Tool Tuesday: TweetChat

So I’m taking a little liberty with Tool Tuesday today – I’m going to talk about a tool. But the tool itself is so simple, that instead of talking about the “likes” and “dislikes” I’m going to talk about ways to use it.

TweetChat is a deceptively simple tool. Not a lot of bells and whistles, but what it does, it does well.When I am monitoring hashtags (say for example, #h50 during the Hawaii 5-0 episode each week), I like to use TweetChat because it eliminates distractions. That’s all. That’s the reason I use it. I can also eliminate RT or block certain participants.

BUT – what does this mean to you?

Most people don’t spend A LOT of time monitoring hashtags, but they often DO participate in Tweet Chats and this tool also allows you to HOST a Tweet Chat in a simple & smart way. Here are 5 hints for establishing a Tweet Chat with your brand.

Participate before you Moderate:

If you haven’t already done so, participate in a couple of Tweet Chats, it will give you an idea of what its like to be on the other side. Hosting a Tweet Chat isn’t an easy  task, so you’re likely to see the good, the bad and the ugly. Learn from the experience..and remember, even the best moderators can have an “off” night.

You can view a pretty comprehensive list of TweetChats here. Its independently updated, so feel free to add your own chat after you’re ready to launch. You can thank Twitter user, Robert Swanwick under (@twchat) for starting that list. Its pretty amazing-talk about Twitter Karma!

If you decide that you aren’t up for hosting a TweetChat, don’t forget that many TweetChats accept sponsors. Again, you can use the list above to find chats that are relevant to your brand. Listen in for awhile and I bet the marketing wheels will start to spin!

#Hashtag Hottie:

Using a #hashtag specifically for your TweetChat is fine, but what’s even better is if your #hashtag so well reflects your brand that it can be used throughout the day with your followers. It helps give visibility to your hosted chat, your brand and gives your followers something to rally behind.

Identify Your Most Passionate Followers:

Getting buy-in from passionate and engaged followers will help create some energy and buzz behind your chat. If they have their own following, don’t be afraid to give the chat over to them for a night or two.

Devil is in the Details

Consider your audience. Have questions and answers prepared (but not pre-loaded). Give your audience some guidelines about the discussion so they can stay on topic too. Be smart about which Tweets you answer and which you allow your participants to respond to.  Don’t be afraid to do a give-away or some other promotion during your TweetChat.

Be Ready for Success:

From the beginning, archive your TweetChats. While there is no way to “download” the tweets, you can copy and paste. Use your TweetChat as a blog post (great SEO), which also reminds your blog readers of your TweetChat. You’ll likely be glad that you kept the transcripts at some point. Along those lines, don’t hesitate to cross promote your TweetChats in other mediums such as email, Facebook and/or LinkedIn.

If your TweetChats really take off, consider a format like #socialmedia uses for its TweetChats, they keep the conversation live on their site and have a nice, clean way for participants to engage.

RESOURCES:

Tweet Chat Listings:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AhisaMy5TGiwcnVhejNHWnZlT3NvWFVPT3Q4NkIzQVE&hl=en#gid=0

http://gnosisarts.com/home/Tweetchat_Wiki

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