Social media platforms have become so trendy that basically, every person on this planet knows at least one. In 2020, there were 3.8 billion users of social media or half of the world’s total population. There is a large number of social media platforms on the internet; Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter are some of them, and the number keeps growing each year. Nowadays, you will hardly see people who don’t use social media. It has become part of our lifestyle. Although these days everyone uses social media, including businesses, your firm can benefit the most if you know what these platforms are and what they can actually do. Using social media growth tools, having good content and using hashtags correctly are three important aspects. Staying with the latter, here is how to drive your business growth with #hashtags.
In 2020, there were 3.8 billion users of social media or half of the world’s total population
In 2020, there were 3.8 billion users of social media or half of the world’s total population
What is a hashtag?
Hashtags are an essential part of today’s social media, with the all too familiar “#” symbol. A hashtag is a descriptive label for content, which helps everyone interested in a particular subject find the content that matches the searched topic. One example of a hashtag looks like this: #LandscapeArt and anyone who is interested in this topic will quickly find content connected to it on the same social media. Hashtags are commonly used on these platforms. They rose to fame on Twitter in 2007 and rapidly spread to other social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Google+. Originally, hashtags were used to label world events and trending topics, but over time, small businesses have come to the idea of using them for their promotion and figured out resourceful ways to use hashtags.
They rose to fame on Twitter in 2007 and rapidly spread to other social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Google+.
They rose to fame on Twitter in 2007 and rapidly spread to other social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Google+.
Why are they important to use
Hashtags are an important part of a social media marketing strategy and can make or break it, depending on how you use them. If you use them properly, your posts will be seen by more people that are possibly interested in your brand and products. This can mean a few, or even more than a few extra followers and potential customers, depending on your resourcefulness. On the other hand, if you misuse them, you can do damage, from irritating your potential followers to getting penalized by social media’s algorithm. It is important to understand hashtags, how they can work for you, and think of an excellent strategy to make effective use of them. They should not be underrated, as they are significant to expand your audience on a social network. When you use a hashtag, another page dedicated to that hashtag displays your post; if you use it on your Story, it will be added to the relevant hashtag Story shown on the hashtag page. People on social media can follow hashtags depending on what they are interested in, which means they could see your hashtagged post in their feed, whether they are following you or not.
If you misuse them, you can do damage, from irritating your potential followers to getting penalized by social media’s algorithm.
If you misuse them, you can do damage, from irritating your potential followers to getting penalized by social media’s algorithm.
How long should a hashtag be
We will start first by talking about good practice. First, use proper hashtag etiquette on each social network, as they differ from one social media to another. Secondly, use hashtags that suit your message, content, audience, your brand. If you are creating a promotion, create its hashtag. Keep your hashtags short and sweet, as some social networks such as Twitter allow only up to 140 characters. Remember, the first letter of every word need to be capitalised as it helps the audience distinguish words in a single hashtag phrase (#CapitalizeYourLetters). If you use Twitter, use hashtags in Twitter chats to build a relationship with your audience. Now, let’s focus on the mistakes. Don’t use punctuation or spaces, as only the first word will be displayed in a hashtag. Don’t use the @ symbol as it will tag the user, and you will not create a hashtag. Too many hashtags are a mistake, especially if they have no essential meaning to your topic. Be careful how you write your hashtags because if you write them wrong, they won’t link to your content’s preferred topic.
Types of hashtags
There are nine specific types of hashtags:
- Product/service hashtags: These provide a basic description of your products or services like #shoes or #catering.
- Niche hashtags: These describe your part of the businesses #foodblogger or #travelblogger
- Special event hashtags: Used to refer to real holidays like #summerdays or some other like #NationalNailPolishDay
- Industry Instagram community hashtags: To find communities of your industry, you use hashtags like #CraftersOfInstagram
- Location hashtags: These will help you refer to your location, even if you geotag your post. Some examples are #londoneats or #vancouvercraftbeer
- Daily hashtags: They describe events on certain days in a fun way, like #MondayBlues or even #SundayFunday
- Relevant phrase hashtags: These are important as they combine the elements of a product, niche, and community hashtags in one and are mainly used to connect communities in a subtle insider way.
- Acronym hashtags: Usually used to refer to well-known acronyms such as #TBT for throwback Thursday or #OOTD for outfit of the day.
- Emoji hashtags: They can have their own emojis such as #???? or phrases and words attached to it like #sunglasses????
Branded hashtags are also a fantastic alternative for businesses on social media as you can create your own brand or campaign. Although effectiveness depends on your business’s nature, you can combine these types of mentioned hashtags in various ways. Use business insight (like Business Suite or Instagram insight) to help you see which hashtags work the best for your business.
