In the present times, hashtags have become a vital element of each and every popular social media channel. Hashtags are popular and will remain so due to the value they provide.
Basically, hashtags help people discover new information on different topics.
Studies have shown that businesses which use hashtags on Twitter and Instagram are improving their engagement rates up to 12.6%.
That may not look like a big deal, however, this percentage will highly influence your long-term social marketing performance.
If you want to work with hashtags and do it efficiently, know that it will require a little bit of knowledge, practice, testing, and most importantly, absolute consistency on your part.
In today’s post, we’re showing you several insightful practices that will boost the impact of your social media presence and will improve your brand’s reach.
And don’t delay…the faster you start practicing, the faster you’ll obtain favorable results. Let’s get started.
1. Unique, Relevant, and Memorable
Just like with content, your hashtags have to be unique, relevant, and memorable.
Unique
I’m not talking about finding words that have never been used, because you’ll never find any.
I’m talking about choosing keywords that illustrate your brand, keywords that are specifically describing the content, or keywords that you believe would appeal the most to your target audience.
Here’s what I suggest: When placing hashtags into your posts, don’t even think about plagiarism.
Get inspired by others but never copy-paste someone else’s hashtags, especially multiple at one time.
Relevant
Relevant hashtags are way more beneficial and useful than general hashtags.
In most of the cases, a proper audience targeting is all that it takes for you to conduct an effective hashtag marketing campaign.
Memorable
If you’re serious about building a brand through social media, it is very likely that you’ll want people to remember your name.
By effectively taking advantage of hashtags, your brand’s awareness is going to reach new heights.
You can speed up the process by finding memorable words that would make up your hashtags.
2. Hashtag Your Posts on Multiple Social Channels
Even though Twitter was the first social platform to implement hashtags, the others quickly followed. Now, you can use the “#” on every big social platform except for LinkedIn.
If the main reason to employ hashtags is to help your brand gain more exposure, using hashtags across more than one social channel will logically improve your brand awareness across the board.
Moreover, you can create a sort of connection in your target audience’s brains by using the same hashtags on multiple platforms.
People instinctively detect patterns, so encourage them to do so by targeting the same audience on different channels.
3. Always Work with Your Target Social Platform in Mind
The purpose of hashtags remains untouched. However, each social platform has its own “rules.”
For example, Twitter users do not appreciate posts with more than two hashtags, while users on Facebook have no problem with it.
Here are some short guidelines for including hashtags on the most popular social platforms:
- Instagram – The maximum number of hashtags is 30. However, according to a Bufferapp report, you should try sticking to less than 11 hashtags for each post, in order for the post to show higher engagement performance.
- Twitter – Twitter restricts the character count for all hashtags. In order to play by their rules, you should limit your hashtag use to a maximum of two hashtags per post.
- Facebook – Ideally, you should include two hashtags at most. One should be a popular hashtag and the other should be branded hashtag or a descriptive one.
- Google+ – You can use hashtags on Google+ to discover and join specific conversations on specific topics. By clicking the hashtag button “#”, you’ll come across related content.
- Pinterest –You should stick to two hashtags per post. Focus on your unique hashtags.
4. Keep it Short and Concise
“Hashtags are supposed to be short and concise.
Every time you’re writing them, pay attention to this rule. If they’re too general, you’re likely to be using the wrong words.
Effective marketing is always targeted marketing.” – J.D., Digital Marketing Specialist at Rush My Essay.
So if you target your audience well and you also manage to capture their attention, you’ll improve your conversion results.
However, if your hashtags are general and wide, you’ll attract people that only plan a visit. They’re not serious about moving forward. They’re not there to stay.
So they’re not really your audience. They could be, but the chance is much, much lower. Keep it short and concise and you’ll improve your targeting.
Ideally, you should have already developed a brand message. Your brand message stands for everything you do.
It is your way of saying “choose me over them”, so focusing on a powerful message is essential for the survival of every company.
It’s a rough marketplace because the competition is big in almost every niche.
Now – you can take advantage of hashtags to expose your brand’s message to the public.
Who knows? Maybe your message is so strong that I’ll make your brand go viral in certain circles.
Conclusion
Hashtag marketing is a truly interesting field. As a digital entrepreneur, small businessman, or marketer, you should learn everything about hashtags.
It won’t take you very long.
When you understand everything about them, you’ll become more resourceful.
Your new social campaigns will be optimized with hashtags, generating more traffic and better leads over time.
All Images Credit: CC 0; Public Domain. View original feature image on Flickr.com.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
Brandon Stanley
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- Hashtag Marketing: Boost Social Media Effectiveness Up to 40% - January 23, 2018
