Twitter chats are vehicles to share information with your audience, demonstrate your subject matter expertise to new audiences and learn from your tweeps. However, as with all events, prep work is required to make them educational, interesting and valuable experiences for all involved.
The HashtagThe hashtag is fundamental; it is the key, the focus and core of the chat. The best chat hashtags are simple, relevant and easy to remember. They convey the chat's topic and don't take up too many of the precious 140 characters. Some good examples are #blogchat, #brandchat and #measurepr, and some examples bad chat hashtags are #beginnerbloggingchat, #marketingandbrandingyourbusiness and #measuringyourpublicrelations. The former are easy to remember and you immediately know the chat’s topic; the latter are disastrous.
Nugget of knowledge: KISS – Keep It Succinct & SimpleSchedule
Setting a regular day and time for the chat is the key to participation and growth of the audience. Many of the established Twitter chats occur weekly. Newer chats start off bi-weekly or monthly, then become weekly as their audiences grow.Website
As this is a Twitter chat, a Twitter account is the ideal place for information about the event; however, you can only put up so much information there. A static site or blog provides space for all of the chat’s pertinent information: the what, where, when, why and how of the event. A Facebook Fan page or LinkedIn group are good alternatives or add-ons as well.
Nugget of knowledge: Always keep SEO in the back of your mind, even for marketing your Twitter chat. Format
Currently, there are two basic formats for a Twitter chat, open mic and moderated. Open mic is just like it sounds, the chat’s host will start the conversation with a question and then the crowd sourcing begins. Tweeps answer, ask other questions, answer and ask follow-up questions. During a moderated chat the host serves as the event’s facilitator, there’s a guest subject matter expert and questions are fielded via the facilitator. Recognition
It is important to remember, the Twitter chat is only as good as the tweeps. Replying, retweeting and acknowledging them during the chat are great ways to show appreciation for their participation. You can also list them on the website/blog or create a Twitter list for the chat.Archive
Saving the chat discussion is as important as choosing the hashtag. The archive is a valuable resource for people to review post-chat. It is full of links, authors, books, dos & don’ts, how tos and tips, and most participants will have missed a lot of the information. The archive is also there for those who were unable to attend.
Nugget of knowledge: A Twitter chat archive is chock full of business ideas, potential blog topics and future influencers.
Additional Resources:
What the Hashtag?!
10 Steps to Creating a Successful Twitter Chat
Twitter Chat Calendar
