If You’re a Founder, You Need to Put Your Social Media Focus on Twitter and LinkedIn

As a marketer and a founder, I know that social media is one of the best tools I have to reach dream customers. But, all social media is not created equal. That’s why I focus on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I can hear you asking, “There are so many channels, why these two?” Well, as a founder, Twitter and LinkedIn will give you the best opportunity to succeed with the least resources. They are two places where you can build an audience solely based on the clarity of your thoughts, and it can be done by typing on the keyboard of your phone or laptop.

I strongly believe that no matter what industry you are in as a founder, you should start with Twitter and LinkedIn, and do it well. I think most founders can win on those two platforms.

Shorten Your Feedback Loop

Both platforms make it easy to follow and connect with other people in your network. Your messages can easily “catch on” simply from a retweet or comment. They make it easy to follow and “listen” to others much bigger than you, so you can learn what great looks like as a model, and you can also follow the conversation and stay relevant.

These platforms provide you with instant feedback. You get unfiltered direct replies from your connections and customers. These also are platforms where you can see if your targeting of your niche is working, because you will see if your posts are getting responses or not. Remember, the shorter the feedback loop is, the faster you learn.

These platforms, Twitter specifically, also are where the “sneezers” (as Seth Godin calls them) are in any industry. Sneezers are the early adopters: the ones who have authority and influence in your niche and are most likely to spread the message. Twitter is the place for sneezers. It is where the early adopters (in nearly every industry) hang out.

Twitter is a much more transactional platform, meaning that you have more immediate reactions to your words and can get almost instant feedback. Plus, given the nature of the Twitter feed, it’s an ephemeral channel. Things don’t last long. You can post once or 10 times a day, and because of the way the Twitter feed works, people don’t get “tired” of seeing your stuff over and over.

LinkedIn is the Business Twitter

LinkedIn has changed a lot over the last few years. The thought with LinkedIn used to be that it was for job searching and “professional networking” only. You only accept connections from people you know, and you definitely don’t post about what’s going on in your day like you would on Twitter.

But like all social media channels today, LinkedIn has grown to become a content platform. Now, I think about LinkedIn as the business Twitter. Instead of potentially anonymous users on Twitter, on LinkedIn, you’re reaching people under the company profile and usually with a business context.

Career advice, personal development, industry-specific knowledge and observations, leadership lessons, management mantras, work/life balance are all examples of the content that works well on LinkedIn. What does this mean for you? Especially if you’re a B2B, LinkedIn is the single most important platform you need to be spending your time on.

LinkedIn provides an incredible opportunity to reach your dream customers with relevant content. I’ve consistently had LinkedIn posts get 500,000+ views with people I care about inside of sales and marketing (my niche), and I haven’t seen that on Twitter. Of course, it will take time to build up your audience, but I can promise you that in most cases, business content on LinkedIn will reach more people that you care about than it will on Twitter.

How You Post Matters

There are some key differences between how to write on LinkedIn versus Twitter. For example, my posts are more planned on LinkedIn. I don’t post random funny things there, as my followers don’t seem to want that.

Also, I post on LinkedIn once a day, maybe twice, but not more than that. On Twitter, I may post 10 times in a day. However, I spend more time replying to people on LinkedIn, strategically, as I can see what company they come from, and therefore, I can target my responses.

When it comes to LinkedIn, you should focus on posts, not articles. Why? Because posts will appear in the newsfeed. Overall, though, when it comes to content, my advice is to take content that is popular for you on Twitter (or in other places) and tailor it for LinkedIn.

Twitter gives you speed. Things happen fast on Twitter, and you can quickly “test” an idea. Look at the newsfeed, look at posts that are popular, and adapt your writing and start getting your thoughts and ideas in rotation on LinkedIn.

Take Advantage of Commenting

Remember, the goal and the power of these social media platforms is to connect with people and reach your dream customers. So, be strategic. Twitter performs better with more broad marketing topics for me, but LinkedIn performs better with very specific B2B marketing niches. Target your posts to the platform and to the niche.

Remember, too, that commenting is a great way to connect with your audience. If they comment on your post or tweet, respond. Respond to every single meaningful engagement you have, especially in the early days of focusing on building out your presence on Twitter and LinkedIn.

People want to know that’s really you there. It’s called social media, after all. Social equals a two-way conversation, so don’t be afraid to get in there and start engaging!

For more advice on how to use social media to connect with your ideal customers, you can find Founder Brand on Amazon. Written by Dave Gerhardt.

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