Twitter Chats and Twitter Parties: What Is The Difference?

“Twitter Parties are great for company promotions and sales. Twitter Chats are great for branding and continued client engagement” -Deborah Anderson, SocialWebCafe.com.

Twitter Chats and Twitter Parties have their similarities. The most obvious being, uh, the fact that they use Twitter. There are also similarities such as:

• Use of a specific hashtag.
• Scheduled time to hook up.
• Chatting process via Twitter.

Recently, Donna Anderson wrote an article on “Twitter Parties” for Examiner.com. She interviewed a friend of SocialWebCafe.com‘s, Kelli Miller, of 3boysandadog.com blog.

There are actually differences between Twitter Chats and Twitter Parties.

First, let’s talk about Twitter Chats…

Twitters Chat for Branding

One of the clearest points to see in the value of Twitter Chats, is branding. With chats that use hashtags such as #myBlogGuest and #BlogEngage, what do you think of first? Yes, the hashtag is the domain and, as such, gets you thinking of the brand, or at the least, asking yourself, what is that brand? As a continuation of that, beyond the textual hashtag, is the imagery. Wise Twitter Chat hosts and hostesses will use that imagery. For example, check out the image here, on this storify archive of a #SocialCafe. What do you see? The #SocialCafe logo, creating the imagery that will remind you of #SocialCafe and the SocialWebCafe.com when you see it.

SocialWebCafe.com

That is branding, creating a connection between the chat and the brand and vice versa, and keeping the brand re-visiting your thoughts. Great way for a company to create reminders for the customers and future customers!

Twitter Chats for Engagement

Twitter Chats are an excellent way for your customers or readers to feel connected to the company/client. It is a way for you, as the client, the brand, to show your customers and audience how much you care for them and care for their needs. It is also an opportunity for those tweeps (Twitter people/participants) to share and feel that they may be heard (and should be heard!). You want your tweeps to feel like they can share their thoughts and have a voice. This is a part of relationship building and is very essential in your business strategy.

Twitter Chats for Feedback

Along the same lines as engagement, is the aspect of feedback. Even if you post something on your site and request feedback, that doesn’t mean that you are going to get it. But, if it is a really bad idea and you happen to mention it in a Twitter Chat, chances are, your tweeps will already feel comfortable enough, because of the engagement and the relationships that you have built up, and that level of trust, that they will give you the feedback that you need to improve your web site, product, or service that you are offering. This feedback is priceless and could be the difference between making a lot of sales and bombing.

Twitter Chats for Repeat Business

Now, if we tie in the branding (remembering your company / your blog), and the engagement (building trust), and feedback (improving your products/services), we are headed toward repeat business. Think about it for a moment. If you offer product A and there is another company that also offers product A and your tweep is out of product A and needing to buy some more, who are they going to think of first? Are they going to remember the company that they bought from a year ago, or are they more likely to buy from you, as they just interacted with your brand favorably yesterday on the Twitter Chat.

Hey, cute packaging may be wonderful, but it is the engagement that is going to bring the customers back to you, not the pretty pink box with a bow on it.

Let’s listen (read) as Gail Gardner, of Growmap.com talks about Twitter Parties.

Gail Gardner: Twitter Chats and Twitter Parties.

So, there you have it, the difference between Twitter Chats and Twitter Parties. If you haven’t already done so, visit Twitter Chats and Twitter Parties: Differences? What Do They Cost? What Are the Benefits? Who Does Them? to read about Twitter Parties.