How To Use A Twitter Chat To Grow Your Audience

How To Use A Twitter Chat To Grow Your Audience Twitter has always been a quick and easy way to connect with other people and be informed.  You can publish your content and reach hundreds (even thousands) of people. Even better, unlike many other social networks, you can repost your original content several times to gain even more exposure. You can do more with Twitter than just share content, though. You can both  market your blog or business and make connections with top industry players from around the world. How do you do it? You get involved in Twitter chats. What Is A Twitter Chat? Youve probably seen a Twitter chat or two in your newsfeed. A Twitter chat is a conversation between a group of people on Twitter. To keep the conversation organized, a specific hashtag that fits the conversation is used on every tweet. For example, #SamllBizChat is a popular Twitter chat for small  businesses.  Everyone who participates will use that hashtag in their tweets, which makes a Twitter chat easy to find and follow. You can also follow a Twitter chat by using a website like TweetDeck  or Twubs. Finding a Twitter chat is fairly easy.  There are websites that have lists of Twitter chats, such as  Tweetchat,  Tweetreports. There is even  a  random Google doc  that has a ton of Twitter chats listed. You can also ask people if they participate in Twitter chats and which ones they like. Joining A Twitter Chat Joining a Twitter chat conversation is easy, once youve found one that youre interested in. As the tweets appear and questions are asked, hop right in and  answer a question. Thats all it takes! Dont forget to include the specific hashtag for the chat in all of your responses as you participate. Welcome! Thank you for joining us. Please remember on each tweet to use the hashtag #edchat Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1) June 10, 2014 Most Twitter chats are  open, so feel free to participate. Its important that you are make comments that add to the conversation, though. Stay on topic and be respectful of the other participants.   Participating In A Twitter Chat The rules of participating in a Twitter chat vary depending on the type of Twitter chat you have joined. These different types of chats depend upon how they are moderated. Heavily Moderated A  heavily moderated Twitter chat will be in a question and answer format. The beginning of a twitter chat will begin with people introducing themselves. For example, if I was participating in #SportsPRchat then Id write, Hi, Im Krista and Im a senior @MSUM. I love everything PR related. So excited to chat with you all. #SportsPRchat The moderator will start a tweet with Q1, meaning Question 1. The proper response will start with A1, meaning Answer 1. There is no need to hit the reply button when you type your answer in Twitter. Just create your own tweet, start it with A1, and include the hashtag. That will make sure that your tweet is part of the conversation. You can reply to peoples answers if you have something to add or if you just like their answer. Q5: After the backlash online, was this a social media fail or an act of PR genius? The topic is still trending. (2/2) #SportsPRchat Pam Chvotkin (@reddusfoximus) June 4, 2014 A5. Epic fail team if they really wanted to keep name ! All they did was prove more people feel strong about changing it #SportsPRchat Ben Christly (@BenChristly) June 4, 2014 Lightly Moderated/Open A lightly moderated/open Twitter chat will be less structured.  Theyll usually start with a question or a topic from the moderator, and then its free rein. Theres more to a lightly moderated Twitter chat than just tweeting one answer. It is more like a natural conversation rather than a Q and A session. You can tweet your opinion without needing to start your tweet with A1 since no official question was asked. In an open Twitter chat, you are free to contribute to the conversation as it fits, which includes responding to what others have said.  If you like what they say, tell them. If you disagree, let them know. If you need advice relating to the topic, ask and people will respond. As always, be a respectful participant. #edchat Topic: With the hundreds of issues that effect teaching learning, what should be the primary focus for change in ed? Jerry Blumengarten (@cybraryman1) June 10, 2014 Twitter Chat Is A Marketing Tool Twitter chats are marketing tools, but they arent typical. They approach marketing in a direct manner and are highly conversational. A Twitter chat can be both business-to-business (because you are conversing with others in your niche) or business-to-community (because you are conversing with your audience). Here are a few benefits of a Twitter chat and ways to use it as a marketing tool. Connect and network in your niche using #TwitterChats.1. Twitter chat lets you interact with people. Twitter chats are all about interacting and networking with like-minded professionals in your niche as well as your audience.  They provide an opportunity to market your personal brand and blog, and educate yourself by staying on top of trends and changes that you should know about in your industry. If you want to build creditability and make new connections, you are going to have to respond and interact with people. It doesn’t take much. If you see a comment you agree with just reply and say, I agree! It could be as simple as that, letting them know you are interested. 2. Twitter chat promotes your blog. Twitter chats are a great opportunity to promote your blog. If you wrote a blog post about a specific topic and there just so happens to be a Twitter chat on that topic, then it would be a good idea to mention your post. Just make sure it is something that is valuable to the conversation.  If its a lightly moderated chat, some people may ask questions that your blog answers. Reach out and personally invite them to take a look at it. When promoting your blog in a Twitter chat, though, dont be overly aggressive. You wouldnt want to say A1. I wrote a blog post on this topic. Read it. Its important to build relationships and trust. Find a person who needs some advice, give them some advice and mention they can read more at the blog post you wrote about the topic. That shows you care about their concern and genuinely want to help them. 3. Twitter chat builds credibility. Honestly, you dont need to mention your blog too often. Just participate in a twitter chat and provide relevant and valuable information. Interact with other participants. If you are building relationships and providing valuable information, people will begin to trust you. Then when they find out you have a blog, they will be more likely to read it. They know the writer and they know the writer knows what theyre writing about. 4. Twitter chat is a good way to learn. Twitter chats can connect you with people that are in your profession from around the world.   It gives you an opportunity to learn from  people who are true experts in their field.  Stay up to date in your industry and keep up with current trends, technology, and best practices. A Twitter chat is a great way to stay relevant. You can also discuss things with people who have experienced things that you haven’t experienced. For example: people deciding whether or not to study abroad can read and interact with people in a Twitter chat dedicated to studying abroad on a budget.