One of the most valuable features of the MarketingProfs B2B forum are the One-on-One Therapy sessions, where attendees get to sit down with experts in different fields and get specific advice relevant to the challenges they’re facing.

Jennifer Altimore and Joe Hirshka from Kennametal Inc. came to Boston from Latrobe, PA. I followed them through their conversations with Ron Ploof, new media management consultant with OC New Media and author of “Read This First,” and Joel Book of ExactTarget. Chris Penn of Blue Sky Factory and Michele Linn of Linn Communications were in the room dispensing advice as well.

Jennifer and Joe talked with Ron about their two Twitter accounts, one at Kennametal_Inc and one at WidiaProductGRP. They created the Kennametal_Inc account about a year ago and have been developing their strategy. They’re seeing mom and pop machine shops joining Twitter, and expect they Twitter to turn into a customer service tool, but they want to find a better way to set themselves apart from their competitors. How can they get the big manufacturers to communicate with them and generate some dialog?

Currently they’re sharing information about upcoming promotions, their products, trade show attendance and the videos they’ve posted to YouTube. They’ve also tried to share useful information related to their industry that isn’t necessarily about Kennametal.

The first question Ron asked them was, “What are you providing that’s useful?”

“When clients ask what they should tweet, I ask, ‘Is it retweetable?’”

“You solve problems,” Ron said. “What problems can you solve in 140 characters or less?” What you can answer on a blog or website, and link to on Twitter?

Ron also suggested asking customers questions on Twitter, to generate more feedback and get more customer-focused content. Jennifer gave some sample questions they’ve asked on Twitter, like “What can we do to make your processes more efficient?” and “What can we do to make more money for you?”

Ron liked the approach but thought the low response might indicate the questions were too specific. Above all, Ron advised, “Don’t give up on it.” Building a social media presence takes time. The fact that Kennametal has been added to 11 Twitter lists is a good sign, and also provides them with information on how they are seen by the Twitter community.

Ron also recommended that they do more with video, and think about the cool stuff that customers do with their products because, as he pointed out, “You guys cut stuff and destroy it!”

Jennifer then moved on to talk to Joel Book from ExactTarget about email marketing.

Their industry is coming around to email, Jennifer said, but still likes to look at catalogs.

“What should we be sending out to our customers?” she asked. “We’ve sent newsletters and got a high rate of opt out.”

Joel suggested taking a page out of “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”: Let’s start with the end in mind. You want content that is anticipated, timely, relevant to the individual and answers the question, ‘What’s in it for me?’, he advised. Email can be the backbone of an engagement marketing strategy.

In your opt in process you need to answer the question, “Why should I care?” Too many marketers think people want to get their email. You need to earn that person’s permission to receive email. You need to sell them on the value of becoming an email subscriber.

Ask yourself what kind of information they will receive in that email that will help them make a better buying decision, or learn about events that are relevant to them.

Email and your website are inextricably linked, Joel pointed out, as are email and social media. Your website needs to give visitors a reason to raise their hands and ask to be engaged.

Joel also advised a strong focus on search. “SEO in particular is vital,” he said. “Forester says on average 92 percent of B2B decision makers come to a website based on organic search. Find out what keywords people are using to find your site and make sure those keywords are seeded throughout your site.”

Next, be sure to send a thank you or welcome email. Only 48 percent of marketers do that, he said. Reinforce the value of the email newsletter and what they can expect, but be sure to ask them what kind of “information, offers and invitations” will be useful to them.

Take your subscribers to a landing page that is your “email subscriber preference center.” Do the hard work of determining the five questions you can ask that will allow you to deliver the right information to them.

Once you have that information, you can use the dynamic content functionality of your ESP to deliver the right information, offers and invitations.