Using Twitter at Events you Attend
Recently we attended a business development weekend, a whole weekend for around 50 different businesses. It was quite intense and it was great to meet and bond with so many people. Most of which could be potential customers, but how could we maximise this fleeting weekend? Here’s a hint, Twitter! This is quite a powerful technique to make the most of any event that you attend with quite a large crowd in just a few easy steps…
1. The first thing we did set up a hashtag especially for the event (make sure it isn’t used for anything else, we’ve made that mistake before!). So now basically you can see a feed of all the people that tweets using that hashtag. The beauty of tweeting first is that it is the first one that everyone will see and make it most likely to be the most popular tweet in the feed. So make sure it is a good positive tweet.
2. Next thing, get the hosts on board to let everyone know and announce it to all attendees that YOU have set up a hashtag and that it is a great way to stay in touch with other people at the event. For them, it’s a bonus to see everyone get more value from the event and to approach it from a networking point of view. Make sure you yourself tell everyone too, you’ll soon see a flurry of people tweeting live from the event, make sure you follow everyone and engage (they should all follow back).
3. Lastly, start to build a twitter list that everyone can join in and subscribe to. A Twitter list makes it easier to filter out unwanted noise from everyone else and just focus on those at the event. If you are the host of the list, then you get noticed more than everyone else.
Why is this so good? Because it helps you get noticed straight away by everyone, builds your following and influence rating, but then also to keep up relationships afterwards to make sure they don’t forget about you. By continuing to engage with people (because it’s easy once they are in a list) you can optimise that relationship by replying to people and constantly staying in their mind. If you use these kind of methods, not only will you generate more awareness, but build long lasting business relationships.
Top Tips
– This will work better if you maintain a good Twitter profile.
– Keep up the good work every so often, and go back to the list now and then to engage with people and always use the hashtag when necessary.
– Top this up by connecting with people on LinkedIn as well – the more people get reminded of you the more likely they will be to come to you for your service. You’re building rapport the more you engage.
– Post some photos live of the event, they’re really good for getting retweets and favourites – which is good for boosting your influence rating on Twitter.
ACTION: Look to see if there are any events coming up in your diary. Put in your diary the day before to find and re-read this article.
ACTION: Look to see if the organiser has been tweeting using a hashtag already, if not approach them and ask them if you can set one up.
ACTION: If there already is a hashtag, use it well throughout the event using these methods.