12 Examples of B2B Companies Managing Impactful Twitter Profiles

Nowadays, Twitter, its tweets, and hashtags seem to be everywhere around us. An impressive amount of individuals as well as groups and brands are leveraging Twitter to deliver messages (in 140 characters or less!) to the masses. As a matter of fact, an estimated 310 million active users per month have propelled Twitter to number two on the list of most popular social networks, behind Facebook.

Twitter’s popularity expands into the B2B sector, as data has revealed that 87% of B2B marketers are now using social media as part of their strategical arsenal, with 85% of that total using Twitter. While Facebook may be king of the social networks among the general public, Twitter’s business benefits for B2B companies far outweigh those of Facebook. Additional research shows us that Twitter outperforms LinkedIn and Facebook 9 to 1 for lead generation.

Since Twitter has significant effects on business in the social space, we’ve taken the time to identify twelve B2B companies that are effectively managing their Twitter profiles by looking at not only the number of followers they have, but taking a deeper dive into effective tactics  they’ re using to drive engagement. If you think we missed a notable profile, feel free to let us know in the comments section. Enjoy! 

1. Intel

Twitter Profile: @Intel

Followers: 2.9 Million

Why It’s Notable:

When building a successful Twitter profile, one of the things we aim to do is create a high ratio of “followers” to those we “follow.” With nearly 3 million followers (and following just 1,169), Intel owns an impressive ratio.

Standout Tactic:

Intel seems to do a great job of not only showcasing new products in an eye-catching fashion, but also participating in hashtag campaigns.  When looking at their stream, days or weeks often focus on a specific  theme. Recently, we noticed #iamcourage and #futureofwearables campaigns.

2. Cisco

Twitter Profile: @Cisco

Followers: 344K

Why It’s Notable:

Pairing with an impressive following, Cisco lets visitors of their profile know exactly what they will get from the brand if followed by including a helpful description as well as a few other key members of the Cisco social team to follow for additional information or outreach, giving the brand a bit more of a personality.

Standout Tactic:

Cisco stays on top of current events and includes their brand when possible and appropriate. For example, they recently posted a stack of pancakes with “Cisco” drizzled in maple syrup for National Pancake Day as well as a “Geek Bracket” image in honor of March Madness, take a look!

3. Forrester

Twitter Profile: @Forrester

Followers: 247K

Why It’s Notable:

Forrester is well-known  as one of the premier sources of pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology through research and analysis. Their Twitter profile maintains their brand message well,  providing valuable business and technology information to followers.

Standout Tactic: 

Twitter provides Forrester with an opportunity to tweet pieces of information (often times statistics) that pique the follower’s interest. As a result, followers are left wanting more, which could lead to a purchase of a complete report or a subscription to the service.

4. Adobe

Twitter Profile: @Adobe

Followers: 275K

Why It’s Notable:

The bright color scheme and eye-catching graphic portray Adobe’s digital persona. The company seems to do a good job of understanding why people might access their Twitter profile, starting with their description, as they offer a link to a helpful forum where questions can be answered by brand.

Standout Tactic: 

Calls to action are something the Adobe profile excels at. Using words such as “watch,” “learn,” or  “ask” engages the audience and leads to valuable interactions. After all, social media is supposed to be used as a conversational tool!

5. Salesforce

Twitter Profile: @Salesforce

Followers: 177K

Why It’s Notable:

Salesforce uses a steady mix of branded and non-branded tweets to engage the audience. Non-branded tweets often times are industry-related, sharing helpful tips and best practices in the lead generation/lead retention arena.

Standout Tactic: 

What specifically caught our eye about Salesforce was the effective usage of eye-catching images when posting blog content. Rather than just including a blog post title, almost all of their blog-related tweets include an image to make the user stop and pay closer attention to the message.

6. Oracle

Twitter Profile: @Oracle

Followers: 224K

Why It’s Notable:

Oracle uses Twitter to  help their customers stay connected with all parts of their brand. Without a particular area of focus, Oracle informs its followers of new products, services, training, news, events, promotions, and more.

Standout Tactic: 

The brand participates in a number of events and they do a particularly strong job of broadcasting live happenings using tweets and hashtags. Their recent #HCMWorld event engaged a number of followers and strong usage of social mentions kept the conversation very active throughout.

7. Maersk Line

Twitter Profile: @MaerskLine

Followers: 111K

Why It’s Notable:

The world’s largest container shipping company leverages Twitter in a brand-specific manner, largely focusing on a strategy that primarily revolves around their products at work.

Standout Tactic: 

Images, images, images. Maersk Line’s use of images is astounding, using a “Photo of the Day” to illustrate their products at work on larger-than-life barges in all corners of the world.

8. General Electric

Twitter Profile: @Generalelectric

Followers: 188K

Why It’s Notable:

With nearly 200,000 followers, GE focuses on the broader technology and innovation realm, rather than tweeting out sales-pitches or material that is only General Electric focused.

Standout Tactic: 

GE does a fantastic job of interacting with followers using a number of tactics, most notably contests or rewards-based campaigns. One campaign that recently caught our eye was a Vine that featured a wheel-like pie of pizza in honor of Pi Day (March, 14). Followers were encouraged to “spin” the pie wheel then respond which color their slice of the pizza turned up with. In return, GE promised to respond with a fun fact about Pi Day.

9. VMware

Twitter Profile: @VMware

Followers: 111K

Why It’s Notable:

A leader in the cloud and virtualization software market, VMware’s official account has more than 100,000 followers, as they take a focus on an industry-level approach. A separate “@VMwareNews” profile maintains a VMware-specific persona, allowing followers to decide what types of messages they want to receive from the company.

Standout Tactic: 

As the software industry is quick to evolve and often times hard to keep up with, VMware offers a number of webcasts and learning sessions for followers to keep a finger on the industry and company’s pulse.

10. ExactTarget

Twitter Profile: @ExactTarget

Followers: 42.6K

Why It’s Notable:

ExactTarget offers a nice mix of engaging content on their profile, including Q&As, helpful tips, images, and more. Being a provider of cross-channel interactive marketing SaaS solutions, their focus on providing marketing best practices offers value to followers.

Standout Tactic:

What really stood out to us when examining the ExactTarget page was their use of Twitter Lead Generation Cards. These cards increase conversion rates by capturing in-app form-fills from followers, enabling leads to be obtained and tracked directly from within Twitter.

11. Constant Contact

Twitter Profile: @ConstantContact

Followers: 57.5K

Why It’s Notable:

The moment you land on Constant Contact’s page, their brand message becomes very clear through a brief description as well as a colorful, fun looking background. We felt the amount and quality of content makes them a notable profile.

Standout Tactic: 

Constant Contact excels with its abundance of activity. Their engagement practices (such as Q&As), as well as a steady stream of customer relationship tips, news, events, best practices, etc. make their profile a must follow for anybody interested in learning how to better connect with customers.

12. LinkedIn Help

Twitter Profile: @LinkedInHelp

Followers: 5.7K

Why It’s Notable:

Twitter and LinkedIn are the most-used social networks in the B2B space and this page provides LinkedIn users with an excellent tool to get their questions answered through Twitter.

Standout Tactic:

The LinkedIn Help page is controlled by an extremely responsive support and communications team, who are always offering help to those who seek it. Since the questions are being answered on Twitter, this can be a valuable resource for those to see answers to similar questions they may have.

Final Thoughts

We hope this list has inspired you to interact with additional B2B companies on Twitter or make your company’s stream a bit more engaging using some ideas from the leaders. As mentioned earlier, if we missed a great B2B Twitter profile, please feel free to leave us a comment!