As the social media manager at Simplexity Marketing Group, I try to find ways to get more followers along with using unique content to create more interaction with others. Twitter is a wonderful platform for reaching a variety of audiences. One of the perks with Twitter is there aren’t any restrictions for who will see your posts. With a carefully crafted tweet, you could reach an incredibly large audience. However, some days it seems nearly impossible to reach anyone, especially if you don’t want to pay for ads. How you can reach more people?
If you are looking to grow your social community, without leaving your office, you might want to consider joining or hosting a Twitter chat as a way to network.
Last week I participated in a Twitter chat with Crowdfire. I’ve joined other chats previously but used it as more of a listening experience. Honestly, I wasn’t quite sure how chats worked on Twitter. However, last week I finally joined in on the conversation. I was blown away by the results! One of my answers on the Crowdfire ended up with over 39,00 impressions and 159 engagements. At this point as the social media manager, I have never seen these kinds of analytics and activity on our Twitter account. During and well after the chat ended, I received numerous follows. It made me wonder why I hadn’t joined these conversations sooner.
The Basics of Twitter Chats
First, we need to go over the basics of Twitter chats. This is really for those who haven’t participated or are considering joining Twitters chats but don’t know how it works. Twitter chats are hosted by either an individual or a group. The host will set a specific day and time using a designated hashtag. The chats are generally centered on certain topics and will ask questions for engagement from their audience. For example, with the Crowdfire chat the hashtag the host and participants used in their tweets was #cfchat. You must use the chat’s hashtag in all your responses if you want people listen to you.
The host references their questions beginning with Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. All chat participants need to answer the tweets beginning with A1, A2, A3, etc. This is to help keep track what questions people are answering. The newsfeed can become quite full with different conversations and this organizes everything. The chats can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. In most cases Twitter chats last one hour. If you only have time to answer a question or two, don’t feel pressured to stay the entire chat. Unlike real networking events, Twitter chat allows you to pop in and out as you please.
Twitter chats are the perfect place to grow your audience and learn new things. You will be surprised with the different types of people and groups you meet. If you are interested in joining a chat I would highly recommend Crowdfire chat. You can join in on their conversation every Thursday at 12:30PM EST. The topic is different every week but is generally about marketing and social media. It is important that you search for chats that are within your interests. I would not suggest joining chats simply because. You want to find a chat that allows you to make a positive contribution and uses your prior knowledge of the subject.
I found 5 other chats worth looking into:
- #BufferChat – Wednesdays at noon EST
- #JVMChat – Tuesdays (every two weeks) at 1PM EST
- #ChatWhirled – Tuesdays at 1PM EST
- #SbizHour – Mondays at 4PM EST
- #CMWorld – Tuesdays at 12 – 1PM EST
Of course there are hundreds of chats on Twitter every day, every hour. I encourage you to try different chats each week and see which ones will benefit you or your business the most. Don’t be afraid to jump in the conversation! They want to hear from you.
What are some of your favorite Twitter chats? Please let us know in the comments below!
