How to use hashtags for social media marketing
It seems like only yesterday when we first saw hashtags used on social media and had to explain to our parents that we no longer call it a pound sign, but the first use of the hashtag on Twitter was nearly 14 years ago. What?! Yes, fourteen. With the rapid expansion and constant improvements in social media, marketers are asking themselves one thing:
Hashtags? Are these still a thing?
Yes! And if you’re not using them, you’re really missing out on easy and quick opportunities for branding continuity, fostering community, and campaign tracking. And, though those little # phrases are often left at the bottom of your post behind all of your “important” text, hashtags are actually and essential part of content discovery for social media marketing and not an afterthought.
Ok, we’ve come to the understanding that you should use hashtags, now let’s discuss how. There are countless articles on the ways to effectively use hashtags and why it’s important to do so, and it’s enough info and statistics to drive a person crazy, so I stick to three very simple categories for use:
- Brand Hashtags
Brand hashtags are a way to promote your business in an easily identifiable way that is unique to your business. This is who you are, and when clients and followers are searching for your work online, your unique brand hashtag is a way to amplify your message and create ease for your audience in their search for what you do and who you are.
Example: #Apple - Community Hashtags
Have you ever felt alone or wanted to join a collective of others who know who and what you are? Your clients have those feelings, as well, and adding a hashtag allows you to build a community around your customer base and enable your audience to feel included.
Linking your business to a hashtag that identifies your target audience is an interesting and easy way to bring people together to share ideas, commiserate, promote, and grow a community that relies on your service and insight.
Example: #attorneys, #legalmarketers, #lawstudent - Campaign Hashtags
The seemingly ubiquitous hashtags might appear to be unruly and disorganized, and we certainly all know that person who #hastags #everything #they #write #online. #AmIRight? Those annoying and unintentional hashtags are not what we’re talking about here.
Just like a brand hashtag, a campaign hashtag can be incredibly effective, as we’ve seen in some of the most successful and widely used campaigns.
So, how do you use a campaign hashtag? This one is actually pretty influential when your audience uses them more than you do.
In the age where social media fame can garner a six-figure salary, more and more folks are looking to be seen online, and the means for recognition are often participation in campaigns.
Inviting your audience to post their own photos and your sharing of those photos and posts can easily make your business campaign go viral. To do this, you have to really spell it out for your audience—tell them the hashtag to use, how to use it, and you can even offer prizes and varied forms of recognition for doing so. The best part of this strategy is that it really takes the work off of you and allows your client base to do the talking.
Example: #icebucketchallenge, #SXSW, #COVID
These 3 categories of hashtags are a great way to develop strategy for your business to expand its presence online. You may still be wondering how or why you should use hashtags, and that’s actually a good starting point to evaluate your marketing strategies and create a path for intentional, consistent marketing.
