How much engagement are you getting on social media?
Your social media posts are nice and eye-catching, but is that converting into actual engagements that turn your viewers into prospects?
If yes, then great! You’re getting the right results from your social media posts.
If not, then maybe it’s time to review your posts and find the chinks in the chain.
One of the most important parts of a social media post is the “hashtag” you put on your posts.
Are your social media postings flooded with irrelevant #hashtags? If you don’t know how to use hashtags properly, your brand’s postings on social media may not get the social traction you’re looking for and might get lost in the clutter.
So, how can you expect your brand to connect with potential customers when you’re unaware of the hashtag do’s and don’ts on social media?
MYTH: Hashtags alone will do everything for you.
In the marketing world, hashtags are a part of social media strategy and customer participation. Simply pairing your postings with a ‘#’ alone won’t transform your company’s online presence. It’s important that you don’t just ‘hashtag away,’ but instead, know when and how to use it effectively.
We’ve got you covered!
What Is A Hashtag?
Hashtags are those words or phrases usually found at the end of posts with the pound or hash symbol ‘#’ before them. Tags don’t have spaces or punctuations, and are not case sensitive so you can apply uppercase and lowercase letters to them.
If you use a word or phrase and add the “#” symbol before it, you have created a hashtag. Social media users, influencers, and businesses use hashtags to invite and participate in a conversation.
Some examples of commonly used hashtags are #MondayMotivation, #Trending, or #MustRead, which allows the business to reach followers, and potential customers. It is also the best way to categorize your brand or content, making it easier to find on search engines.
Businesses on different platforms use hashtags for marketing campaigns and to organize their social media content. It’s important to create content that can be shared and appreciated by the people you are trying to reach with your tags. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and Instagram are only a few social media platforms that utilize the pound symbol ‘#,’ hashtag, and they all utilize them differently.
What are the Do’s and Don’ts of Hashtags?
Hashtags are only effective when you are mindful of how and why it works. Here is a quick overview of how you can maximize using these tags.
Hashtag Dos
- Use hashtags on different social media platforms dynamically. Though there are different factors when using hashtags on social media platforms, using ‘#’ lets you connect with users who might be interested in your social media postings. However, every platform has a different audience or users that should be considered when using the tag. Using relevant tags on your brand’s posts boosts your business’s online presence.
- Create Your Brand’s Official Hashtag. Be neat! Use an official hashtag that will highlight your product or services. Use your company name or create something catchy and unique to attract followers and continue to connect with you and other customers. Remember to add your brand’s official hashtag to most of your posts. It helps establish your brand and allows the consumers to find you quickly.
- Use Relevant and Specific Hashtags. Tags that are too vague and broad won’t catch the attention of social media users. You want your branding to be unique, relevant, concise, and engaging. Make sure to narrow it down to your branding voice and easier for your target consumers to find.
- Use Tags that are Concise, Simple, and Easy to Spell. If your target audience finds it difficult to understand or even spell, how can you presume they find your brand quickly? Complicated hashtag words could only lead to user confusion. Base your tags on simple yet definitive that it describes your brand’s purpose. This also helps you increase your followers and maximizes your brand’s social media content.
Hashtag Don’ts
- Do Not Use Hash tags Excessively. The more, the merrier may be a famous saying, but it doesn’t apply in the hashtag’s case.
#You #Wouldnt #Want #Your #Posts #To #Look #Jumbled.
Excessive hash tagging may be considered ‘spam.’ In addition, not all users will be happy to see social media posts flooded with irrelevant tags. It only distracts the followers and may not set the brand’s right focus. The only platform where lots of hashtags should be used is Instagram. On Instagram, we recommend using 30 meaningful hashtags, either in your caption or the post comments.
- Don’t make your hash tags too long. You’re making a hashtag, not a sentence. Clever and witty hashtags are always short, simple, and very easy to remember.
#StopPuttingTooMuchIrrelevantInformation.
- Make sure your account is public. Hashtags won’t do you any good on a private account, and this makes it so that others won’t see your account besides your followers. Your hashtags won’t reach the public. The goal is to increase social media engagement. That won’t happen if your viewers are limited to your followers only.
- Don’t break your hashtags. Putting spaces or punctuations between phrases reduces the effectiveness of your tags.
Hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
MYTH: Instagram Hashtags work better in the comments than in the caption
TRUTH: It actually doesn’t matter too much where you put your hashtags. This study from Agorapulse Social Media Lab showed 29.41% higher reach when simply putting the tags in the original posts.
Instagram feed posts are the most popular places to use hashtags, so whether you place your hashtags in your caption or hiding them in the comment section, just make sure you are using all 30 and using a variety of sizes:
- 5 unique hashtags (0-5k)
- 10 low competition hashtags (5k-250k)
- 10 engaged hashtags (250k-700k)
- 5 popular hashtags (over 700K)
Instagram’s Explore section allows you to find relevant information, whether it’s for products, influencers, or search by subject. You can follow the hashtags that are within your interest and industry and engage with other accounts to boost your own engagement. Adding overused tags will render your hashtag ineffective. Using strictly popular tags may break your brand’s connection to the public, especially if you use the same hashtags on cross-post status updates.
Hashtags can also be used in Facebook posts, but are most commonly used to group content in Facebook’s groups. An important feature to note, you can also find Facebook hashtags through their search bar, clicking hashtags to see other Facebook posts, but it is not as common as on Instagram. Using one or two tags on Facebook and Linkedin can be useful for branding purposes, and prepares you for when/if Hashtags become more popular on Facebook.
TIP: Don’t use the same 30 hashtags on Facebook as you do on Instagram. It can come off lazy and users are turned off. Instead, choose the best one or two that are either post specific or your branding hashtags and use them at the bottom of your Facebook caption.
You can grow a following by using hashtags strategically on Twitter. In addition, most Twitter users include short phrase hashtags, making them easy to remember and spell. This can help your brand to be discovered by millions of Twitter users quickly. Check out those ‘Treading’ Hashtags and see how you can use them to your benefit!
While LinkedIn can be considered a professional networking site, this social media platform also uses hash tags. Though it may not be the best place to overhype or overuse your tags, LinkedIn will boost your online presence across different companies or other interested parties when using the right hashtag strategy.
HoopJumper Social actually creates a hashtag strategy for each client and implements it correctly across these platforms. Schedule a complimentary consultation call with HoopJumper to help you with your social media marketing goals.
HoopJumper Optimizes Your Social Media Hashtags
Excellent social media marketing for your company is a must. Selling your brand and boosting social media engagement isn’t just a simple click on the internet. Start hashtagging now with a designated team that will monitor your company’s social media engagement and progress. Hashtags can help your company gain popularity and maybe we can start to see your company on the #trending list.
Our team at Hoopjumper will make sure the hashtags on your posts are optimized and effective. With the potential to increase engagement and reach new people, hashtags are an essential part of a good social media strategy. We can help you use them to build brand awareness and more.
#SignUpNow! Schedule a call with our Social Media Specialist to discuss and decide the best course of action for you.