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A Complete Guide To Hosting or Joining A Twitter Chat

Pankaj Narang
Complete Guide To Using Twitter Chats

Can you really create brand awareness on Twitter or gain profit by organizing a Twitter Chat?

Well, the answer is a big “YES!”

Over the last couple of years, Twitter has drastically grown with more than 330 million active monthly users. If used wisely, it can be a remarkable marketing tool for your brand.

One of the best ways to propagate your reach on Twitter is by organizing or joining a Tweetchat.

What is a Twitter Chat?

A Twitter chat (or commonly known as a “tweetchat”) is when a group of people talk about a certain topic using a designated hashtag. Ideally, it has a host (or a moderator) who pose questions and encourage interaction among various users.

It mostly lasts for an hour or two and takes place at a pre-determined time. It makes a great way to interact with other users and create brand awareness on Twitter.

If you haven’t participated in any Twitter chat so far, then don’t worry. I have got you covered. Let’s start with the basics and learn how to join a Twitter chat in order to expand your impression on this amazing medium before learning how to organize one.

Discover Twitter Chats of Your Interest

Now, in order to join a Twitter chat and talk to other like-minded people, you need to start by finding one. There are different tools that can help you discover an upcoming (or even an ongoing) tweetchat.

You can start by searching for it on Twitter as well. Try Advanced Twitter Search in order to discover upcoming chats related to your industry.

There are also dedicated applications that can make your job a whole lot easier. Tweet Reports is an amazing platform to discover tweetchats that are either currently taking place or would happen in the near future. Twubs is another platform with an extensive listing of hashtags.

Identify key participants to interact with

After getting to know about an upcoming or ongoing chat, try to learn its purpose. Don’t simply start chatting with people out of the blue. Make sure that the chat is related to your industry and that you would be able to gain something productive out of it.

Start by learning more about the key influencers who are already a part of the activity and get to know about them. Walk an extra mile and do some research in order to create an amazing first-impression.

Let your profile be your introduction

Honestly, this is how people will get to know about you. As you would interact with others, chances are that they might have a look at your profile. Don’t have one of those empty profiles that can’t attract anyone. Be specific and define your roles.

There is nothing wrong with mentioning your job and interests in your bio. Have a cover image and a clear picture as well. Though, don’t make your profile self-congratulatory or over the top. Be more subtle and refined and let your Bio speak it all for you!

Interact with the right people

It’s all about interacting with the right people. After getting to know the conversation arc, provide your input and gain more productive results at the same time. Let the moderator know that you are interested to participate in the chat and try to be more proactive. Nevertheless, don’t overdo it and maintain a perfect balance of quality and numbers.

Follow up (even when the chat is over)

Sending a tweet to key influencers and other users even after concluding the chat can help you a lot to maintain a long-term relationship with them. It would help you socialize and expand your circle, which is ideally why people like to participate in Twitter chats.

I’m pretty sure that after following these foolproof suggestions, you would be able to make the most out of your next Tweetchat. While participating in a chat can help you connect with more people in less time, organizing a Twitter chat has its own benefits. If you are managing your brand’s digital marketing, then you should definitely use this powerful tool.

Follow these stepwise instructions to organize a successful chat on Twitter.

Choose the right timing

After all, it is all about the right timing. In order to maximize the reach of your Tweetchat, you need to think of a perfect frequency as well as the timing. Ideally, you can host a chat monthly (or once in 2-3 months). It depends on your purpose, relationship with influencers, and plenty of other factors.

If you are managing an international brand or have a specific topic in mind, then also consider the time zone of your audience and community. Get to know about the best time to post on Twitter as well. According to Neil Patel, the highest percentage of retweets takes place at 5 p.m. on weekdays. Weekdays are more recommended to organize a chat than weekends. Additionally, 12-3 p.m. from Monday to Friday is a recommended time to host a tweetchat.

Define purpose of the Twitter Chat

There are times when people organize a chat out of the blue without defining a goal or purpose. Needless to say, it rarely turns out to be a productive move. You need to make sure that by organizing a Twitter chat, you would be able to add something meaningful to your digital marketing presence.

What would be the topic of discussion? Who are the key influencers involved in the chat? How will you moderate the chat? Do you have a Plan B?

These are the kinds of questions you need to ask before announcing a Twitter chat. It will definitely help you define a purpose for your chat.

Research on competitor tweetchats

If you are new to Twitter, then don’t make the rookie mistake of simply organizing a tweetchat without having an in-depth knowledge about your industry. It is important to participate in a few chats before organizing one. This will help you learn how to moderate a chat or avert a real-time crisis.

Also, it is important to have an eye on your competition. Get to know how your competitors are doing on Twitter or what kind of tweetchats they have organized in the past. Learn from their mistakes and don’t come up with a similar topic. Think of something unique and out of the box.

Choose your hashtag

Your hashtag can be the most powerful weapon to drive your next social media campaign. You should get familiar with the basic dos and don’ts of using a hashtag on platforms like Twitter. It is recommended that you should think of a fresh hashtag instead of reusing something that is already tapped by your competitors.

Make sure that your hashtag is linked to your brand. People should be able to relate to your hashtag in the most effortless way. You can always club 2-3 words together and make sure that they sound good when combined. Don’t include more than 4 words in a single hashtag as it would make things messy. Also, encourage your audience to use your hashtag while organizing the chat.

Invite others to participate

If you simply organize a chat out of the blue, then you might not gain a substantial amount of traction from your audience. To make sure that your Twitter chat would yield productive results, announce its date and time (with the designated theme) on Twitter. Try to announce it at least a week or two before the designated date and keep interacting with your audience to create a pre-event hype.

Additionally, you can get in touch with key influencers as well and invite them to participate in your chat. Don’t hold yourself and invite as many people as you can. This is where you can experiment a little and even take help of other platforms like Facebook or Instagram to boost cross-platform interaction.

Perform social listening

Though it is recommended to use a designated hashtag while chatting, but there are times when people simply miss it. They can either forget to include the hashtag or misspell it as well. You might lose an important tweet due to this silly mistake. This is where a social media listening tool can help you.

With the help of a hashtag monitoring tool like Socialert  you can keep a track on your hashtag or a keyword without any trouble. Most of these tools provide real-time results, so that you won’t miss out on any conversation.

Take the assistance of specialized tools

There are various other tools as well that can help you not only to organize a tweetchat without any trouble, but also to maximize its impact.

Tweetchat is a simple and powerful way to organize a Twitter chat without much hassle. It provides fast-paced and real-time results that will make it easier for you to moderate a chat.

There are plenty of other applications like Twchat, Tweetdeck, Twitterfall, etc. that can help you manage your next chat.

Measure and conclude

Though replying, retweeting, and connecting to others during a chat is quite vital, it is of utmost importance that you take a follow-up action as well. Too many times, moderators make a rookie mistake of simply ending a chat without concluding it. Make an effort and thank all the key participants. After concluding the chat, use a hashtag tracking tool to measure the overall reach of your hashtag.

It is important to know the count of retweets, mentions, etc. to discover the impact of your tweetchat. It will help you analyze the traffic, community growth, and the overall impression that you would have achieved after organizing the chat.

That’s it! After performing these sequential steps, you would certainly be able to organize a productive tweetchat. Additionally, here are a few inside tips and tricks that you should keep in mind while organizing or joining a tweetchat.

  1. Make use of “lists” while organizing your next chat. You can always create a list of all the related individuals you are connected with and invite them (or follow up) easily.
  2. Twitter can get quite noisy at times. If you have a lot of questions, then they might get lost in the noise. Stay organized and follow the basic format of listing your questions as Q1, Q2, and so on. Also, try to answer them the same way as A1, A2, etc.
  3. Don’t hesitate to have a descriptive answer. Your prime motive should be to add value to your tweet. If your answer is long, then you can always break it down like A1.1, A1.2, and so on to depict a link between your tweets.
  4. Stay committed while participating in tweetchats. There is no harm in multitasking and creating a schedule. Devote yourself a little and try to gain more traction while interacting with others.
  5. There is no harm in replying directly to other individuals and including their handles in your tweets while participating in a chat.
  6. You can always include a “.” In front of the “@” while tweeting. This will make your tweet show in all feels and expand its overall reach.
  7. While participating in a Twitter chat is important, it is okay to dip in and out as per your schedule. Don’t hesitate to contribute whenever you are ready.
  8. You should try to discuss and be open to new ideas. Always remember that Twitter chats are not about selling a product, but to get in touch with other like-minded people.
  9. When you are moderating a chat, keep a timer. Make sure that you don’t over-promote anything and keep it going while managing your time wisely.
  10. Always include your hashtag in your replies.
  11. Consider inviting special guests and other key influencers. This would boost the overall reach of your chat.

Try to make a connection with others. You never know, your next Twitter chat might help you redefine your business.

I’m sure that after following these suggestions, you would be able to organize a memorable tweetchat.

Bonus Content

Watch this video to see a few of the latest Twitter updates including Dark Mode.


The new Twitter layout and dark mode (it's actually called Dim or Lights Out) will bring a new look to your Twitter chats!
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