Here’s a reader question that came through on the Call for Community Content post yesterday…
Gina from Moneywise Moms (@moneywisemoms) asks:
“…I can’t find ANYTHING on the web about how to use Twitter to promote a local event. I want the quick/easy/widespread power of Twitter but without the world-wide-ness. Ideas?”
Share your suggestions in the comments!
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@flapic
I used Twitzu a few times but it’s nothing special
@greggvm
Hi!
Some of these links might help you to get going. This one from Eventbrite. http://j.mp/1DOa1I. This one from Eventzi, http://j.mp/rWvmj. Good overview of event planning and SM including Twitter from Mashable, http://j.mp/a4adh. This one from The Speaker’s Group, http://j.mp/47VWYb. This one from Pek Pongpaet is kind of interesting too, http://j.mp/4w27Ys.
@khurtwilliams
I follow a number of local only tweets. One is posted from the local municipality and the other by a local resident. When I want to promote an event I tweet them with the details. You could also take the time to review which of your followers are local to you can tweet them directly and ask them to retweet to their local followers etc. You could setup another twitter account specifically for the event but … you may not get many followers right away. I guess it depends on whether this is a one time event you are promoting or part of a large cause.
I feel that Gina questions appears to be “How can I get everyone to listen to my conversation without reciprocating”. Could just be my bias.
@flapic
sorry, wrong link. correct one is http://www.twitzu.com/index.php
@greggvm
Hi Gina!
Some of these might help get you going. This one from Eventbrite, Part 1 of a series, http://j.mp/1DOa1I. This one from The Speaker’s Group, http://j.mp/47VWYb. This one from Eventzi, http://j.mp/rWvmj. This one from Mashable about using SM for events covers Twitter too, http://j.mp/a4adh. And, this one from Pek Pongpaet is pretty good, http://j.mp/4w27Ys.
@anotherguy
It takes some time, but I think that if you follow these steps you’ll have some good success.
First you have to join your local community on twitter and make sure they are following you. And not just in the technical sense of following you but I mean actually following what you are saying and engaging in that. After some time of doing that you can create a hashtag that can signify local events. I use things like #Dayton for my area.
People who are following that hashtag (or if that hashtag is new, they will be following you). Will soon be paying more attention to what is being said. They may even save that search for quick reference later, or start using it themselves. Basically, you want those people to really step up and be a part of the local community on twitter.
If you can get that far (with just time and patience and strategy) then I’d say in a few months you’ll have a pretty successful form of spreading local news to twitter, while only directing it to those specific people.
Also, if your other followers from outside of your area see a pattern in your style where you are often posting news about your community, they’ll get used to it and just ignore what you’re saying about that stuff. Of course, you need to post things that are interesting to them as well – otherwise they’ll leave!
@mikecj
Good advice from another guy there. To be a little more specific, I would download and install Tweetdeck, then set up search columns based on your area. (So for me I have Lanzarote, Canary Islands and Spain for example). You’ll then “see” anyone talking about the area – chances are if they are talking about it, they either live there, or visit regularly, so follow them!
Most people will follow you back. Also make sure you use the same words (Lanzarote, Canary Islands etc) regularly in your own Tweets, so that other people who have the same searches set up see them and do the same.
As AG says, offer news and stuff that’s of value and interest, and over time you can begin promoting whatever it is you want to promote. Good luck with it!
@wilporter
There is no Quick Fix to marketing, especailly on social media but here are some quick hits
1. Follow the premiere local tweeters in your area, including bars, hotels, clubs, and local businesses who’s target customers are the people you want to attract.
2. Retweet events and posts they tweet. This will tell them you are interested in promoting what they are doing and in turn they may follow you and promote your event in time. – time being the key word here. Just because you retweet 1 or 2 events of theirs does not mean they will do the same for you.
3. Attend events of the local people / businesses you are following and introduce yourself to them personally. Bring friends to increase the attendance at the event they are promoting
This will build a relationship with people who have followers and a network you are trying to reach. When you meet someone in person it advances the relationship and they will be more inclined to promote your event.
4. Tie your local promotion into a well known local event / sports team. IE Come to xxxxx event for a chance to win tickets to ….. #sportsteam or encourage people to RT your event with a promotion / drawing for all those who RT your event
5. Use http://www.meetup.com and linkedin and craigslist to post your events as well
@cncastro
Mike CJ’s advice is very helpful.
I have a separate twitter account just for this for my business. When I get new biz partners interested in knowing about events in Southern CA, I lead them to @atacn. I also make sure I tweet that they can put this address on their device to get up to date info texed right to their phone the minute it is tweeted.
Having “acn events in and around So CA” in my bio has most likely increased the following for this account too because if that’s what they are searching, they will find my address and will choose to follow it. Your bio is extremely important!!!
@thesavvyseller
You’ve gotten some great advice above.
Perhaps there hasn’t been much info on how to use Twitter in the sense you mentioned because there is no quick way.
As stated above, start by getting followers. The best way to do this is to follow people that may have an interest in the topic of your event. You can use several tools to find these people starting with Twitter’s own search box. Type in your location to find people who are local and/or type in the topic of your event.
TwitterHawk is another tool to help you find your local community. Others are Twellowhood and Nearby Tweets. There are more but these are a good start.
Then it’s important to listen in and see how these people communicate. Start a relationship with them by tweeting information that your audience will find interesting and helpful. It’s all about creating relationships and networking. Blatant self-promotion won’t advance your cause.
You may also want to see if there are any ‘tweet-ups’ in your area. These are offline meetings of twitter users. You can find tweet-ups by using Twitter’s search to look for the term ‘tweet-up’ and your local area or you can use a tool such as Twitvite to see what tweet-ups may already be in your area.
As you develop a conversation with your followers, you’ll also be developing a relationship. That’s when it becomes appropriate to mention your local event. Hopefully your followers will find it of interest and re-tweet.
Hope that info helps! Best of luck to you!
@elysewilliamson
Great ideas already presented in response to your question!
I especially agree that it’s a two-fold process for promoting local news: 1) finding local people; 2) tweeting local information. An ongoing interaction between the two!
I like two resources for finding local people. Localtweeps (http://localtweeps.com/) identifies by zip code and by city/town/village. Tweeps do need to have signed up for this. Then you can use #LT hashtag to keep your name at the top of the local list there. Nearbytweets (http://nearbytweets.com/) searches recent tweets by location without tweeps having to sign up for that. Very robust for searching by locations, keywords, etc.
Then, as others have said, the hashtags are essential with respect to the post content itself. You could blend using one hashtag related to location (eg, #Chicago) and another for content (eg, #jobs), if you have enough characters.
@mrlewissmile
Local Twitter Followers: http://www.squidoo.com/local-twitter-followers
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I’ve got my own Twitter following from my blog and was asked this question by members of my multiples club in regards to promoting a local sale (we hold a huge consignment sale twice a year). This is done in several areas around here, and all of these non-profit organizations could use the info as they’re trying to embrace social media like Facebook, Big Tent, and Twitter as ways to connect their members and promote events. This info will also be helpful to my sister who works for a non-profit in Philly; she’s learning about Twitter and how to incorporate it into local events there.
@kydinseattle
just adding to the chorus here (but it’s *that* important): this is NOT an overnight process. it took me about six months of being on twitter against my will (for work) before i felt like i enjoyed and understood it. still got a ways to go, but i regularly meet people at events now that i have “met” online and tweeted back and forth with for weeks, or even months.
i’ve found what’s just as important as finding people who are in your area in general, is identifying those who would be interested and care about your event. this is where keyword search becomes your best friend. i also find that focusing hyperlocal, on neighborhood twitter accounts, gets great response. once you’ve used those geographic tools and keyword searches to narrow the field, add those people and explore their followers/following, read their tweets, and add users you think would like your events. (it helps here if you are an obsessive compulsive researching insomniac like me.) you can follow/@reply (spam) accounts all day long, but few will follow you back or care about your tweets if you aren’t promoting something that interests them in some way.
like others have said, if you aren’t contributing AND listening, no one will really care about your project. but when you get someones attention and they start to support with retweets, @reply’s, and showing up at events – it all pays off.
@2009taxes
I would suggest using a hash code like #chicago in your posts. I noticed the chitownnews and ChicagoNewsHeadlines do this on a regular basis.
@sticviews
My company (sticviews.com) recently partnered with Twestival local to promote the Dallas Twestival, which was a charity event and local tweet-up. We definitely used Twitter, among other strategies, to promote the event, and we shared our experiences in (this blog article.
I also think this article on Mashable might be helpful: http://mashable.com/2009/02/25/tweetup/
Hope this helps, and good luck!
@filzen
Twitter is best known as a breaking news source and is intended for the whole world to see. If you want your message to only be seen by locals, Twitter isn’t the best venue for that. With that said, if you have an event that you want to promote, make sure you mention where it is so those looking for local stuff on search.twitter.com can find it. Tweetups need to be promoted on Twitter, of course, but when I have a different type of event, I tend to use the event promo tool in Facebook, Eventbrite, and Evite.
@Gaelen2
It does take time, but one of the ways I was able to connect with other local tweeters was by using Twitter for zip code searches, and then sifting through the names. Several local media folks are also using Twitter and promoting it heavily — and I’ve found them very willing to engage with new (local) followers, since that’s a source of stories and leads for them.
So I followed selectively, I engaged with those folks, and I do use a #Syracuse or #SU hashtage when I’m sending a local-info tweet — and all of those things do get followed. Eventually. If your event(s) are a couple months away, you’ve got time to build up the following that you’ll need to get the word out — if you start now.
@iamkrissy
Gina,
The ideas above are all wonderful ones. The idea behind them is to meet locals in your area who use Twitter. One way I do this, as welll as some of the ways above, is to use Twitter Grader. It’s URL is: http://twitter.grader.com/ After entering your Twitter username and getting your grade, click on your City and/or State and/or Country. A list of local tweeters will appear. If you find them of like mind, you could choose to follow them. Remember, this is not a spam game, only follow them if you have similar values and interests — you can find this out by going to their profiles and checking out their tweets and their bios. Finally, also remember, that a relation needs be developed with each person. Nobody will come to an event merely bc you expect them to. Nor will they automatically follow you back in the first place. But if they do follow you back, and you both do want to develop a relationship and take the time to do so, than Twitter Grader is one avenue you can take…
@blackmediaprop
Caltweet is hands down the best way to promote events..local, worldwide, private watever on Twitter and offers many features to users and is 100% Free.
@NancyFraser
Use the # sign and your airport identification letters to connect with others in your area and tweet about local events. Works very well in my region.
@nepalsites
these are wonderful. gonna use some on upcoming events.