Reaction to our continuously updating webpage that analyzes the Twitter hashtag of the HR Technology® Conference and Exposition—#HRTechConf—has been universally positive. A few one-word reactions to the page, which we published last week, include “cool,” “wow!” and “woah.”
The webpage, http://hrmarketer.com/HRTechConf/, is a fun look at both the #HRTechConf conversation (including the top topics being discussed and the most-share content) and the people participating in it. We did a similar analysis for the truLondon event, http://hrmarketer.com/truLondon/. It's important, however, to point out that the information from a hashtag analysis isn't just interesting, it's also useful.
Here are six ways HCM providers can take advantage of the data made available via hashtag analysis (we use our analysis of the #HRTechConf hashtag as the example in the paragraphs below, but the lessons can also be applied to #truLondon, or any other event hashtag):
1. Participate in the conversation
The much-anticipated HR Technology Conference begins October 7, but the pre-event conversation has been going on for months. While there aren’t a huge number of people currently participating, many who are happen to be major HR influencers. And the conversation has spiked up over the last week, with more than 400 tweets using #HRTechConf in that span. Now is a great time to join in the conversation, as there is enough discussion taking place to make it worth your while, but not so much that it is hard to get noticed. When you do join in, do so in a thoughtful way (this is not an appropriate venue to try to make a sale) that adds to the conversation, and you can generate goodwill and begin to develop valuable relationships. One way to do this is to reference interesting content—either your own blog post about something related to HR technology or to comment on someone else’s interesting content. Another benefit: by using #HRTechConf in your tweets, you can get on our webpage’s leaderboard of the top-25 users of the hashtag.
2. Prepare for the conference by viewing top articles
Be prepared. It’s great to follow the Boy Scout motto as you get set to head to the conference, and a smart way to ready yourself for the show is to be familiar with the content HR influencers and experts are sharing and discussing. Our webpage includes links to the top 10 articles being linked to from tweets that include #HRTechConf; check those links from time to time to be in the know, instead of out of the loop, when it comes time to network at the conference. Also, it’s a good idea to comment on some of the content or share it on your social networks.
3. Use related hashtags to get more visibility for your tweets
Using the #HRTechConf hashtag is obviously a great idea to expand your Twitter audience (especially as the event gets closer), but it’s also good to use other appropriate related hashtags. We rank the top 25 hashtags used along with #HRTechConf to give you an idea of other hashtags you might want to consider using, both leading up to the conference and afterward. It’s also smart to familiarize yourself with these hashtags and their conversations. How much do you know about #DTHR, #HRevolution and #HRhappyhour?
4. Connect with influencers
The lists of top 25 users of the hashtag and the top 25 most-mentioned people and organizations include many people marketers might want to connect with. This might be as simple as just following them on Twitter, but the relationships can extend much further. You may even want to connect with them at the conference or elsewhere, and possibly even find a way to work with them. There are many great ways to harness the power of influencers; among these are getting them to share your content on social media, having them write content for you and arranging them to serve on your advisory board.
5. See what topics people are communicating about
We include a topic cloud of the most popular topic being discussed using #HRTechConf as well as a ranking of the top trending topics*. Chances are, if people are communicating about these topics in advance of the show, they will be talking about them at the show. It’s a good idea to time content on those topics for right before or during the show.
*Note: popular and trending are different concepts. This can be confusing, so here is a quick explanation. A topic is popular when many people are talking about it. A topic is trending when more people are communicating about it currently than were doing so previously. A trending topic need not be popular; likewise, a popular topic need not be trending, although it must have been trending at some point over time to have become popular. To give a real-world example, Britney Spears is still very popular, but she’s not making major news today and not trending. If she had a baby tomorrow, however, she would be both popular and trending.
6. Learn about the HR Twitterverse
The #HRTechConf discussion can be looked as a case study of the HR Twitterverse. You can see where people are located, how the number of tweets changes as the event gets closer and how the trending topics change from week to week. An example of an insight is that the conference is truly global, with tweets from Brazil, Ecuador, Holland, Australia, England, Mexico, India and Greece, among others; as a result, if you limit your visibility and sales efforts to North America, you might want to try to expand those efforts to other areas of the globe.
If you are interested in learning more about fisher VISTA and HRmarketer software and how we can analyze the HR data you care about (a certain hashtags(s), keyword topic, etc.) give us a call.
Related Content
- What a #Hashtag Tells Us: A Closer Look at #HRTechConf
- The Top HR Twitter #Hashtags
Labels: #HRTechConf, Eric Anderson, hashtags, HR Technology Conference and Exposition
