By Charles S. Mombo
#SeeMombo, #WWCLICK, #CharlesSMombo

The # symbol before a word is called a hashtag (an example of a hashtag - #SeeMombo), is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created by Twitter users as a way to categorize Twitter’s entries/messages. Hashtags are also used to create real time tracking records of keywords, groups or content on twitter.

I was recently talking to a brilliant Sierra Leonean friend of mine who holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and recently launched his full line of beauty products. From a production prospective, my friend is great at what he does. As a matter of fact, his products are comparable or even better than most of the so-called celebrities’ name brands on the shelves of some of the prestigious department stores.  My friend’s problem is when it comes to strategic marketing, search engine optimization or social media marketing he doesn’t have a clue. He still believes that door-to-door sales are the primary means of penetrating a market that is already saturated with major competitors. His marketing strategy and assumptions couldn't be further from the truth.

The reality is that to run a successful small business one does not need to have a MBA or know anything about Porter’s 5 Forces, SWOT Analysis or the BCG Method. It is however the business owner’s responsibility to seek help in areas in which their straights are lacking.

The rapidly growing phenomenon of backchannel cannot and should not be ignored by businesses. Backchannel is nothing new and has been around since you were in kindergarten. You probably took part in it while you were in grammar school.  As an example: A third grader was taken to the principal's office after he passed a drawing of the teacher around the class showing her with very big ears, a big nose and a mouth with very big teeth. Although unaware of it at the time, students in the class were using backchannel minus social media (Twitter).

When it comes to backchanneling and social media marketing, at the very least, every business should have a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter page with the business’ unique hashtag – all of which could be obtained for FREE and without paying a penny.

What are Hashtags?

The # symbol before a word is called a hashtag (an example of a hashtag – #SeeMombo), is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created by Twitter users as a way to categorize Twitter’s entries/messages. Hashtags are also used to create real time tracking records of keywords, groups or content on twitter. Twitter does not have a dictionary therefore by searching the # sign in front of keywords or targeted groups makes it easy to track all conversations in the twitter timeline via search. You must have a hastag to use Twitter as a backchannel.

What is Backchannel?

Backchannel communication is a secondary conversation that takes place at the same time as a lecture or speaker presents his/her topic. It is a silent conversation. It is a flow of multiple streams of information and outward to the rest of the world outside of the main meeting room. Anyone can run a Twitter search to review all the backchannel tweets related to that event. For example, #WWCLICK and #WordPress were the hashtags we provided to users at our WordPress’ workshop several months ago. Here is an example of a tweet posted by one of those in the audience during our last workshop: “WOW! I’m learning a lot from @CharlesSMombo about #WordPress at #WWCLICK.” We noticed that the user who posted the above tweet had about 10,000 Twitter followers. Although we had only 112 people in the audience during the time of the workshop, there is a very strong possibility that we did reached about 10,112 people. As a matter of fact, the user’s tweet was reposted by several others of her followers.

What is Social Media?

Social media includes the various online tools that enable people and businesses to communicate easily via the Internet while sharing information and resources. Social media falls into two categories: Social bookmarking and social networking. Social bookmarking sites allow users to share a large depository of submitted articles on every topics etc. Activities on social networking sites happen in real-time. An example of a social bookmarking website is StumbleUpon.com and an example of a social networking website is Facebook.com.

Backchannel does provide the possibility of reaching thousands of prospective customers for FREE – take advantage of it. As stated earlier, a hashtag is a MUST for a for a Twitter backchannel to exist. Open a Tweeter account and add your hashtag to the signature of your outgoing email and all other corresponding? Make sure that you newly created hashtags aren’t already being used by someone else. Do a quick search for your intended hashtag on http://search.twitter.com before adopting it.

Oh, by the way, do follow us at @SeeMombo, @WWCLICK, and @CharlesSMombo.

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