- Rachel Patterson
The Do’s and Don’ts of Hosting a Twitter Chat
Hosting a professional twitter chat is a great way to interact with clients in real time. By opening up a public conversation, it creates a feeling of authenticity by furthering the channel of communication between your business and your clients needs, thoughts, and questions.
1) Do: The first step in hosting a twitter chat is to create a specific hashtag that accurately represents your brand. To improve efficiency, keep the hashtag short and easy to remember. It is crucial not to assume that your hashtag is unique, and you should make sure no one else is using the hashtag on the platform.
2) Don’t: Don’t mistakenly prevent people from participating in the chat by making the topic too narrow or boring for most people’s interests. Asking questions about client or consumer satisfaction is a good way to open discussion. Hosting an information type “Brand 101” chat helps inform clients on topics while allowing them to ask questions about the topic in detail.
3) Do: Promote your twitter chat. Using the hashtag to tweet the upcoming time and topics of the chat is one way to promote it. Another way would be to write a blog post for your website or to post information about the twitter chat on other social media platforms. It is better to over-promote than to under-promote. Hosting the chat during peak hours creates more traffic for your business.
4) Don’t: Don’t expect everything to be perfect. While it is best to plan ahead for discussion topics and questions, there can be unexpected subjects brought up by clients that may catch you off guard. If a client asks something inappropriate or appears upset, it is best to respond to them promptly and honestly. While you are in control, remember that your clients voices are the most important. Things out of your control, like the internet or platform being down, are frustrating, but it is important to stay calm to address the problem.
5) Do: Introduce yourselves at the beginning to establish a friendly and human connection to your audience. Welcome everyone at the beginning and express gratitude for participation while making closing statement when nearing the end of the chat.
Bonus Do for after the chat: By looking at the metrics of the chat, you enable your brand to see spikes in involvement, community growth, and trends. This way, you can decide what is best for your company and business based off the analytic details of the positives and potential negatives of the chat.