Since its first use in 2007, the hashtag has spread from Twitter to almost all major social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, and even Vine. With hashtags pervasive everywhere, let’s take a look at how your brand can use hashtags with success, on any kind of social media.
What do Hashtags do
Hashtags have a number of uses, and it’s crucial to understand their purpose. You can use a hashtag to improve searchability, to tap into trends, to create a conversation around your brand, or to inject a bit of humour into your post (or of all of these at the same time!). It depends on your objective.
Searchability
It’s worth restating: hashtags improve your searchability. On social media networks, where there are reams and reams of information to sift through, users often search for certain hashtags that correspond to their demands and desires. By using a hashtag, you can tap into a popular conversation that is relevant to your brand and become a key contributor to that conversation’s shape and consequences. It’s a whole new way of thinking about categorisation, and a great way to give your posts more exposure.
Start the Conversation
By creating a hashtag to associate with a product, campaign, or event, you give users (and yourself) a way to keep a conversation going with your brand.
LOL
Hashtags can be added for comedic value – in this way, they can function much like the punchline of a joke. While you should be careful about being offensive or cheesy, some brands have had a lot of success.
Too Many Hashtags
Be careful about how many hashtags you use in your brand’s posts. Just as using too many hashtags is generally considered bad form on personal profiles, it applies doubly for brands. Abusing hashtags is bad practice, and a major red flag for users, regardless of network. Keep your Tweets, Posts, Instagrams, and Vines on a spare hashtag diet, and you’ll be just fine. Including too many, and you might see your users turning away from your content, regardless of its quality.
