Thursdays with Amanda: How to Run a Successful Twitter Party

Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent.

So now that we know what Twitter parties are, here are some tips on how to make one a success:

1. Set the parameters. When will the party take place? Who are the hosts? What are the prizes? What is the incentive to attend? Just like throwing any birthday party, baby shower or graduation open house, these questions need to be thought out beforehand. The more specific the answers, the better.
2. Advertise like crazy. An entire marketing plan should be devised to advertise the party. You don’t want to just put it up on your blog and then Tweet it a few times and expect a huge turnout. Ask other bloggers to feature your official invite (have something like a digital flyer professionally designed) and create a retweet strategy that encourages Twitter users to share the news. (Maybe those who retweet your party invite Tweet get entered twice in one of the party drawings). Be creative, but be intentional. And don’t start advertising too far in advance. If the party is on Friday, begin advertising that Monday.
3. Be a good host. This involves some organization and planning, but the idea is that you want to keep things moving. To do so…A) open and close the party on time, B) if a large party, don’t feel as though you have to be part of every conversation, but if a small party, feel free to greet participants by name, C) keep discussion moving, stay “on topic” and on time with your planned giveaways or featured guest interviews, D) don’t go dead on air–this means have the husband or the wife watch the kids during an evening party, and E) don’t plan for the party to go longer than 1-2 hours.
4. Be an effective host. You may have the organization down pat, but these things will ensure that YOUR ultimate goal of both awareness and buzz will be achieved…A) always use the hashtag in all of your party tweets, and encourage others to do the same, B) consider offering a giveaway or some sort of incentive every 15 minutes, C) research common hashtags and keywords that you can incorporate in your party Tweets–this will help draw in lurkers, D) use these terms and hashtags in your Tweets for maximum impact (for example, if giving away an iPad, be sure to say “#free iPad” as much as you can), and E) plan or write some of your Tweets in advance so that you aren’t fumbling for the right words and hitting the character count limit.

There’s plenty more where this came from, but it’s a start. Any things to add?