How to Use Hashtags Properly!
We can't stay quite anymore. There’s so much misuse going around.
Hashtags, hashtags, everywhere. Enough already! Right?
We like hashtags, they’re useful, but for some reason, many people get it all wrong.
It’s simple, a hashtag is a TAG, aka a topic label.
A hashtag can help you promote your business. Think of it as riding a wave. If a topic is very interesting and lots of people are talking about it, you can add the relevant hashtag to show your post to people. So, if someone finds a post they like, and they would like to see more, they click the relevant hashtag. Hopefully, that will get them to your post as well. The trick here is to make sure your post is actually adding value to the conversation. Otherwise, you’re going to be shunned and it can do more harm than good.
That’s the general use but there are some special uses. For example, you can use overly specific ones for drama, exaggeration or humor such as #WeReallyHopeThisArticleDrivesOurPoint.
To keep this short, there are three types of useful hashtags that you can use safely:
- Content Hashtags: to label your content, summarize it and help join a conversation. Such as #BrandingTips
- Trending Hashtags: to ride the waves of popular content when suitable #WinterIsHere
- Brand-Specific Hashtags: to label a certain series of content so that if someone likes one post, they can see the remaining series. Such as #ASBFishermansJourney
What are major no-no’s?
- Don’t have more hashtags than words
- Don’t go too long or too clever
- Don’t hashtag everything in your caption
Finally, when you go offline. You don’t HAVE to put a hashtag on your billboards to make them cool. (We had to say that!)
If you’re interested in the history of hashtags, here’s a cute article that sums it up.