Twitter chats use hashtags (such as #marketingchat) and a specific day and time (ie. Thurs, 4 pm EST) to hold a discussion, normally led by an organizer who posts questions to prompt answers from the community. You will see tweets that look like the screenshot below.
You can see some vital information here. I’m answering question #4 (Q4) with my answer #4 (A4). Then just tag the chat at the end with #semrushchat Also note the interaction on the post – four favorites for this answer. Twitter chats are often the most retweeted and favorited of all Twitter conversation.
Why participate in #twitterchats?
Have you participated in Twitter chats in the past? These chats, usually around an hour long, help connect you to those who share your passions. In our industry that may be marketing, SEO, social media or blogging related chats such as #seotalk or #bufferchat
Participating is educational, helps you network with influential people in your niche and can help you cut through the noise of Twitter to connect directly with those you want to speak with.
When you participate in Twitter chats, remember to follow, retweet and favorite as you normally would. Some chats move quickly and you may forget. You can always look back on the chat history when it’s over but it’s much easier (in my experience) to keep up as you go.
When are the best Twitter chats?
However, one of the biggest challenges in participating in Twitter chats is finding when each one happens. Unless you already know when your favorites are happening, you’re likely to miss them. Other than Fridays, we’ve found at least 10+ Twitter chats per weekday you may be interested in. We collected these into a megalist and then checked each chat’s history & activity manually.
The Twitter chat schedule for marketing & business can be found at the Twitter Chats Megalist.
I’ve included 70 of the most popular weekly chats into the Twitter chats schedule including #bufferchat, #brandchat, #ppcchat and #toolschat
If you want to look for more chats, there are two links on the chart of source material that have many, many more – but most of the best marketing chats should already be included. Comment below with any you would like to see added.
If you want insight into the frequency & analytics for Twitter chats, try the Topsy Analytics. This is what it looks like for three of the best (and most used) chat hashtags:
Several excellent points Mat!
It’s really amazing, when you really stop & put a pencil to it,
that something as inexpensive as consistently
utilizing twitter chats, could actually lead to
connecting with the ideal influence-rs, within your niche!
That’s a pretty impressive ROI! When you really
stop & think about it!
Thanks for sharing some incredibly practical, “how to” information!
No worries Mark! Hope to see you around the Twitter chats! I try to frequent the ones that make sense for Australian EST (so +10 GMT). I can’t get to the ones that start at 4 am though. haha