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Why #Hashtags Matter
Kochie's Business Builders
Check out the benefits of hashtags, as well as some simple hashtag etiquette.
Hashtags started back in 2007 when Twitter users spontaneously started using them to categorise tweets. Since then they’ve spread to most of the main social media sites, including Tumblr, Flickr, Instagram and Facebook.
You might be interested to know that 97 per cent of the World’s Top 100 Brands use hashtags on their social media channels. The White House has even been known to use Twitter to test out content for their State of the Union addresses and find out which catchphrases are likely to capture the public’s attention (and votes!).
So What Exactly Is A #Hashtag?
A hashtag is a word or phrase written as one word with a hash symbol (“#”) attached to the front of it e.g. #fitness. The purpose is to help collate all the tweets or posts about a specific topic in one place so that people can get updates or keep informed.
Below are my top 7 tips for driving engagement using hashtags, gaining new followers, and promoting events, as well as some simple dos and don’ts regarding the unspoken rules of #hashtagetiquette.
1. Short And Sparingly Is Best
Given that a typical tweet only allows you 140 characters to get your message across you don’t want to take all of that up with a hashtag. Be as simple and direct as you can.
For example instead of writing #smallbusinessmarketingtactics, you could say #marketinghacks or #smallbiz. You don’t need to communicate the whole message in the hashtag.
Also, one or two hashtags per tweet or post is more than enough. Any more confuses the audience, or, at worst, reeks of desperate marketing, and results in you losing followers faster than you can blink.
2. Use A Hashtag And A Link Together
Studies have shown that messages with hashtags have a 12 per cent higher engagement rate than just tweets alone, however even more effective still is combining a link and a hashtag together.
Tweets with the highest engagement rate (as measured by favourites, replies and retweets) were those that included both a hashtag and a link.
3. Utilise Popular Existing Hashtags
You don’t always need to reinvent the wheel. Using hashtags that are already popular can help you gain a new audience of followers very quickly.
However, there is an important caveat to be aware of: you should never use a hashtag that is unrelated to your business. This is as bad as spamming and can seriously damages your brand identity. However, you will be surprised by how many existing hashtags there are that are relevant to your company.
Radio stations, record labels and CD stores could all take advantage of #musicmonday, while restauranteurs might want to show off pictures or recipes of their food for #tastytuesday. Find out what trends to join in on using Twubs, an online hashtag directory.
4. Start Your Own Hashtags With Calls To Action
The reason hashtags can become so instantly popular is that they build a sense of community and get people involved. When starting off a new hashtag, it usually helps to make that hashtag interactive, or tied in to a competition.
For example, you could pose a question to your audience, like “What’s your favourite new release movie? Tweet using #moviemadness to win a double pass for you and a friend at ABC Cinema!”
Hashtags that are used to answer a question can also give you show useful information on what is of concern or interest to your target market, so you can better serve your customers.
5. Use Your Hashtags Across All Social Media Platforms
With most social networks having embraced hashtags now, you can easily launch cross-channel campaigns. The hashtag(s) you pick will connect all your advertising on various platforms together and can help you drive conversation, and garner attention for your brands.
You can organise all your hashtags in one place and manage your entire social media campaigns on dashboards like Hootsuite which are packed with useful tracking devices and tools, including the ability the ability to schedule tweets for specific time of day.
6. Test Your Message
Sometimes before settling on a hashtag it can be useful to try out several hashtags and rotate them on Twitter or Facebook for a couple of days and see which ones get a response. Once you can see what is popular, ditch the ones that aren’t working.
You can also test your hashtags on Facebook without getting the public involved. Switch your profile status to “Only Me” then put some different hashtags in updates, publish them and see what comes up. You will notice if you do this that hashtags that are vague like #Say #Hello #You #Help etc will return lots of irrelevant information.
Always remember to delete these afterwards and set your profile back to “public”.
7.Tie In Hashtags To Significant Events
In the U.S. lots of companies have experienced mind-boggling success linking hashtags into important sporting and cultural events like the Super Bowl. Esurance launched a hashtag during a Super Bowl ad and several minutes later had more than 40,000 new followers.
Finally, hashtags don’t have to be all serious business. Many of the companies that experience the greatest success with hashtags, use humour and levity. Have fun experimenting and see what works.
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