The power of hashtags

2017 is here and as expected, #hashtags continue to be incredibly popular, we couldn’t be more excited! Today you don’t have to be a dedicated social media user to be exposed to hashtags. More often than not, hashtags can now be found in restaurants on menus, on TV and radio talk shows and even regional and national news now promote the use of hashtags – They’re literally everywhere!

With a #throwback to the early days of Twitter in 2006, hashtags have quickly dominated advertising and contemporary culture – but what does this mean for your business?

CONNECTIVITY, AWARENESS & PLAIN OLD QUIRKINESS

Hashtags act like a “doorway”, allowing businesses to communicate with target audiences in an exciting and fresh manner. With hashtags you can tap into lifestyles, cultures, and the latest consumer trends. You can also become a member of virtual communities, taking part in conversations to further understand your audience, something which also undoubtedly helps your business to stay relevant! When combined with an inbound link, hashtags can even increase your referral traffic – In fact, hashtags are a fantastic tool for getting your content seen!

The benefits don’t just end there either. The simple yet quirky symbol provides you with the potential to address new demographics and cultural groups. What’s more, over time, you can even create your own unique hashtags to really establish your online presence!

Being Hashtag Savvy

Clearly hashtags are a nifty little tool but knowing how to use them effectively is crucial. So, to help you get the most out of your campaigns, we’ve put together three top tips!

1. Relevancy: Choose hashtags relevant to your business and audience. Whilst broad hashtags bring in engagements, keyword specific hashtags will gain you meaningful interactions.
2. Understand the Platform: Whilst it’s commonplace to use 20+ hashtags on Instagram, on Twitter less is more. In fact, excessive hashtags can be damaging, attracting accounts which focus purely on #FollowBacks. Twitter recommends no more than 2 hashtags per Tweet as best practice.
3. Short & Sweet: Finally, no-one wants to type out long phrases, we’re all busy bees y’know? So keep your hashtags short and specific! After all, they’re supposed to make engagement easier!