Do you have a good presence on Twitter but are still flummoxed by the concept of a Tweet Chat? VIP VA Graduate and Member Jennifer Corcoran talks us through how to maximise Tweet Chats to increase your visibility and build your connections online…
“Ok hands up, have you heard of tweet chats or taken part in one? If you haven’t you are missing out on a major way to drive twitter engagement.
What exactly is twitter engagement?
Twitter engagement is simply people liking, retweeting or replying to your tweet. Engagement drives results when it comes to Twitter.
Why is engagement important?
Engagement drives your impressions, it gives you more reach and traffic to your site. When your audience engages with your content it creates trust and opportunities start to unfold. Essentially relationships and connections is what it’s all about. If your audience is truly engaging with you, you may be asked to speak at a conference, write a guest blog or speak on a podcast. When you take engagement seriously you will start to see results. Your following will grow.
What is a Tweet Chat?
Essentially, people get together on a certain day and time discussing a specific topic and use a specific hashtag. You can create your own when you have a following. It can last for 30 minutes or 60 minutes.
To begin with I would advise that you leverage other peoples. Do a google search and find twitter chats in your industry on a topic that is relevant to your audience. Plug in to your community. Check out http://tweetreports.com/twitter-chat-schedule/ in order to locate relevant tweet chats. It gives you the topics, days, times that the chats are taking place.
Copy a hashtag and paste it in the search bar and you will see the last time the hashtag was used. Engage with like-minded people. Some may not still be in use so do a bit of research. Alternatively do a google for e.g. ‘recruitment twitter chats’ and you may find a blog on the topic with a curated list. It’s a way to get into the conversation and connect with like-minded people in your industry. Start interacting and be ‘social’.
I discovered this curated blog which I think you will also find of value:
http://www.mumsenterprise.events/blog/we-love-hashtag-hours-so-thought-wed-share-loads-going-on
In summary, there are two options create your own or tap into existing ones.
Why host a Tweet Chat?
- It establishes you as a leader / expert in your niche.
- Reinforces your brand in the twitter community.
- Don’t under estimate how much time they require (weekly is best).
- Do stay organised, find a scheduling process that works for you.
- Don’t be afraid to try new things. Adjust your promotional style, take on a sponsor, drop a sponsor, invite guests on, do it with no guest, mix up topics and recruit volunteers / moderators if necessary. Volunteers can help with the ‘meet and greet’.
- Don’t spam a chat with your own agenda.
- When launching a chat get your friends to join you. Think quality and not quantity for engagement. It may take a while to take off but it will be worth it. You won’t become an influencer overnight so I would not set one up until you are a bit more established. Build up your community / network and participate in chats before you launch your own.
- Stuck for content? Ask people on the chat what they want to discuss or run twitter polls.
So, what is the benefit of getting involved in twitter hours (tweet chats)?
- You can promote yourself and your business.
- Engage and interact with others. Remember engagement is what drives twitter!
- There are many fantastic inspirational and educational tweet chats.
How can you join in the Tweet Chat?
You can do this directly on Twitter itself or use a social media management tool such as Hootsuite or Twubs where you can set up a stream for the relevant hashtag.
What are the house rules?
Most Tweet Chats have house rules such as:
- Introduce yourself to the group.
- Start answers with A1) A2) A3) etc. The host will number the questions.
- Usually have 8 or more questions during the time frame.
- End tweets with the relevant hashtag.
- Stick to the topic at hand and don’t use spam or be too self-promotional.
- Engage and have fun!
How can you advertise your Tweet Chat?
COVER PHOTO: This is a great opportunity for you to educate a potential client and let them understand what you will help them with. Are you making the most of this space? You can easily design a cover photo on www.canva.com and add text and your brand logo / fonts. You can mention when your tweet chat is taking place with the date, time and hashtag.
PINNED POST: You can let your followers know when the tweet chat will be taking place and pin it to the top of your twitter feed. What is the benefit that you will bring? Make sure you make this clear.
BIO: Ensure that your bio is clear about who you help and how you help them.
Inject a bit of personality as Twitter is quite an informal platform and people buy people.
You need to say: I help X do Y so that they can have Z. This will position your tweet chat.
CONTENT: Think about what topics your ideal clients will find helpful, useful and inspiring? This is the type of content you should be sharing in your tweet chat and inspiring / educating your target audience.
You can share all kinds of content on twitter: Text, Blogs, Special Offers, Quotes, Tips, Images, Videos, Audios, Slide Shares and Events
You need to be interesting, add value, relevant to your business, encourage engagement, be honest, don’t sell and ask questions! Too many people forget to ask questions and truly engage.
So where to start? Some of my favourite tweet chats are as follows:
- #TwitterSmarter (Thursday 1pm ET – hosted by Madalyn Sklar)
- #SocialROI (Tuesday 6pm EDT – hosted by Madalyn Sklar)
- #HootChat (Thursday 12pm ET – hosted by Hootsuite), and of course
- #vipvachat (Tuesday 8pm GMT – hosted by VIP VA)
Hopefully I’ll see you on one of them soon, happy tweeting folks!
Jennifer Corcoran, My Super Connector
If you would like to find out more about our Tweet Chat #vipvachat or have any other queries, please do get in touch with us at VIP VA.