It doesn’t matter if you are a well-established marketer or a budding entrepreneur – with the help of Twitter, you can certainly generate more leads in less time. In today’s competitive world, platforms like Twitter or Instagram are considered the most powerful marketing weapon for any brand.
If you own a small business and would like to gain more prospective leads, then you should definitely level-up your Twitter marketing game. With more than 300 million active monthly users, it will give you an unmatched access to create your brand awareness on social media.
Why Twitter marketing?
Twitter is one of the largest social media platforms out there that provides a seamless way to engage with brands and influencers. The following statistics are published by Twitter, giving just a small glimpse of its massive reach.
Twitter for Lead Generation
There are plenty of ways one can use Twitter for lead generation. From conducting giveaways to hosting a live session, the sky is the limit. One of the best ways to interact with more like-minded folks and get established as a prominent player in the industry is by participating in more Twitter chats.
You can either join or host a Twitter chat in order to propagate the overall reach of your brand on Twitter, which can strengthen your small business in the long run. As you might already know, in a Twitter chat, different participants talk about a common subject using a designated hashtag.
Its open nature attracts plenty of participants belonging to the respective sector. By participating in different chats, you can get in touch with key individuals and influencers that can help you grow your business. Additionally, by hosting a chat, you can create brand awareness on Twitter and attract more customers as well.
How Should I Start?
There’s nothing to worry about if you haven’t participated in a Twitter chat before. By following these thoughtful suggestions, you would be a pro at Twitter chat in no time.
1. Start searching for relevant chats
This is the golden rule for participating in a Twitter chat. You can’t invest your precious time by simply joining the kinds of chats that are not relevant to your business. As an entrepreneur, you should focus on identifying upcoming chats that are related to your industry.
There are plenty of tools and chat directories out there that can help you search for an upcoming chat. Some of the popular tools are Twubs, The Chat Diaries, and Chat Salad.
Additionally, you can always use the assistance of Twitter Advanced Search to look up for more relevant chats. The advanced search feature can help you look for chats that are being hosted by leading players. You can specify certain account names in the “People” section to filter your results.
Ideally, you should start by providing relevant keywords in the “Words” section of the advanced search tool. Afterward, you can simply tweak it a little to get more relevant results. Handpick some of the most interesting chats and add them to your calendar to get things started.
2. Understand how a Twitter chat works
After identifying a few upcoming Twitter chats, don’t simply rush into things. Start by observing the dynamics that are involved in any Twitter chat.
You might encounter a few well-established chats in the process as well. Try to soak in and identify the key influencers related to your industry. This guide on my site will help you understand how to participate in a Twitter chat.
For instance, one of the key takeaways that you might get is how tactfully a simple hashtag is used by different participants during a chat. We all know the power of hashtag marketing. It has been observed that tweets with hashtags have almost double the engagement than the usual tweets with no hashtags.
Additionally, Twitter chats are not just about promoting your business.
You should never do shameless self-promotion while chatting with others. With time, you will realize that Twitter chat acts as a medium to get in touch with more like-minded individuals or to create your brand awareness in a refined way.
I’m sure that after observing a few chats, you will understand its dynamics and might start tweaking your own brand tone before initiating a conversation with others.
3. Be more Twitter-savvy while asking questions
Most of the Twitter chats host certain guests and leading experts, who communicate with other individuals. You should utilize this opportunity wisely while asking thoughtful questions to these guests.
Don’t be vague and come up with a precise and well-crafted question. Always mention the designated hashtag in your tweet and include the handle of the guest/participant you are interacting with.
Moreover, before posting your question, you need to do a quick search. If someone else has recently asked the same question during the chat, then you should come up with something else.
Also, don’t spam the chat while asking the same question to multiple users simultaneously. If a guest is not replying to your question, then simply move on to the next question or wait for it a little while. Don’t push it or try too hard to get noticed.
Try to frame your question in such a way that it would be related to the chat. Also, your questions should not be demeaning in any way. If you are asking an extended question, then you can always break it down into different tweets, like Q1.1, Q1.2, and so on.
4. Interact with other participants
Not just guests, you should also try to interact with other participants as well. There are plenty of influencers out there who keep participating in Twitter chats to expand their circle. You can start by identifying key influencers and stay in touch with them even when the chat is over.
Though, while interacting with others, you need to make sure that you maintain your brand voice. After all, it is your budding business that you are representing. Chances are that people might ask you about your competitors during the chat. You need to make sure that you tackle such kinds of questions wisely.
If you don’t have anything good to talk about any other brand, then maintain a neutral stand. Don’t post anything negative about your competitors while chatting with anyone. Also, don’t post anything offensive or sound judgmental while tweeting. Be more casual and try to gain something productive out of your discussion.
Remember, you are there to boost your brand presence on Twitter and not to ignite an argument. Express your gratitude to others instead and conclude the chat in a positive manner to leave a lasting impression on others.
Twitter Chats Schedule
Here are few Twitter Chats you can join to experience the hype,
1. #VCBuzz
#VCBuzz is a weekly Twitter chat by @seosmarty. @SanaKnightly, administrator for #VCBuzz gives a brief introduction,
Every week we have a new guest and a new topic that covers one of many internet marketing aspects. Our mentors share their experience, tools, tips, case studies, and more. In addition to that #VCBuzz has a friendly community atmosphere where everyone can share their thoughts and ask more questions because we all gather here to help each other! To conduct our chats we use http://twchat.com/ – it's a free online tool that was developed specifically to make Twitter chats more convenient and easy to follow.
2. #SocialROI
#SocialROI is a weekly Twitter Chat hosted by @MadalynSklar and sponsored by @ManageFlitter. @katefrappell– Design Lead at ManageFlitter, provides an overview of the #SocialROI chat:
#SocialROI started in January 2017 for Social Media Marketers, Managers, Small Business Owners and ManageFlitter customers. The chat serves as a valuable forum where industry experts, special guests and contributors share their thoughts and ideas around specific topics relating to Social Media. Participants not only get to share their knowledge, but also learn plenty of tips and tricks from their peers.
3. #CashChat
Tarra Jackson aka @MsMadamMoney is the popular financial expert. She hosts #CashChat to inspires audiences across the country to healthier relationships with their finances. Tarra is ranked #3 on the Top Financial Experts to Follow on Twitter.
#CashChat is one of the top five weekly interactive personal finance chats on Twitter. Participants and guests type answers to questions from the host, Tarra, using the social media site Twitter. The focus of #CashChat is to help people learn tips and strategies to improve or enhance their money and credit management for healthier financial relationships.
4. #ChatSnap
@KrisGillentine is a social media consultant and a SnapChat expert. She launched her first #ChatSnap back on 2016.
#ChatSnap is the first and only Twitter Chat All About Snapchat. The chat launched on March 16, 2016, and has trended at least nationally since Week 1, drawing hundreds of participants weekly to discuss topics surrounding Snapchat. Kristy has invited over 40+ special guests to join her chat. #ChatSnap is listed by Hootsuite as a top Twitter chat for social media marketers to follow.
How Can Twitter Chats Benefit Your Business?
Okay! So now when you know all about Twitter chats, you might be asking what’s in it for me. As stated, a Twitter chat can help you grow your small business in an unimaginable way. You can have a global reach and gain your customer’s loyalty with it. Here are some of the direct ways by which hosting or joining Twitter chats can benefit your business.
1. Identify potential leads
By being in touch with other like-minded folks, you can engage further conversations and identify your prospective customers easily. While hosting a Twitter chat, you should pick a relevant subject. It should resonate with your audience and encourage them to participate in the chat. This will help you create your distinctive space on social media.
Furthermore, it will encourage other participants to get in touch with you if they have any doubts. The moment they would visit your profile, they will get to know about your business. Since hosting a Twitter chat would attract other individuals who are already related to your industry, it will give you an excellent chance to showcase your products/services.
Not only would you be able to gain more followers on Twitter, but you will also get a chance to convert these followers into your customers as well. For instance, here is a perfect way to get in touch with your leads.
2. Grow your community
Every business needs to build their own online community in order to have more engaging activities in the future. Get your audience involved while talking to them via a Q&A session or by simply hosting a few guests. This will give your audience a chance to talk to leading industry experts and communicate with each other.
By conducting Twitter chats, you can certainly provide valuable content to your audience in a quick and hassle-free manner. It will also help you solve their queries or strengthen your customer support. Here is a perfect example of involving your community members together.
3. Build your authority
After participating in a few chats, you will become an active member of the Twitter community. You might also start getting invited to be a guest on other Twitter chats as well. This would be highly beneficial, not only to create your brand image, but also for your personal branding.
Additionally, you can share your own resources (blog articles, website links, etc.) to others while suggesting something. This will boost the overall reach of your content. If done wisely, this can do wonders for your brand image on Twitter.
4. Get in touch with influencers
No one can deny the power of influencer marketing. No matter how big or small your brand is – by taking the help of just the right kind of influencers, you can reach out to a wider range of audience in less time.
According to a recent study, it has been discovered that 70 percent of people would like to know about the content of a product rather than being exposed to native ads. Gone are the days when any print advertisement can help you bag plenty of customers. These days, brands are walking an extra mile to impart productive knowledge to their customers.
Twitter chats will give you just the right platform to meet rising influencers. After getting to know them, you can certainly move things ahead and develop a lasting relationship with them.
5. Stay updated
You can’t be an industry leader if you don’t stay updated with all the ongoing trends. Most of the Twitter chats are related to either futuristic subjects or the kind of topics that are making headlines in the present.
It is of utmost importance for every small business owner to know what’s in and what’s not. By participating in a chat, you'll get a chance to know your end users. It will give you a whole new perspective toward your own business. You would start looking at things from the perspective of your audience, which will let you gain their trust.
Furthermore, if you always want to stay at the top of your game, then use a hashtag monitoring tool to get real-time updates related to a keyword or a hashtag. There are plenty of social media listening and hashtag tools for marketers that can make your job a whole lot easier.
6. Promote your brand
Most importantly, it will give you unparalleled access to get the word out there regarding your brand. Ideally, small businesses don’t get a chance to be out there or sponsor international events. Nevertheless, by hosting a chat or tapping the right kind of influencers, you can reach out to thousands of people.
All of this can help you promote your brand on Twitter to a great extent. You would also be able to create a one-on-one relationship with your audience and they would certainly appreciate your efforts by being your loyal customer as well. You can also collaborate with other leading brands like this.
Go ahead and host your next Twitter chat! I’m sure it will be a great experience for you and you might end up gaining more leads for your business.
About the author: Pankaj Narang
Pankaj Narange is co-founder of Socialert and an expert on social media marketing and management. Socialert is a professional hashtag tracking service, so you can easily measure and manage Twitter activity for your brand.
