This is the fourth part in our series on How to Twitter. In Part 1 we spoke about how to set up and optimise your Twitter account, in Part 2 we discussed how to post on Twitter and in Part 3 we discussed building your reach and followers on Twitter.

Now we discuss using Hashtags (#) and Twitter Chat.

1. If you see a trending hashtag (#) that is “relevant” to your tweet, include it in your updates. This will allow your tweets to reach anyone who is looking at tweets for that particular hashtag.

2. Also look at hashtags relevant to your business – see what hashtags people are using in your target market so that you can get more awareness, for example #wildlifewednesday and there are thousands more. If you go to Twitter and enter #… in the search option and see what will get you the most leverage.

3. Popular #hashtags you can use to engage with your followers – #ff (follow friday) is a hashtag that you can use to mention to your followers who you recommend following – if you do this for people they are likely to return the favour and mention you to all their followers. Another one is #shoutout.

3. You can also use hashtags for keywords for example #design #travel and so forth but it is not recommended to use too many hashtags in your tweets.

4. If running an event, promotion or marketing campaign you can use a particular hashtag (#) so you can track it and see how many people are engaged. This is a great way for people to interact during live conferences and enable those who are not able to attend to follow the conversation on Twitter and participate in the discussion. It can also generate buzz for both online and offline events.

5. Twitter chats are the next level of hashtags – this is an online discussion between a brand and the Twitter world. For example you could host a weekly Twitter chat by asking an expert about five to seven questions over a half an hour period via the hashtag #safaritalk. Depending on your business, joining a Twitter chat rather than creating a chat may prove more beneficial.

6. Once you have created your particular hashtag be sure to use it in your tweets and encourage others to do the same. You can then set up a list in Twitter to follow this particular hashtag and monitor activity on it and Retweet anything relevant to your followers. Make sure you keep the hashtag short (as tweets only allow 140 chtrs and you want them to add information as well) and create it early prior to the event to get the conversation going beforehand and create awareness for your event or promotion in advance.

7. Tracking and Analytics: Obviously once you have created a promotion around a hashtag you are going to want to track it and produce and set of results. Try a tool such as hashtracking to measure the activity of the hashtag such as Reach, Impressions and Number of Tweets. Or use your social media monitoring tools to produce reports based on this particular activity. In this way marketers can get statistics which help to measure the effectiveness and reach of their events and promotions.

8. Set up a Tweet Wall at an Event or Show to create a buzz and get noticed. Choose the #hashtags or words to display and then project the messages onto screens or walls. There are many companies offering this service so just search for “tweet wall” and find one that suits your needs.

Any other tips you have to share regards Hashtags and Twitter Chats or Tweet Walls?

Take a look at the next blog in our series which looks at Tools to Manage Twitter more Effectively.

About Karen Black

Karen Black is a Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media, a boutique digital marketing agency based in the UK. Karen works with a range of starts ups, individuals and small businesses to develop their website & digital marketing strategy (social media, email, video, blogging) and grow their business online. Karen also offers social media training and digital marketing consulting to businesses.