9th Way Ohio Political Candidates Can ROCK Their Social Media

In early 2011, I asked the question, “Do Ohio Elected Officials Kick Social Media Butt?”  I extended an open invitation to all Ohio political candidates on the ballot for the November 2011 election – and again for the May Primary – to submit a guest post to help citizens become aware of their platform.  That original post inspired a series of informational posts.  This is the ninth in the series on how Ohio Political Candidates can ROCK Their Social Media.

For those finding this post first, here are the first eight ways:

• Your Blog is Your Social Media HQ.
• Groovy Graphics, Baby!
• Your Essential Social Networks.
• It’s Not Broadcasting!
• Draft to Win.
• Challenge the Electile Dysfunction.
• Enlist & empower social media-ites.
• Be Likeable AND Sendable.

So what's the 9th way Ohio political candidates can ROCK their social media?

Tweet & Hash!

Huh?

Let me explain...

Tweet

As a political candidate, you will attending and speaking at many events.  These occasions are perfect opportunities to tweet terrific tellings of what you're up to.

Said another way: Twitter out some juicy details to your constituents.

There are a few ways to go about this:

• Do it yourself.
• Have someone do it for you.
• Encourage many to do it WITH you!

Optimally, you'll have a plan that includes all three.

A few things happen by tweeting out tidbits of information along your campaign trail:

• You draw interest to yourself.
• You entice your audience to engage with you.
• You encourage your followers to ask questions.
• You increase your social presence online.

Now, some political candidates don't like questions.  But, logically, if people are asking questions, at least they have interest and want to know more about you.

This shows they want to engage in conversation with you.  Which should be your goal so your constituents will remember you and vote for you on election day.

Here's an example - A collection of my tweets from yesterday evening's Keynote presentation by Jeremiah Owyang at Social Media Success Summit 2011:

Pretty cool?

To increase engagement, I did a shout-out to my Facebook fans to let them know I would be tweeting insights from the event.

To the right, is an example of such a post and Facebook Fan interaction.  You'll see I'm encouraging fans to hop on board for some exciting Social Media Success Summit sessions happening this evening.

Hash

In the tweet collection above, did you notice the "#smss11" within each tweet?

That is the official "hashtag" for the Social Media Success Summit 2011 event.

A hashtag is an identifier -- A way to easily find a topic on Twitter and interact with folks of similar interest.

If you click on the #smss11, you will be directed to all the real-time tweets for the event (they'll be twittered out all month!).

To maximize the effects of  Twitter efforts, political candidates should create a #hashtag for themselves and use it throughout their campaign.

This encourages the following:

• An easy way to find and curate tweets.
• Intrigue about your campaign and the conversation.
• Gradual increase in followers as they adopt the hashtag too.

To ensure you choose a hashtag not already in use, you can search a Twitter hashtag directory.

So Tweet & Hash!

1) Utilize Twitter to inform your constituents along your campaign trail.

2) Use a #hashtag to make your tweets more identifiable and increase your followers.

So...

What did you think of the curated tweets on Storify above?

Do you have questions about choosing Twitter hashtags?

Tweet me, or tell me your curiosities in the box below! :)

Disclosure: I am an affiliate of the Social Media Success Summit 2011 event.