To host a successful Twitter chat, you need to be prepared. Create a list of questions well in advance and circulate to any co-hosts or panelists youve invited to participate. Ask yourself, are my questions engaging? Do they create a cohesive narrative? Make sure to create time constraints around the volume of questions youre asking. For example, if youre asking 10 questions in 60 minutes, posing a new question to the group every five minutes allows the conversation to keep moving while giving people adequate time to answer.

There is always a host, or moderator, that serves as the gatekeeper for the Twitter chat. A host (your brand) moderates the event, posing anywhere from eight to 10 questions every few minutes to the Twitter audience. These questions are asked in the form of Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and participants are encouraged to answer the questions with the same formula of A1, A2, A3, and so on. Over the course of one hour, participants respond to the questions posed by the moderator, and are encouraged to ask relevant questions of their own as the conversation dictates. Once the host has run through his or her list of questions and given participants the chance to answer, the tweet-up concludes.

Twitter chats are almost always focused around a singular topic or event and occur at a designated time; most are one-hour long. The key to a successful Twitter chat is a unique hashtag that allows participants, and the Twitter community at large, to follow along and jump into the conversation. As a best practice, the hashtag should be related to the theme of the chat or brand that is hosting  such as the #TL_Chat hosted by, we hosted our first Twitter chat with eight speakers as well as our CEO Shafqat Islam, VP of Marketing Alicianne Rand, and Head of Strategy Michael Brenner. Our #ThinkContent Twitter chat, which focused on 10 content marketing-related questions,

Enter the Twitter chat. Twitter chats allow for open dialogue between your brand and consumers in a fun, informative and highly engaging way and can be a crucial component of a well-rounded social and content marketing strategy. Not only are you able to connect directly with your existing fan base in real time, youll also be able to reach a larger audience through targeted hashtags and a spirited conversation.