While tweet chats can appear to be organized chaos from an outsider’s perspective, they are a fantastic way to enhance your experiences on Twitter by connecting and sharing with other individuals interested in the same topics. For those that are unfamiliar with tweet chats, they can be defined as prearranged discussions that happen on Twitter through the use of a predefined hashtag. The chat hashtag is used to link the tweets together in a virtual conversation so that all participants can follow along. Formal Twitter tweet chats are arranged in advance and occur at a specific time. They also may include a formal agenda with a specific leader/speaker/moderator or they might involve a free flowing discussion between all participants.
While marketers have embraced these chats as a way of connecting with fellow marketers and sharing ideas, companies/brands have been relatively non-existent in these conversations. This may be an untapped opportunity for brands to truly connect and build trust with their audiences.
A recent study from 360i showed that 75% of the tweets from brands/marketers can be classified as general brand information/news and only 16% are used to converse with consumers. From a consumer perspective, 43% identified “sharing news/information about the brand” as their motivation for mentioning a brand and only 1% was allocated for conversing with the brand. With more than 90% of tweets coming from consumers, “regular” people have become the voice of Twitter. This has resulted in marketers focusing on trying to enlist these individuals to become brand advocates.
Tweet chats present an interesting opportunity for brands to engage directly with consumers. However for it to work successfully, the intentions must be to add value to the community. Consumers will see directly through tactics that result in a one-sided chat that focuses solely on the brand and it will turn them off almost instantly.
For example, if I were in charge of promoting the next summer blockbuster via Twitter instead of paying for the movie to be listed as a “promoted tweet” (which many films have done in the past several weeks), I would create and promote a 1 hour tweet chat (hashtag would be the movie title) where individuals could chat directly with the movie’s stars. To capitalize on opening weekend, the chat would take place the evening before the movie’s scheduled release. Promotion of the chat would begin a week before and individuals would be encouraged to submit their questions in advance (the stars would answer both pre-selected and live questions with responses directed at the originator). The event would be “moderated” by the movie studio’s Twitter account and an offer to entertainment editors would be sent out for them to participate as well. In addition during the pre-chat promotion and live event, messages containing links to special footage/photos and free tickets would be sent out so that those participating or following the chat hashtag would have access to these “bonus” treats.
This would have been a perfect fit for the movie, Inception, as two of its stars Leo DiCaprio (@LeoDiCprio) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (hitRECordJoe) along with Warner Bros Pictures (@wbpictures) have a combined following of over 400,000. While the movie went on to be a “trending topic” on Twitter, this strategy would have potentially increased the exposure and buzz surrounding the film and created goodwill.
These chats can also allow a brand/product to create significant social capital. For example, Gerber Baby Food (@gerberbabyfood) currently has about 600 followers and infrequently sends updates. Creating a series of chats around topics mothers and soon-to-be moms care about would be an excellent way for Gerber to increase their following and create some positive social capital. By bringing in guest “speakers” and discussing topics that their audience cares about, the tweet chats would be a great way for Gerber to really connect with individuals by sharing advice and answering questions.
For those interested in learning more about tweet chats, I would highly encourage you to participate in all or one of these tweet chats to learn firsthand:
- #blogchat – Moderated by @mackcollier, this chat covers all aspects of blogging on Sunday nights from 9 – 10pm EST.
- #socialmedia – Moderated by @Marc_Meyer and @JasonBreed this social media chat occurs Tuesdays at 12pm EST. Each discussion is also tagged with a number, such as #sm1, #sm2, etc.
- #imcchat – Moderated by @bethharte & @abarcelos, this chat focuses on integrated marketing communications and runs every Wednesday night at 8pm EST.
Here are some great tips on how to create a successful tweet chat.
What do you think? Would you participate in a tweet chat that was hosted / sponsored by a brand? Would you incorporate tweet chats into your marketing campaigns?
Author: Brian Rice
Okay, so this week I attended my first tweet chat. I had no idea such a thing existed.. and many others in my network didn’t either.
I attended #blogchat and I have to say that there was a whole lot of nonsense in the postings to weed through, but it was overall a cool experience. It’s like the old message board system on a 5-hour energy drink, only in 1 hour.
The key is to jump online early – that’s when the regulars (and thought leaders) get on. Observe what they are doing/saying.. and prepare yourself for the topic so you can actually contribute something to the conversation other than, “Hey, I dyed my cat’s hair blue today.. and blogged about it..”
(Okay, so that wasn’t said.. but there was a whole lot of silly comments going on from supposed blog experts)
YES there are REAL experts in the chats, which is where I find the value.
Mack Collier who runs the helm at #blogchat does a great job at collecting key points to the proposed topic and posting them in a 15 minute interval.
It’s hard to keep up with side conversations, if they develop with other followers throughout the chat. I ended up sending DMs to those folks and giving them my email to continue the “how to” or “detailed tips” in an email rather than in the chat room. I am there, afterall, for self serving reasons – to learn something, and hopefully stand as a thought leader and build my personal brand. I know, selfish… but it’s the truth.
Now onto how companies can use this..
I see a software company with thought leaders all over the world using tweet chats as a way to keep up with each other, or to conduct a “listen and learn” sort of thing.
The problem is, as a tweeter, you fill your stream with specific topics every week. Some followers may see this as spam and refuse to follow.
That’s why i think, for companies to embrace tweet chat, topic is critical. And who you bring in as the featured thought leader is critical too.
Another place I see this happening in the corporate world is conversations with the executives. Social media is a safe way to talk to people – not as safe as a press release where they can hide in their offices and no one has to confront them or ask questions.. however, if you run a company like GM, Amazon, Apple, etc. I see tweet chats as a great outlet to bring your communities together and present a state of the company or town hall meeting sort of thing. Kind of like a homeowners association monthly meeting, magnified.
I like tweet chats for learning (and the selfish reasons identified above). I don’t think mainstream is ready for tweets to be the way to communicate with communities at large. If the need is there for that, there’s got to be another tool that’s easier to follow, easier to use, and more useful for the company to learn from.
This is an interested topic.. can’t wait to see what others still have to say..
Hi Katie,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Your example and tips were excellent. I am a huge fan of the work that Mack Collier does, especially with #blogchat every week.
Do you have a list of the tweet chats? I’ve seen a #stylechat one before, they seem to be pretty fun, but I’ve never been actively involved in one before. It’d be interesting to see what is all out there!
Hi Sarah,
Here is a good list of some of the popular Tweet Chats http://www.meryl.net/2009/05/06/list-of-twitter-chats/
Absolutely. With the growing number of Tweetchats and Tweetups, it’s hard to remember the dates and times when they meet. So, we created a Twitter app (or bot, if you prefer) that will send you the date and time of a particular Tweetchat. Just visit http://twitter.com/tweetmemos and the instructions are there. It’s very simple and easy. Just send the tweetchat hashtag to @tweetmemos, like, “@tweetmemos #innochat” and in seconds TweetMemos will send you an @reply with the date and time of the particular Tweetchat you asked about.
Happy Tweetchatting
Eric Bryant, Director
Gnosis Arts Multimedia
The most complete list of twitter chats is in this google doc: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ruaz3GZveOsoXUOOt86B3AQ#gid=0
I also invite everyone to check out #b2bchat – a chat for B2B marketers – every Thurs 8pm ET. This chat is not as crazy as #blogchat! The chat is on Twitter http://twitter.com/b2b_chat
Hi Ksenia
Thanks for sharing the complete list of Twitter chats. I second your recommendation on participating in #b2bchat
Correction to last comment. We’re no longer using @tweetmemos due to problems with the API. We now have several resources for tweetchat schedules. Though the Google Docs spreadsheet is the most comprehensive list of tweetchats, we have
1. A tweetchat wiki that anyone can edit – http://gnos.tk/tweetchatwiki
2. A mobile reminder/lookup app. Text the tweetchat hashtag to the designated mobile number and it will send you the date/time – http://gnos.tk/tweetchats
3. An email reminder for daily tweetchats. Enter your email and the day for which you want to get the chat schedules and it will send you an email the morning of with a list of the chats for that day (also at URL above).
Never forget the date/time of another tweetchat.
Cheers,
Eric Bryant
Gnosis Arts Media Group
The largest, most up to date list of twitter chats can be found in the editable Google Doc. There is a blog post about it at http://bit.ly/ChatSched and the list can be found directly via http://bit.ly/chatlist