3 Questions to Ask – and Answer – When Launching a Twitter Chat
As founder of the #measurePR Twitter chat, I was invited to, and participated in, #chatmixer last night (party image, David Domingo, Creative Commons).
The idea was to bring together folks who routinely participate in specific chats, in an online/Twitter “mixer,” in an effort to widen their Twitter circles (would that be Twircles?) – hence the choice of #chatmixer as a hashtag. Truth be told, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, though Justin Goldsborough, Heather Whaling and Valerie Simon were meticulous in their planning.
Turns out, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. It had a great party feel to it, and the last time I can remember the feeling of Twitter being such a party solely due to an effort like this (i.e. not related to an offline event) was the “kindness party” last year. I don’t even remember who organized that, except that Kim Wells brought it to my attention, and I had a whale of a time.
A chat is born
Anyhoo… during the course of #chatmixer, a new chat was born: #cookchat. (I cannot wait for that one.) And a few different people mentioned they were interested in starting chats as well.
This can be a very smart thing to do, especially from a marketing point of view.
But as with all bright ideas, you should play devil’s advocate and batter the heck out of your bright idea before you launch it. Better you find the holes in it & mend them before anyone else does, right?
First, read these excellent posts on participating in (by Jeff Hurt) and running (by David Spinks) a Twitterchat.
Now, just as when designing a PR strategy, here are three questions to ask – and answer – when launching a Twitter chat.
1. What gap will this chat help to fill?
If you look at What the Hashtag?! (now part of What the Trend™), you’ll see it’s currently tracking 9,900 hashtags. While not all of those are chats, that gives you a sense of just how many hashtags are out there.
Image: skipnclick’s Flickrstream, Creative Commons
The primary reasons people participate in chats are, first, to learn something and second, to extend their networks. So if your chat is to be successful, it must fulfill these two desires.
If you look at this handy-dandy spreadsheet that Robert Swanwick created to track regular chats on Twitter, you’ll see a few chats that are fairly similar, as well as those that are quite unique.
There’s certainly nothing wrong in several people having the same conversation, albeit with different hashtags – it happens all the time. But if you want to give your chat a shot at succeeding (more on what this means in a bit), try to make it unique.
This is what Sarah Evans did with #journchat, what Kellye Crane did with #soloPR and, I’d like to think, what I’m doing with #measurePR.
What do the people you want to reach want to talk about? If you can answer that question – particularly with an answer that no one else has come up with yet – you’re off to a good start.
2. What will make this chat attract its target audience?
The quality of a chat – which is what will determine the perception of the chat and hence its profile – is dependent on who participates. You can design a great chat, but if you don’t have engaged, thoughtful and thought-provoking participants, it might end up being a one-hit wonder.
How do you bring the right people to the table?
Figure out what time of day and how often you’re going to hold the chat (this is particularly important if yours is not the only chat of its kind around)… and sustain it. Don’t set yourself up for failure; if your other commitments preclude a weekly chat, make it bi-weekly (or monthly, if you dare).
Whatever you decide, be consistent, since that is what will build your audience and community.
What you’re essentially asking people to do, as you build your chat community, is give up something else – work, family time, a movie, pizza – to devote their attention to your chat. Over and over and over again.
So make it easy and desirable for them to attend – that will go a long way in making it worth their while.
3. How will this chat become recognizable and identifiable?
Let’s face it, we in the social media sphere have the attention span of gnats. And I say that with no disrespect to gnats (image, Kaptain Kobold’s Flickrstream, Creative Commons).
Like anything else in the branding space, repetition rules. So once you’ve figured out the name and aim of your chat, brand it well.
I’d go so far as to say, message the heck out of it.
Choose a smart, easy-to-remember hashtag that’s as short as possible; you want to make the most of those 140 characters of Twitter-estate. Register it on WTHashtag and add it to your bio.
Brand your chat frequently, but consistently. Because if you don’t, someone else might, and that will leave you considerably unhappy.
Which brings me to success – what does a successful Twitter chat look like?
It could be the dominant player in its niche with thousands of participants; it could be an extremely engaged conversation that leads to genuine discovery for a small but passionate group.
It could be the place where thought leaders in your field congregate; it could be people pitching you to be “on your show”; or it could be the generic use of your hashtag in conversations with a related theme.
Whatever the measure of success, you’re going to have to define it based on why you set out to build it… and if you really want to be successful, define this at the outset. I haven’t yet come across a Twitter chat that’s being sustained purely for fun, even if it was launched impulsively; if it builds, there’s a great deal of time and effort being put into it.
So figure out what you want to do with the chat, as well as what you want the chat to do for you (and it’s ok to want the chat to do something for you, that’s what business is about).
When you begin at the end, there’s a much greater likelihood you’ll get there.
What do you think, am I off the mark or on the money? If you’ve implemented successful tactics in launching and maintaining Twitter chats, please share them in the comments section below. All 9,900 hashtags (and growing) and I will thank you.
In Perpetual Motion: Reflections On a 2.0 Vacation
That’s me coming out of a London phone booth on Heddon Street last week. If any David Bowie fans are reading this, they’re nodding their heads; and if the rest of you are scratching your noggins wondering what I’m going on about, here’s why Heddon Street is legendary to Ziggy Stardust fans, of whom my husband is king (and therefore, by association, am I queen).
In perpetual motion
You’re also probably wondering why I chose a photo that’s a bit fuzzy to illustrate this post. I did so because it captures me in motion, and that’s what our vacation (which was wonderful) felt like.
We were in perpetual motion, as we took in the Globe, Abbey Road, Lord’s, Abbaworld (awesome!), some great restaurants and the whole point of going to London in some very crappy weather – to see Elvis Presley in Concert as my “milestone birthday” celebration. (After all, when you’re in one of the world’s most vibrant cities for five days, you want to do as much as you can.)
It’s also how I think of life today. Ever since getting back to the U.S., I’ve slowly been getting back to my “real” life, which was blissfully suspended for a week. And real life in the 21st century moves very, very fast. The kind of thing we say we want to get away from… which is why we go on vacation, right?
Kinda sorta. While we were traveling, I did keep my Blackberry close at hand, but I didn’t send too many emails from it (at least, I’d like to think I didn’t, though my colleagues at IABC/DC Metro are probably snorting right now).
So while the vacation was meant to be a getaway, I didn’t really “get away” as much as I could have… but was that a bad thing?
The 2.0 vacation
Because of my BB, for example, we were able to minimize how much paper (directions, addresses, etc.) that we carried with us while we were traipsing across the city. A green vacation… after a fashion!
And I was able to stay in touch with my Twitter peeps thanks to Ubertwitter. One of them, Howard Riefs, introduced me to the fabulous Tom Aikens, who very kindly made a reservation for me at Tom’s Kitchen (which you really have to go to when you’re next in London). The best eggs benedict I’ve eaten in a while, not to mention the best loo sign ever. Check it out:
They also told me how much postage I’d need to mail in some bill payments that I’d forgotten to drop off in the mad rush before we left. Staying connected helped me find one of London’s three remaining post offices (or so someone said) and take that load off my mind.
Because we had mobile connectivity, we were able to find some really dinky record stores – the kind that only take cash – that my husband’s been dreaming of going to.
And I was able to meet up with friends like Richard Bagnall and Ved Sen, and meet IRL tweeps such as Kristin Wadge, Russell Pearson, Bryce Keane and Sheema Siddiqui (the latter of whom organized a #shonalitweetup – love it!)
Whether we like it or not, hyper-connectivity is part and parcel of our lives, especially for those of us who live in the social media plane. Yes, that’s sometimes tiring, even irritating… but it can also be incredibly helpful.
So while it’ll take me a little time to get back into full 2.0 work mode, I’m grateful to the 2.0 world for adding dimension to a vacation that was a once-in-a-lifetime event for us.
You might call it a 2.0 vacation.
Help A PR Pro Out: The Michael Clendenin Edition
I know I’ve been talking (or having other folks talk) about job hunting, do’s and don’ts, etc., quite a bit lately. Honestly, I can’t help it; given this blog is all about “personal” musings on our business and our lives, it really is a reflection of what’s going on with, in, and around me.
Even though I’m not looking for a job myself, I’ve been helped countless times by both friends and strangers (who then become friends… what a wonderful world!) when I have been in the market – and the least I can do is pay it forward.
So when Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon asked me to be a part of a wonderful initiative: “Help a PR Pro Out” or #HAPPO for short, where several of us PR pros are going to do our bit to help our colleagues in the job market make excellent connections – and hopefully, find a great job – on February 19 – of course I said “yes.”
You’ve probably already heard the buzz online, but if you’re still getting up to speed, here’s the 4-1-1 on the HAPPO website itself.
Today’s #HAPPO Focus: Michael Clendenin
Specifically today, I want to tell you about a good friend and an excellent communicator, Michael Clendenin. Mike was most recently with Freddie Mac (yup) and is now in the job market. Having known and worked with him in a volunteer capacity at IABC/Washington (he’s on my current board of directors too) I can tell you that not only is he one of the most patient people around, he’s a really smart guy too; and whether it’s through sheer persistence or the luck of the Irish, invariably manages to pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat when most needed.
Please – if you have, or know of, a senior-level communication position in the DC market, will you contact Michael? Or leave a comment below so that he can get in touch with you. And thank you in advance for your time and thoughts!
And now I’ll let Mike speak for himself. Please help this PR pro out!
Of Cabbages and Kings and Measuring PR
We kicked off our first Twitterchat on measuring public relations yesterday, with the “queen of measurement” herself, Katie Paine. From 12-1 pm EST, we had an incredibly lively and vibrant discussion that surprised even me, the organizer – and I should know not to be surprised by anything on Twitter by now!
You might wonder why I borrowed from “The Walrus and the Carpenter” in titling this post. The thing is, Mr. Carroll’s poem is so full of beautiful whimsy, I can’t help but think it reflects some of the chaos we are still dealing with when it comes to measuring PR.
I write and speak often on this but really… why are we still going round and round in circles about something like AVE (ad value equivalency) which is essentially a measure of output when we know what’s really important to the C-suite is focusing on outcomes? Fortuitously, I stumbled across Pritesh Patel’s post on the subject of AVE as I was pulling this recap together, so do give it a read.
If I have one mantra when it comes to measurement – that’s it. Outcomes outcomes outcomes. Repeat after me: OUTCOMES.
But this recap isn’t (just) about me. So in that vein, here’s Sean Williams’ recap, which also looks at the AVE debate (or paroxysm, as he calls it). Below are some of the highlights of the chat, and you can find the entire transcript here.
The four questions posed were:
- What are the most common mistakes in measuring PR?
- How does a newbie get started in “smart” measurement?
- How has the PR measurement landscape changed over the years, or has it?
- Can you recommend some educational resources?
Here are just a few of the gems, and not just from Katie:
And those are just a few. I do hope you’ll read the transcript and share your thoughts via a comment below, or on Twitter using the #measurepr hashtag.
Katie – thank you so much for kicking off the inaugural #measurepr chat; I hope you’ll be back often as the featured guest!
A quick note on how we’ll proceed: these chats will take place every two weeks for now; if we see a great urge to increase (or decrease the frequency), we’ll do so, but for now, if you’re interested in PR measurement, do mark your calendars for the next one (February 16) from 12-1 pm ET, and every other Tuesday following.
And remember – we want to get your questions answered – so if you have questions you’d like to have discussed at a future chat, please email them to me at sburke (a) shonaliburke (dot) com – or, of course, you can always tweet me.
Until the next time – keep chatting and keep measuring!
More resources:
- The Institute for Public Relations has great resources on measurement
- I created a Twitter list of folks I think are leaders in measurement, so you might want to check them out
- As our featured guest, I think it’s only right to point you to Katie’s website and blog
- A presentation I made at PRSA09 on measurement, which may particularly help those of you at non-profits/with low or no budget
Image: Quinn Dombrowski, Creative Commons
Five Ways to Land a Job in Social Media
This is a guest post from Chuck Hemann, someone I’ve enjoyed connecting with in the online world, and whom I very much hope to meet offline soon. Read on for great tips on landing a job using, and in, social media.
Social media jobs are popping up around every corner, and so are the people looking for those jobs. Unfortunately, the economic downturn took a heavy toll on the PR profession. Jobs aren’t as available for the experienced, or entry-level, professional. Because of the dearth of opportunities, many pros have taken to the Web in an effort to network and potentially land a new career.
If you’ve ever connected with me online or offline, you’ll know that I recently accepted a social media associate position with WCG, global media services company focused on the corporate and product marketing and communications needs of leading healthcare companies. I have enjoyed my current role as manager of research and online reputation for Dix & Eaton, but was hoping to land something more social media-focused.
If you currently have a job, or are recently unemployed and looking for something new, or even a recent college graduate who is trying to break into the workforce here are five tips that helped me land my job in social media.
1. Identify your niche
Social media may be new, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a host of cottage industries within the space. Are you interested in measurement/monitoring? Are you interested in community management? Are you interested in SEO? For me, that space was in monitoring and measurement so I made sure I got to know the folks from Radian6, Katie Paine, Don Bartholomew, Ken Burbary and a host of others you can find through my Twitter lists.
Do not try to be all things to all people. The end result will be you’ve spread yourself too thin, and probably not become noticeable in any one category.
2. Identify the “influencers”
I usually hate the term “influencers” as there’s really no standardized method to determine who’s truly influential, but in this case it makes sense to determine the 10-15 people in your niche that you’d like to read, and interact with. A Google search for any of the topics I’ve mentioned above will certainly help in that process, but don’t be afraid to ask. Use LinkedIn forums or Twitter or your own blog to ask people who they find influential.
3. Take a position
One of the pieces of advice I give to entry-level pros, and even more experienced professionals, is take a position. Nobody likes the guy/gal who waffles (unless you’re Switzerland), so figure out what your position is on the hot topics within your niche and express them.
Is this potentially dangerous? Sure, but prospective employers are looking for the ability to articulate and defend an argument. My first opportunity to do that on a large scale came when Jason Falls allowed me to share the approach to social media listening that I helped cultivate here at D&E on his blog. Search for those same opportunities within your niche.
4. Engage those “influencers”
Social media, regardless of the particular tool, does not come with an engraved invitation.
You either take the time to get to know the folks who are influential or you don’t. I haven’t “met” a person yet who is unwilling to engage people who engage with them. Take the time to get to know the influencers in your space and then engage them where they live.
5. Take it offline
Your online interactions can only take you so far. At some point, you need to meet the influencers in your space in real life. Whether you meet them at a conference, a tweetup, or just strolling through their neck of the woods you’ll no doubt gain more value from the relationship after you’ve met them in person. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many social media folks over the last two years and wouldn’t trade those experiences for the world.
These are just five things that worked for me. If you’re interested in other takes on landing a job, I’d encourage you to check out the posts from Teresa Basich and Lisa Hoffmann, both of whom have recently started new jobs in social media.
If you’ve recently landed a job in social media what worked for you? Do share!
Chuck Hemann, a 2010 Society for New Communications Research Fellow, is currently the manager of research & online reputation for Dix & Eaton, a communications consultancy with specialized expertise in social media strategies and tools. On February 15, Chuck will begin a new role as social media associate for WCG, a global media services company focused on the corporate and product marketing and communications needs of leading healthcare companies.
Image: Laurie Nadeau, Creative Commons
Who’s Guilty of Tweet-itis?
Even for someone with a thin skin when it comes to micro-blogging and Twitter in particular, I thought this was laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Image: Mark Smiciklas, Creative Commons
Getting on Board with Women Grow Business
Thanks to my (wonderful) friends, this particular cat got out of the bag before I could untie the strings, so I’m going to make this short and sweet (though I’ve been dying to tell you for a while): I’m really excited to be taking over the reins at Women Grow Business, an amazing community hosted by Network Solutions to help women do exactly that: grow their business.
With content from leading women entrepreneurs on a variety of subjects, Women Grow Business has really made a name for itself in an extremely short span of time, thanks to a great many people, but particularly, I think, because of Shashi Bellamkonda and Jill Foster; it’s the latter whose able hands I’ll be taking over WGB from.
Because of their efforts in building a vibrant, thriving community, WGB has received so many accolades, it’s a little mind-boggling: one of Forbes’ 20 best marketing and social media blogs by women, to name just one, not to mention Jill herself being listed by Forbes as one of 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter (and whatever your opinion about Twitter lists, you have to admit that’s a pretty cool one to be on).
Fyi, Shonali Burke Consulting still lives
Quick aside: in case you were wondering whether I’m giving up my consulting business – no, I’m not. Shonali Burke Consulting is alive and kicking and open for business. Hey, that’s what Women Grow Business is all about, right?
Back to WGB
So, anyway. I’m pinching myself because I can’t quite believe I get to do this – but I need your help.
Women Grow Business will not remain, or grow from, the amazing community/community blog it already is if women entrepreneurs and business owners don’t join in.
So please, visit me over at WGB, send me ideas for guest posts, let me know how you’d like to be involved. Follow us on Twitter and stay tuned for more developments online as well as offline, that we’d love you to be a part of.
Thank you for the incredible warmth and happiness you’ve shown to me today, and I’m looking forward to growing this wonderful community with you!
Scones, Sparkle and Sharing at DC’s First Social Media Breakfast
I attended my first Social Media Club (DC) event yesterday – a “social media breakfast,” which was founded by Bryan Person (read more here) – and the inaugural event of its kind in DC.
Wow – what a great time. First of all, it was sold out (well, it was free, but if you wanted to share in the extremely tasty, hot breakfast, you had to shell out $10, which I think is a deal). Teaism’s cup was running over, if you’ll pardon the expression, of social media maniacs. And we’re a hungry bunch, in more ways than one, so we were eager listeners when Andi Narvaez, who was running the show, kicked things off.
Speakers Geoff Livingston, Shashi Bellamkonda and Alex Howard were fabulous, as was the organization by Andi and her cohort, Rachel Rule. I had a terrific time being a “head of table,” along with Mike Schaffer – and we were even at the same table, which was great. Among others, I got to meet James Walker, Lorna Webster (all the way from Fredericksburg, Va.), Ashley Settle and catch up with Kim Oser (we were all at the same table).
Though I’d meant to post this much earlier, in a way I’m glad I didn’t get a chance to do so, because I’ve found some terrific recaps of the event, such as in Shashi’s Examiner column and Alex Priest’s excellent writeup.
As you’ll read, the speakers all agreed on mobile being a top trend (and you can see how this is a theme in Geoff’s recent post over at Mashable on the Haitian earthquake implications for non-profit organizations).
Shashi made an excellent point (out of many) about integrating social media into your websites (“people aren’t going to come to your site to talk about your product/brand”), and Alex ripped through so many trends (including geo-location, niche networks, privacy – or the lack thereof – and real time) in his Prezi presentation, I felt like a benevolent hurricane had blown through the room. Fortunately, he’s allowed us to embed his excellent presentation, so have a look (tip, watch it in fullscreen mode, it’s much more fun).
Our table had an amazingly free-flowing discussion once the speakers wrapped; we covered everything from how businesses are using Foursquare, to governance of the Internet, to the successful integration of different applications. In fact, they pretty much had to throw us out (ask Mike, I’m not kidding). It was a great way to start a day (and week).
By the way, I’ve seen a few disappointed tweets from folks who didn’t know it was happening. Folks, if you subscribe to SMC-DC’s blog, and/or follow their tweets (#smcdc), and/or join their LinkedIn group, you’ll know when the next one is, won’t you?
The Real A-ha Moment
For me, the real “a-ha” moment was the engagement that we all shared, and the clear enjoyment we had in meeting each other, particularly when so many of us only knew each other from Twitter.
So in my opinion, while social media and online networking clearly has new and exciting heights to scale, I think we’re also going to see a resurgence of offline interaction in the days, months and years to come. Because all the trends the speakers spoke about had one thing in common, no matter how cool they were – they enable us to make better connections with each other.
The online world making us more human? Who’da thunk it.
If you were at #smbdc, what did you think? Did your table have other conversations you’d care to share? Do tell!
Image (cc) courtesy Shashi Bellamkonda, Social Media Swami, Network Solutions
Chicago Helps Haiti
There’s some pretty hectic social media-with-a-cause activity going on in Chicago today.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Chicago Red Cross has had a telethon going since 5 a.m., which will continue until 11 p.m., to raise funds for Haiti. They’ve been promoting it pretty aggressively via both MSM as well as social media, integrating various outposts, such as Twitter and YouTube very well. You can donate here, or check out their live blog here.
I love when non-profit organizations are smart about their use of media to further their mission.
But I love it even more when a single person does it.
If you’re plugged into the PR/SM bubble on Twitter (and I say that affectionately, because it’s a bubble I enjoy bouncing around in), you’ll know Kate Zimmer, whose zest for life and PR smarts shine through those 140 characters, regardless of which pickle she says she’s in at any given time.
Pretty much single-handedly, Kate has pulled together an amazingly collaborative event in Chicago, entitled “Wake of the Quake,” and which is aptly hashtagged in the social media sphere as #chihelpshaiti.
It kicked off January 18 and will run through the 24th; during this time, participating restaurants in the Chicago area will enable patrons to add a donation of $1 (or more) to their checks to support the Heartland Alliance (and yes, it’s a tried and tested charity, I know I’ve been making a lot of noise about that lately). And tonight, they’re also holding a fundraiser and after-party to keep the goodwill and, hopefully, dollars flowing.
Using social media to do this is no longer ingenious; but I do think it takes tremendous strength of spirit and staying power to be the primary driving force behind it, and pull off an event that is clearly well-organized – look at the number of restaurants participating! – and is bringing the community together for an extremely deserving cause.
I asked Kate to tell me why she did this, and this is what she said, via email:
I had the idea as I was watching the news and seeing the Twitter feed about #Haiti early Thursday morning, one week ago. I really felt that someone should do something to help raise money for a local charity that is contributing to the Haiti relief efforts in a big way and, with the influence that some of us have on Twitter, why not use that as the method to motivate people to gather together to organize, produce and promote a local event? Everything was done via social and electronic communications! The Chicago Twitter #ChiHelpsHaiti team didn’t even talk on the phone until 9 hours after the initial tweets and DMs went out!
Kate’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed by the media. The Chicago Tribune picked up on it last week, check out this great write-up in Chicago’s Philanthropy Examiner, and it’s listed not once but three times on ChicagoBusiness.com (which is powered by Crain’s).
I hope to catch up with Kate in the next couple of weeks to see if this drive was a success (and how she measures success), and what lessons we can learn as PR professionals from her (though I think a few are already self-evident).
For now, though, I just want to take my hat off to Kate. Ms. Zimmer, I’m proud to call you “friend.”
I’d love it if you joined me in trying to help Kate; there are so many ways to do it. You could leave a comment for Kate below, help her spread the word on Twitter or Facebook, blog about it or donate to the Alliance’s emergency fund for Haiti. If you’re in the Chicago area, showing up at tonight’s event or eating at one of the participating restaurants. We’d be so grateful.
http://www.chicagoredcross.org/general_calltoaction.asp?CTA=5&SN=249&OP=9170&SUOP=9171&IDCapitulo=VF223FBDFD
Haiti: Aftershocks of a Different Kind
You should read this terrific post that Geoff Livingston has written for Mashable on social media lessons from the Haitian earthquake. There’s a ton of food for thought there.
But I’m following the Wyclef Jean/Yéle Haiti story closely and today saw this report in Gawker.
While I’m not jumping to conclusions (I’ll leave that to the appropriate authorities), I do think there are enough valid questions to make me think that non-profits should be extremely concerned about the long-term impact on fundraising.
Which, let’s face it, determines whether they get to carry out their mission effectively or not.
Here’s how I responded to Geoff’s post:
Nice post, Geoff. I think the other really important lesson here is that while the immediacy that social media allows is breathtaking, it is equally, if not more, important to do your research before using these channels and committing to a path, because it could potentially have far-reaching consequences. I write this in context of the Wyclef Jean/Yéle Haiti “rumblings,” which are growing louder by the day (and as you know, did a brief post on this last week). Day by day more organizations are bringing Yéle Haiti on as a recipient of fundraisers, telethons, etc., yet there is justifiable speculation as to the workings of this organization.
Please understand I am not pointing a finger at Mr. Jean personally; I have no doubt he has the best of intentions. But the desire to do good and administering effective relief operations are completely different things. If it turns out that all is well with Yéle Haiti, no one will be more relieved than me. But if not, a very many people will feel let down, which might, in turn, affect fundraising initiatives for non-profits, particularly of smaller/upcoming organizations; and possibly even the way they use social media in the future.
What do you think? Am I over-thinking this? Nothing to worry about? Please share your thoughts, over at Geoff’s post, or below, or both.
