How To Host a Twitter Chat

A great way to connect with the community you want to reach is to host, or have an influencer host a Twitter Chat! This may seem like an intimidating project to tackle, but once you get the basics down it's quite fun! 

With Fanzo, I worked with Adam of @OldTraffordReds to hold chats for us. They were great for raising our brand awareness and driving installs. Here are seven pieces of advice I'd like to pass along for you when utilizing influencers to hold chats on your behalf.

1) Hire an influencer who loves your topic: You want someone who will be passionate about the chat, not burdened.

2) Choose an influencer who is consistently active with their community: Engagement, engagement, engagement! If you choose the wrong influencer you'll waste time and money.

3) Create a fun hashtag: Our chats were focused on Manchester United fans so we created #FanzoMUFC. 

4) Hold weekly chats: For maximum impact, hold chats regularly as it takes time for them to gain momentum! A one-off just won't do.

5) Map out your plan in advance: Developing the questions to ask your community is not something that should be done on the fly. Develop your questions in advance. If you're working with an influencer and they're an expert in your topic, they can help you as well!

6) Measure the impact: Brand awareness is great, but even better is if you can measure the impact. Create a unique link to be utilized in the chat that you can track. You must know in advance what it is you want to achieve and where you want the link to take people to (website, app store, etc.).

7) Images are everything: Create images to promote your Twitter Chat leading up to the designated time. 

Someone else who is incredible at Twitter Chats when it comes to marketing, social media and technology is Brian Fanzo (believe it or not, he's not affiliated with the Fanzo App!). You can follow Brian on Twitter here: @iSocialFanz

Last night I asked Brian what his favorite chats were and he directed me to his Blog where he has an entire page devoted to the topic here.... How impressive!  There is even a calendar that shows the chats he's engaging in, which is a great way for you to check out one or two, join in and see how it's done.

Personally, a couple of chats I'm looking forward to getting more involved in are #FoodieChat, #PinChat, #ExpediaChat, #MediaChat and #LinkedInChat.

If you're interested in hosting a Twitter Chat, or having an influencer host a chat for you but need more help, please reach out! You can find me on Twitter @DanaDyksterhuis or email me at dana@boasthouse.com.