We’ve already written about how important it is for your brand to engage fans across the various social networks, and we’ve also written about how you can get valuable information about your Twitter followers from Hunch. Now, we’re turning our attention to the concept of Twitter chats.
Having a Twitter account doesn’t do much good if you fail to tweet and fail to interact with your followers (unless, of course, you’re Brian Williams). But if your brand has a significant online presence, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi, it can be difficult to sift through followers’ tweets for feedback. Some brands have begun using Twitter as a dynamic chatroom (without the chatroom feel) simply by engaging fans and other companies and using hashtags, making it easier to filter and structure the discussion.
Chicago event planners Cece & Melinda have begun hosting weekly Chicago-themed chats and invite fellow Chicagoans and Chicago businesses to join in. The theme changes from week to week, but the general idea remains. The ladies tweet a question (favorite bars, favorite place to see a show, etc.) and encourage other chatters to share their picks. The results end up inspiring other chatters to try a restaurant or museum they didn’t know about, while letting businesses get good feedback about what makes them so special to their customers.
The ladies have also begun employing Pinterest to showcase some of the businesses and suggestions mentioned during the chats, while including the names of the followers who suggested them in the first place. Each chat gets its own pinboard, and it seems to be working well for them. The boards currently have hundreds of followers and several posts have been repinned.
Has your brand or company taken to Twitter to organize chats and interact with followers? Have those chats supplied with you with valuable feedback? Share your experiences with us on Twitter! And if you’re looking for social media monitoring tools, check out our white paper.
