How To Use Twitter Chat To Establish Yourself As An Authority In Your Niche

With the fast paced and diverse messages constantly being sent over the Twitter feed how do you narrow down the conversation to discuss and focus on your niche?   The challenge is not i, n finding what is hot on Twitter right now, but in how to create a buzz around your brand or niche and position yourself as a leading authority in that trend.  By using simple #hashtags, creating live chat room events and promoting your chat you can do just that.

The chat room is your platform and soapbox, so to speak, that you will use to share your expertise in a more controlled environment.  Your goal is to the establish yourself as the Leader by providing the largest amount of relevant interaction and knowledge on the subject at hand. Much like you see top commenters on blog posts, your Twitter name will be seen as top contributor on tracking sites or Twitter search and will position you as the authority while providing name recognition.  Follow these simple steps to begin:

Create Your #Hashtag – Use a simple, short and easily identifiable tag.  For instance, a Realtor might want to host a chat on How to Sell Your Home In A Recession.  A hashtag like #sellurhm or #realtortips would be more recognizable and attract more people than the abbreviations #syhiar.  There are apps out there that can search a #hashtag to provide descriptions (you will be using these later), but wouldn’t it be easier to just make it recognizable?  The less steps someone has to take to get involved the more success you will see. Just remember to check availability first, and keep the tag short to leave room for comments and retweets. For an in depth explanation on hashtags check out the post by Ben Parr of Mashable: HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags.

Your Live Chat Room: A pretty cool service called TweetChat is what the participants of the Social Media Success Summit have been using.  I recommend using the Beta version to avoid giving your Twitter password, then use your #hashtag to enter room. It is interfaced with your Twitter account so when you join the conversation your messages are sent out in the chat room and as regular Tweets.  It also automatically adds your #hashtag to the end of your message for you.  If you’ve ever been in a chat room you know that the conversation can get moving pretty fast and if you blink you could miss a great comment.  TweetChat has a pause function that comes in very handy.

Promote Your Chat – To get the most live interaction plan a day and time for your chat, whether it be weekly or daily,  and start sending out Tweets with the URL TweetChat will provide.  Don’t be afraid to ask your followers to kindly share the news.   You can use TweetLater to schedule tweets to post several times throughout the day to get your message in front of those not online at the same time as you.  Don’t forget to add info about your chat to your blog and send an email to your subscribers.  Use Search.Twitter.com to look up your keywords and find relevant conversations, then observe and respectfully (meaning don’t barge in w/shameless self promotion) join the conversations and refer others to continue the discussion in your chat room.

Enter Descriptions Of Hashtag – Even with the easiest of tags there will still be those that just don’t get the whole idea and will start searching the web to see what your hashtag stands for.  Here’s your time to shine. Go to the hashtag tracking sites and enter descriptions to explain what the focus of your chat room is.  The coolest site I’ve found is What the Hashtag?! which will give definitions, resources, usage statistics, and transcripts from conversations.  While they are there they will also be able to see your name in shining lights as the top contributor to the chat. Be sure to enter descriptions on other hashtag tracking sites such as Twubs or Roomatic to cover all your bases. If you know of more sites please leave them in comments.

For a good example of a successful chat,  check out BLOGCHAT: On Sunday nights at 8-9 CT there is #blogchat with @MackCollier, author of the Viral Garden blog. You’ll begin to see the process in action.

UPDATE:  David Spinks of Scribnia just published an excellent article on Mashable that gives some great tips on how to promote your chat as well as different formats to use.  See the post: HOW TO: Start and Run a Successful Twitter Chat

Why do you Twitter?  What do you want to accomplish with social media?  Once you know where you are going you can chart your course using social media as your marketing vehicle.  What other tips or apps would you share with other readers on Twitter chat techniques?

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