Rock on! The Power of Twitter "Parties"
So TwitterMoms, have you participated in a Twitter "party" yet? Like the TwitterMoms wine tasting? Or a launch party for a new business or campaign? If you don't know what it is, let me give you a quick primer.
During a Twitter "party," which happens online via Twitter (not in the real world, as some people think :)), participants use a specific word to flag their posts, or “tweets,” allowing others to follow all posts that include that word. The word always begins with a pound sign or "hash tag" as us Twitter folks like to call it. :)
Now what's the point of a party? Well, it's a way for a group of people to converse with one another around a particular topic, and if done well, can be a way for a business to increase awareness about its offerings and its social media visibility.
For example, we recently came up with the concept of a Twitter Beach Bash for a client who owns a group of hotels and golf courses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to drive awareness of their properties before spring break and summer vacation season.
We'll hold the Beach Bash on Twitter March 24 @ 8:30 pm, and throughout the night ask trivia questions to which the answers can only be found on one of the company's several Web sites (that draws traffic to their sites and awareness of their resorts). For each question, participants will have five minutes to find the answer and DM that to us. We'll then draw a random winner from the correct answers who will receive the prize for that question. Prizes range from a beach ball and resort beach towel to a Starbucks gift certificate and round of golf. Everyone must use #BeachBash when entering or participating in the event.
Then to really pull it all together, we suggested they offer a grand prize of a $1000 gift certificate good for any of their resorts. To be entered to win the grand prize, you can do one of several things including Twittering about the Beach Bash, blogging about it, recruiting someone to be a fan of their Facebook page, upload a video to YouTube about why you deserve the video and more. This should hopefully drive lots of traffic to their social media sites and increase their fans and followers. All good for business!
I've found that while joining in a Twitter party, even as a participant, you end up with a lot of followers, so certainly the business initiating the party will also gain followers, as you have to follow them to follow the "party". I'll follow up after the event to let you know how it went.
And just one last tidbit on Twitter parties: To organize the flow of information that occurs during a party, which is quite a lot, it helps to use a service created just for this purpose. My favorite is TweetGrid.com/party. It's fab!
So, if you can swing it, though it requires a lot of coordination, especially during the party itself, I highly recommend a Twitter party. But be sure you have a compelling reason for people to attend and a fair way to judge winners. Party on!
About Lyn Mettler
Lyn is the mother of two young boys, a social media nut and the president of Step Ahead Inc., a company which combines the best of traditional public relations with social media campaigns to maximize visibility for clients both online and off. She is the social media featured blogger for TwitterMoms.com and also blogs regularly on her company Web site. Follow her on Twitter at @webprgirl.
During a Twitter "party," which happens online via Twitter (not in the real world, as some people think :)), participants use a specific word to flag their posts, or “tweets,” allowing others to follow all posts that include that word. The word always begins with a pound sign or "hash tag" as us Twitter folks like to call it. :)
Now what's the point of a party? Well, it's a way for a group of people to converse with one another around a particular topic, and if done well, can be a way for a business to increase awareness about its offerings and its social media visibility.
For example, we recently came up with the concept of a Twitter Beach Bash for a client who owns a group of hotels and golf courses in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to drive awareness of their properties before spring break and summer vacation season.
We'll hold the Beach Bash on Twitter March 24 @ 8:30 pm, and throughout the night ask trivia questions to which the answers can only be found on one of the company's several Web sites (that draws traffic to their sites and awareness of their resorts). For each question, participants will have five minutes to find the answer and DM that to us. We'll then draw a random winner from the correct answers who will receive the prize for that question. Prizes range from a beach ball and resort beach towel to a Starbucks gift certificate and round of golf. Everyone must use #BeachBash when entering or participating in the event.
Then to really pull it all together, we suggested they offer a grand prize of a $1000 gift certificate good for any of their resorts. To be entered to win the grand prize, you can do one of several things including Twittering about the Beach Bash, blogging about it, recruiting someone to be a fan of their Facebook page, upload a video to YouTube about why you deserve the video and more. This should hopefully drive lots of traffic to their social media sites and increase their fans and followers. All good for business!
I've found that while joining in a Twitter party, even as a participant, you end up with a lot of followers, so certainly the business initiating the party will also gain followers, as you have to follow them to follow the "party". I'll follow up after the event to let you know how it went.
And just one last tidbit on Twitter parties: To organize the flow of information that occurs during a party, which is quite a lot, it helps to use a service created just for this purpose. My favorite is TweetGrid.com/party. It's fab!
So, if you can swing it, though it requires a lot of coordination, especially during the party itself, I highly recommend a Twitter party. But be sure you have a compelling reason for people to attend and a fair way to judge winners. Party on!
About Lyn Mettler
Lyn is the mother of two young boys, a social media nut and the president of Step Ahead Inc., a company which combines the best of traditional public relations with social media campaigns to maximize visibility for clients both online and off. She is the social media featured blogger for TwitterMoms.com and also blogs regularly on her company Web site. Follow her on Twitter at @webprgirl.
Tags: tmfc, tmmoney&business, twitter
Comment
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Comment by Lyn Mettler on March 21, 2009 at 12:51pm -
As far as finding out about Twitter parties, that will come simply via who you follow on Twitter. So you'll find out about it there most likely.
And organizing a party, well, there is quite a lot to it. And it's logistically a LOT to manage, so make sure you have at least 3 or 4 people to help. Essentially you want to set a time, set the rules, come up with something compelling to draw people there, decide if it's a contest how you will select winners, keep track of the entries, have someone engaging others in conversation and answering questions, promote it through various social media outlets, etc. I could probably write a book on organizing a Twitter party! Hope that helps some.
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Comment by Jill Pfefer on March 20, 2009 at 6:47pm -
Could you give me more info on how to organize a party?
Thanks,
Jill
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Comment by Beth Gasser on March 18, 2009 at 9:15pm - So where does one find out about twitter parties, topics, when, etc.??
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Comment by Kristen Andrews: Featured Contributor of Style on March 18, 2009 at 7:29pm - I haven't been part of a Twitter Party but a Twitter Chat sessions and it is fun but goes fast you have to be on your toes. I need to check out the service you recommeded, I am old school when twittering.
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