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Is your Twitter marketing working?
Are you trying to reach a wider audience and generate leads?
Twitter chats are a great way to boost your marketing results.
In this article you'll discover six ways Twitter chats can help you connect with a larger audience and enhance brand awareness.
Why Twitter Chats?
Most marketers use Twitter to promote content, build brand awareness and interact with followers. Overall, it works pretty well. But what if you could turbo-charge those efforts?
Twitter chats are open, moderated conversations that use a relevant hashtag for a certain topic (e.g., #blogchat or #MMchat for Marketer Monday).
Many chat participants use services like Twubs or Hashtags.org to filter conversations based on the chat hashtag so they can easily follow the conversation.
Including a regular Twitter chat in your marketing tactics helps you reach your current followers and their followers. A successful chat can introduce you to hundreds of potential leads.
Below I show you six ways Twitter chats can bring value to your followers and position you as a thought leader.
#1: Crowdsource Content Ideas
Are you looking for content ideas? Or deciding what type of ebook to offer list subscribers? Or maybe wondering what topic your next webinar should tackle?
A Twitter chat can help you answer those questions. Whether you're looking for input on a project or wondering what your customers are looking for, chats are an easy way to gather information and opinions from a lot of people at one time.
The New England Music Association has an interesting way of using chats to keep their members in the loop. They choose their annual conference themes by crowdsourcing via a Twitter chat. They even host a public Google document to keep track of ideas.
Crowdsourcing can also help you define what problems your customers need to solve. Ask chat attendees what they need or want, and while you have their attention, delve deeper and ask them to clarify their answers or give you examples.
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#2: Connect With New Leads
Want to find new leads? Make yourself useful. Answer questions, provide good information and engage with your followers. Chances are, you're already doing this across platforms, right? Use a Twitter chat to amplify that value.
With a little promotion and buzz around your upcoming Twitter chat, you'll have the chance to reach an even bigger audience interested in your product, service or information.
To attract those new leads, you can host a fun Twitter chat with a general theme, include a giveaway or choose a topic that tackles a common problem and showcases your expertise. Not sure which topic is best? Crowdsource!
Follow up with chat attendees after the event and ask them how you can be of service. Engaging with those folks can cultivate great business relationships.
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#3: Build Your Social Reach
Social proof is one of the highest compliments you can receive from your followers.
When a fan shares your information or product with a friend, they're giving it their seal of approval. It's very likely those friends will consider that recommendation when they're ready to buy.
A successful Twitter chat attracts a large group of people whose followers are watching them engage with you. Maybe they'll take the hint and join in too. It's a great way to leverage your existing followers.
#4: Create Community With Live Tweets
You can't attend every in-person event you want to, and neither can your fans. Twitter chats are a way to bring everyone together as if they're there.
If you're hosting or attending the in-person event, try live tweeting (or having someone do it for you). Invite your fans to follow the hashtag and share their ideas and opinions about the topic at hand.
Many conferences project real-time tweets onto a screen so all attendees can see the Twitter conversation and join in if they like.
#5: Track Your Successes
As a marketer, you already know the importance of analytics. Plan to track your Twitter chat successes from day one. When you know how popular your guests, topics, questions, interactions and hashtag are, you can determine what resonates with your followers.
A service like TweetReach helps you keep track of reach, impressions, tweets and contributors. You'll know who saw your tweets and who shared or retweeted your information.
Evaluating the data over time gives you a good idea of which chat topics are most successful and what ideas are most important to participants. You can use that information to create relevant follow-up content.
#6: Learn More About Your Industry
Because marketers are so busy, it's easy to get caught up in day-to-day work and miss opportunities to chat with your peers about the industry you work in and any relevant news.
An industry Twitter chat serves as a kind of online professional meeting. Participating in these specialized chats is another way to network, both locally and even internationally, and expand your circle of contacts.
Industry chats are also a place where you can discover and discuss any debates or “holes” in the industry. These kinds of chats keep marketers on their toes and up to date with the latest trends.
Conclusion
If you're already using Twitter as a marketing channel, adding in a regularly scheduled Twitter chat can help you build brand awareness.
Just as you would with your regular content, create an editorial calendar for your Twitter chats, then promote the topics, dates and times to ensure a great turnout. The more value you offer, the more the community seeks you out.
Use your Twitter chat feedback to create the content your audience wants, find qualified leads and stay up to date on industry trends.
What do you think? Does your company host a regular Twitter chat? Share your experience and thoughts in the comments!
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