drivers

Conversation drivers help your business be proactive rather than reactive in its social media approach and, therefore, should play a key role in your social media strategy. Twitter is a powerful marketing tool and conversation drivers are your business’s most effective way of identifying members in its target audience. Let’s see what they are and why they’re so useful!

What is a conversation driver?

We coined the term Twitter conversation drivers to describe words or phrases someone might use in a tweet which identifies themselves as a member of a company’s target audience.

They can also be used to determine exactly when someone is or will be in the market to buy your product or service. The reason they’re called conversation drivers is because they act as your cue to start an online conversation with them and build a relationship. By actually being social and having real conversations Twitter can be used to influence buying decisions.

As a specialist social media agency we use conversation drivers for all of our clients but there’s no reason why everyone can’t set up these searches to generate sales and leads so let’s look at some examples.

Examples of conversation drivers

In the form of: “conversation driver” = specific industry or business it might be useful for

“spilled wine” = carpet cleaning services

“need a spa day” = hotel or health club

“walking the dog” = pet shop

What about these:

“moving house”?

“getting married”?

There are countless businesses who would be really interested in the last two examples; you’ll be able to think of four or five immediately.

These are just some very basic examples but you get the picture. Given that what is revolutionary about social media and, particularly, Twitter is the two-way nature of the channel; businesses must be utilising the tools available to them to talk to people who are obviously in their market. It is techniques like this which make Twitter a more targeted and personalised marketing tool than virtually anything else at a marketer’s disposal. In fact, it’s what makes Twitter a sales tool as well as a marketing tool.

Conversation drivers: Twitter lead generation

Do a Twitter search with a few different phrases you think someone in your target audience might be using. If your business operates a specific geographic area then specify cities on the advanced Twitter search. Ask yourself, “what might have happened to someone which would make them in need of my product or service?” And “how would they convey this in a tweet?” This is a good mind-mapping opportunity to help determine exactly what drives demand for your business.

Here’s how to maximise your efforts:

Make the most of your conversation driver knowledge by using Hootsuite and Twitter lists by implementing advanced searches and segmenting your audience. Respectively, these tools will help you better identify your audience and keep tabs on them, ultimately resulting in leads. You will, of course, need to be able to approach these potential customers in a natural and conversational way; try and sell straight to them and see what happens!

Be friendly and true to your brand’s voice; not all conversations will result in a lead or a sale so you still need to portray your company positively.

If you begin conversing with a greater number of accounts, you’ll be driving more traffic to your Twitter profile. If it’s not already tip-top, make sure your Twitter profile is optimised including your bio, images and your feed. Make sure your content is going to appeal to the people you’re approaching and you’re the kind of business they’ll trust and like to use – first impressions really count and you’ve only got a few seconds in the world of Twitter to make it a good one.

Conversation drivers should be playing a key role in your Twitter strategy, otherwise you’re simply not using the platform to its full potential and, therefore, getting the most return from your social media marketing efforts.