A strong social media presence is a great way to scale your business in the means of both financial term and customer satisfaction.
Social hubs like Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok and Tumblr, etc have thousands and thousands of potential customers waiting to behold your soon-to-be-come brand.
But, a strong and sturdy social media presence requires one crucial thing, engagement and sometimes it can be hard to get the likes and comments and getting your post to the right people who would do these things.
A precise usage of Hashtags can increase the engagement on all your social media. Hashtags can be one of those things that seem complex and difficult to use at first but, once you start getting the hang of it the results will start pouring in slowly but surely.
Hashtags are a way to group content and conversations around a specific topic making them much easy for people to find the content that interests them.
Instagram and Twitter are the networks where hashtags are the most popular but they can be used pretty much on any social media. But hashtags are more than just posting a picture of latte with #coffee. Hashtags are a double edged sword. Not using the right hashtags and using them incorrectly can do more harm than good to your brand and ultimately drag you down. An effective social media strategy consists of a mix of widely used, related and branded hashtags. This post will break down the basics of hashtags and why you should use them and
other crucial elements.
You will also learn:
- What hashtags work best for your brand.
- Why using the popular Hashtags isn’t necessarily the best choice.
- Essential tips on how to use them across the vast land of social media.
Let’s go.
What is a Hashtag?
The pound symbol on your keyboard (also called an octothorpe) was at first utilised to mark numbers. The first use of the Hashtag was in summer of 2007 by Chris Messina. That is when the web marketing specialist walked into Twitter’s office with an idea. He suggested because of the platforms brevity, they start using the pound symbol to group related tweets together. And the rest is history. Since then the the use of hashtags, their effectiveness and reach has only grown in Social Media. To put it simply, hashtags are a way to group social media content around a specific topic, theme or conversation so that like minded people find them with ease.
Hashtag Basics
They always start with #. They won’t work if there is a space, punctuation or a symbol Don’t use too many hashtags. More isn’t always better instead it looks spammy. Make sure your account is public. If it isn’t it won’t be seen by non followers. Don’t attach too many words. Best hashtags are those that are simple and easy to remember. Use related and specific hashtags. If its complex it won’t be seen and used by other users.
Why use Hashtags?
Hashtags are a great way to connect with like minded people. If you are a business you can use hashtags to promote your product or services. Hashtags are great for increasing awareness for a cause or to start a conversation. Hashtags are also great for keeping up with trends and breaking news. Here are some reasons you should use hashtags in your social media strategy.
1. Boost Engagement
Attaching hashtags to your posts means taking part in a conversation happening in that Social Media. The best part is that, it is visible to other people involved in that conversation.
This increases engagement through likes, comments and shares.
2. Branded Hashtags are Powerful
Using branded hashtags are an effective way to promote your brand and drive conversions. For example, #PlayInside a popular hashtag launched by Nike in 2020 when people were stuck in their homes. As of now #PlayInside is featured on more than 68,000 posts, a big number!
3. Show Social Support
Using a hashtag that is connected to an issue beyond that of your brand Is a way to assemble behind a cause. For example, 2021’s most popular retweet is from the Kpop sensation BTS who took to Twitter with the message #StopAsianHate.
4. Add Context to Your Post
On Twitter we don’t have a lot of space to write a caption. And on Instagram longer captions aren’t the most effective. Same with Facebook, Pinterest, Linkedin or any other Social Media. Using hashtags can simply add context to the topic of your post. Without taking up much space and using repetitive words.
5. Find Your Targeted Audience and Vice Versa
On social media like Instagram and Linkedin, users can follow Hashtags as well as other users. Using one or two popular Hashtags can be a way to help people discover your brand. For example, if a person follows #fashion and you use that on your posts, your posts might appear in that person’s feed and he may follow you.
Popular Hashtags are Not The Best
The popular hashtags in the platform aren’t always the best choice to use. They look spammy too and that’s a big no. For example, #fashion on Instagram has more than 800 million posts but, these kind of Hashtags don’t hook followers and add no meaning to your content so these aren’t useful.
But hey, don’t just throw away all the popular hashtags out the window. Using daily hashtags like #throwbackthursday can be an exciting way for your Brand to engage in a widespread conversation. There are billions of posts that are using popular hashtags but they aren’t niche to an industry or theme. Try to find specific hashtags that work and represents your brand.
Disclose Brand Partnership
This is a must-read part for influencer and brands who often work with influencers. When influencers work with brands, they have to let the audience know that a content is sponsored. This is a law that the FTC ( Federal Trade Commission ) released in 2019. Influencer: Make sure to always add an Hashtag indicating a sponsored post. For example, #sponsored. Brands: Make sure that a Hashtag indicating a sponsor is present when working with brands.
How Do You Find The Best Hashtags To Use
To find Hashtags that work well for your brand, Industry, niche and audience you will have to start by doing some research
1. Analyze Your Social Media Competition and Influencers
Start by doing a competitive analysis. Gather info about your competitors and influencers within your brand’s niche. By learning how many hashtags they use and the ones they use the most often in each of their post, you will find out how your competition engages with your shared target audience.
2. Know Which Hashtags are Trending
RiteTag is a tool that allows you to upload the photo and social media caption that you are gonna use. It generates trending hashtags based on the input content. Now, you can choose the hashtags to get your posts eventually seen by other people. Click on the “Get Report” button to get a elaborated analysis of the hashtags presented before you.
3. Use a Social Media Listening Tool
A social media listening tool allows you to utilize search streams and find out what Hashtags are the best for every Social Media presence you have. In a less formal term, listening tools help you find the best and the most effective Hashtags for your content.
4. Use Related Hashtags
If you have a good control of which hashtags are doing good for your Brand then consider using related hashtags. Now, These might be a little more specific than the popular hashtags you have been using but they will also help you find a more specific audience.
5. Analyze What Hashtags Worked in Past Posts
Keep track of what hashtags you have used in your previous social media content. See what posts are the most popular then, analyze if there is a trend with the hashtags you’ve put to use. If you notice notice trend of same hashtags being used in your popular posts, then make sure include them in your new posts.
Increase Organic Reach with Hashtags
For example, if you are an architect and you use #architect on your posts. Someone is looking for your services may cross paths with your post. The most effective way to increase your organic reach with hashtags is to use the ones that compliment your brand, industry and theme.
How To Use Hashtags on every Social Media
Here is how you use hashtags on every Social media:
Twitter Hashtags
Recommended Number Of Hashtags:
1-2
Hashtag Guide:
On Twitter, hashtag can be used just about anywhere. In the start, at the end to add context, or in the middle of the tweet highlight a keyword. Hashtags can be added in your bio, in your replies and in the comments when you
retweet.
Instagram Hashtags
Recommended number Of Hashtags:
3-5
Hashtag Guide:
Include your hashtags after writing a caption on your post or you could also put them as the first comment so that people can focus more in the caption. Upto 10 hashtags can also be added in your stories but stories are no longer shown in hashtag pages or to people who follow that tag. Hashtags won’t help get your stories to audiences but you can still make use of them to add context.
Facebook Hashtags
Recommended number Of Hashtags:
2-3
Hashtag Guide:
You can use hashtags in any part of your Facebook post or like Instagram in the comments too. Hashtags are also very useful in fixing content together in private Facebook groups by topic or theme. This is a very important thing for brands as Facebook groups continue to rise in immense popularity.
YouTube Hashtags
Recommended Number Of Hashtags:
3-5
Hashtag Guide:
You can include hashtags in the YouTube video title of your brand and also in the description. Clicking on the hyperlinked that will take you to a feed piled with other videos to that also use that hashtag. If you don’t have any hashtags included in your video title then, the the first three hashtags in the description of the video will be shown above the title of the video.
LinkedIn Hashtags
Recommended Number Of Hashtags:
1-5
Hashtags Guide:
You may use hashtags in any part your of your brand’s LinkedIn post. Find the trending hashtags of the platform in the “news and views” section. Get hashtag support from the social media as you write an update. Keep in mind, LinkedIn is an professional platform so, keep your hashtags professional too.
Pinterest Hashtags
Recommended Number Of Hashtags:
2-5
Hashtag Guide:
Pinterest is considered more of a keyword. But, if hashtags used correctly can give your brand an extra boost. Add Pinterest hashtags when when writing a pin description or in a written written description when repinning. When you create a new pin, Pinterest also offers hashtags suggestions( in the mobile version only ). Use the hashtags that are specific, searchable and contain relevant keywords.
TikTok Hashtags
Recommended Number Of Hashtags:
3-5
Hashtag Guide:
On TikTok, hashtags can be found in the “Discover” section or in video descriptions. Use a combination of niche, trending and hashtags that
