Twitter chats can be two things.
1. A vital source of engagement, never-ending help from your peers, and a fun way to meet like-minded people.
2. An hour wasted online talking about nothing to no-one just so you can share a link at the end.
It’s often hit and miss, and as more chats spill into the market the more likely you are to find yourself joining in with the one dud chat of the night. But there are ways to make sure you are finding the right chats that can help your profile and your brand/business grow.
RESEARCH
Not all twitter chats are meant for all people. Most are aimed at bloggers, but there is scope for brands to get involved as well, and depending on the topic, the chats can be really useful to just about any company with a social media profile. But if you are a food blogger joining in a fashion bloggers chat just be aware that the questions and answers given may not be as helpful to you as they are to others.
It’s not enough just to research which weekly chats are right for you, but afterwards you need to follow the chats profile and keep an eye on the topics before you join in. Chats with topics like ‘growing your Instagram following’ or ‘Engaging with brands’ will be much more useful than ‘summer’ or ‘favourite makeup brands’ as inevitably there will be distinctly fewer nuggets of blogging advice floating around the latter. Great if you are after new makeup or a big fan of summer but when you have limited time for limited chats, you’ve got to pick wisely!
ENGAGEMENT
Just answering the questions and then popping offline for ten minutes until the next one will get you nowhere. Chats are all about building a community, and therefore to be successful you’ve got to establish yourself as part of that community. Liking other peoples answers is a great start but replying to them is even better. This is the chance for you to meet new people, and make new connections that might help you. Find a common ground, or even start a debate if you don’t agree. Lively conversation makes the chat more interesting for everyone, and it’s very rare that these conversations go sour so don’t worry about being seen as negative if you disagree with someone – as long as you handle it correctly, and stay polite!
QUOTE TWEET EVERYTHING
When you answer the question – quote the tweet! When you agree with someone’s answer quote it with a response! It really helps your answers stand out amongst the crowd, otherwise it’s very easy to get lost amongst the replies, particularly in a busy chat!
FOLLOW PEOPLE
If you get chatting to someone, or even if you just like their answers – give them a follow. It doesn’t take much but just shows that you’ve noticed them. Normally if you like someones responses in a chat, it means you’ll be on a similar wavelength, and you’ll probably like what they tweet the rest of the time too, and who knows how helpful it could prove in the future. You’ll never know if you don’t click that button.
TOP CHATS
Like I’ve said already this list is not exhaustive and there may be a lot of other chats that are better suited to your brand – but here are my top 4 to get you started.
1. #BDIB (Mondays 7pm Friday’s 8pm) It stands for Bloggers Do It Better. The topics and host’s vary so it’s important to check if the topic is relevant to you, but it’s a busy chat and often great fun!
2. #Lbloggers (Wednesday and Sunday 7pm) Lifestyle Bloggers – similar to BDIB almost always very busy – so a great chance to meet new people.
3. #Igchat (Sunday 6pm) A chat dedicated entirely to instagram. I started the chat with the idea that every week would help people, so all topics are intended to share advice with how to grow your following and engagement on the app.
4. #Bloggerationchat (Sunday 9am) Hosted by Bloggeration this chat takes place early in the morning so perfect for the early-birds. The topics are always really interesting and helpful, and it’s a great place for advice from bloggers who’ve been in the game for a while.
Hopefully with these tips you’ll be storming the Twittersphere and chatting your way to new friends, followers, and fans!
