How To Twitter: Using Hashtags at San Diego Comic-Con

July 19th, 2012 by Search Influence Alumni

Since I’m an Level 9000 bona fide nerd, I traveled to San Diego last weekend to celebrate Comic-Con. Of course, I took lots of pictures of what was going on when I was there. If you don’t already know, you can join the Twitter party of any major event by using the hashtag associated with it. This year’s Comic-Con used #SDCC — by hashtagging all of my related tweets, I was able to add my feedback to the public conversation about the convention, which anyone looking for the hashtag can read. If one of the people that reads one of my tweets wants to know more about me (or my business!), they might just follow me. What a neat way to network, right? (Don’t forget to check the “wrong” hashtags, too. It’s definitely not called “San Diego Comiccon“, but a lot of people searching the internet think it is.)

Another key to getting involved in hashtags is trending. On Twitter’s Discover page, you can always see a list of the most popular hashtags for any given day. If you can get enough people talking about your topic, it will trend. While this is no small feat, it does mean TONS of exposure for you … not to mention for your business. If you have a strong Twitter following, it’s well worth it to engage your user base and ask them to use the hashtag if you are trying to promote an event. The best part about promotion like this is that it’s completely free, and you’re using one of the most popular social platforms out there today. What a deal!

Of course, hashtags aren’t the only way to show your participation in an event. In the last few years, Tweetups have been popular, which are basically in-person meetups of your Twitter followers. It’s a great way to unify people and allow internet friends to meet in real life. It’s also an excellent way to meet business contacts.

While hashtags like this are priceless way to be included in any event’s buzz, there’s no reason you can’t create your own as well. Geek goddess Felicia Day has put her own Twitter to work in this way, promoting several events, including her own @GeekandSundry project. Since Day has well over a million followers, plenty of people are listening.

So how do you use Twitter hashtags on your own to best take advantage of the trend? If you’re at an event, make sure to find out what the hashtag is (and make sure its the right one!). Once you do, make a point of adding it to the end of all your tweets. That way, when people click the hashtag, they will see what you have to say along with everyone else.

Want to create your own hashtag for an event? Make sure to keep it short. The easier it is to type, the more likely people will use it. Up to the date of your event, announce the hashtag and ask your followers to retweet it. That way, once your event begins, they will already know what to expect. If you’re lucky, they’ll use it too, and the more of them that do, the closer you are to that sweet high of a trending hashtag.