One key way to gain exposure on social media is to make your content searchable through the use of hashtags. That little number sign symbol (hashtag) is an extremely important part of social media. However, like everything in marketing, you must be strategic in the way that you use them. Furthermore, each social media platform uses hashtags differently.
Twitter is the birthplace of hashtags. In the past, tweets were short (only 140 characters, including spaces) so hashtags were used to connect more than one tweet of the same person or on a subject being tweeted by multiple people. Although Twitter has since allowed more characters to a tweet; double to be exact, with the new character limit being 280 characters. 280 characters doesn’t allow for much fluff, for that reason, it is important to craft well thought out messages that fit within the limit –and this includes your hashtags! #HashtagHack: Use hashtags of general categories or general subjects to get the most exposure to your tweets.
Instagram was a quick follower in the use of hashtags. Instagram posts are known for lengthy captions that resemble mini blogs with a lot of hashtags. With a limit of 2,200-characters and 30 hashtags Instagram gives you a lot of freedom to engage with your audience. The platform has gone the extra mile and now, you can add desired posts to your feed by following hashtags of your choice. #HashtagHack: In addition to using general category and subject hashtags, also use brand hashtags that are specific to your company, products, and services.
When hashtags first made it to Facebook, they weren’t clickable and therefore did not group like information together like Instagram and Twitter. For this reason, hashtag use took on another meaning and look. Instead of the usual one word or short phase hashtags used on Twitter and Instagram, Facebook users started using longer hashtags to emphasize points or punchlines. Facebook pictures and posts were being accentuated by common phrases or entire sentences. #HashtagHack: Post common phrases used by your customers or your industry to connect faster and to start engagement.
I would be remiss if I did not add that my favorite platform LinkedIn also allows the use of hashtags. LinkedIn like Instagram and Facebook uses hashtags to categorize information. While there is no limit to the number of hashtags that you can use. However, I wouldn’t recommend using too many hashtags on this particular platform and of course the more general you can be the better.
If you aren’t sure how you should be using hashtags to market your business, let’s chat. Schedule a time HERE.
