Conducting Successful Twitter Parties

What originally began as a method of communicating short thoughts and comments has become a major social media force in the United States and the world. Twitter played a role in the 2008 Presidential Election, with candidates making use of it to contact and rally supporters. Social advocacy groups regularly use it to gather supporters, donations, and raise awareness. Twitter has the power to alter world events if utilized correctly. In spite of this, relatively few businesses have taken advantage of the resources offered by Twitter. A variety of techniques and practices can be employed by the social media savvy entrepreneur.

The most common way to build a customer base through Twitter is simply to engage current and potential customers by making the URL of your Twitter page well known. Adding it to your advertisements, products, and pamphlets help get the word out and attract your initial number of followers. This is the first step in the process.

Second, you engage your current followers while continuing the previous efforts to draw in new ones. You engage your followers by posting relevant, interesting, or fun information. It does not necessarily have to relate to your product or service, though you certainly can and should use Twitter for announcements. Beyond that, you should tweet interesting news stories, cool websites, or other socially relevant topics. The advantage of this is that followers are more likely to be engaged and "retweet" posts about something cool or interesting. The result? All of their followers see your name and may decide to follow as well. This can dramatically expand your customer base in this manner. 

Once you have reached a moderate level of Twitter activity and followers, you can host what are referred to as "Twitter Parties", where your followers can ask you questions and you respond in real time on your Twitter account. This serves as a cheap virtual news conference! If you are rolling out a new product or offering a special, a Twitter party can really promote your idea while educating people on it at the same time. The key to a successful party is plenty of exposure beforehand so people know to attend. This is, of course, contingent on your number of followers as well. The first two steps laid out are the most important part. As in most ventures, preparation and prior planning are crucial. The same principle applies to your Twitter party.