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If you are on social media and haven’t heard of #hashtags then you should know that they are an incredibly important tool. A hashtag is a specific word or phrase preceded by the pound symbol (e.g., #retail) or hash sign (#). It’s used to organize content into categories and facilitates the sharing of information on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. It helps you to add value to your content by making it searchable on Google Trends and enables you to track your keywords’ popularity. It’s also a great way to build your brand and engage with new audiences (remember, social media always drives business above all else).
We must all be mindful of the risk to our individual brands, particularly in this age of transparency. Bearing that point in mind, it is imperative that we always represent ourselves and our companies clearly on social media platforms – both internally (internal customers) and externally (non-customers). Ultimately this is a competitive advantage for us as businesses but more so as individuals who need to show up every day like everyone else!
Yet while developing a brand, there is a crucial importance of making sure you brand as time goes on, so it needs to be polished and current. What you need to realise is that your personal brand will also evolve over time as well.
Imagine having a way to search through millions of posts and find exactly the content that you want, whenever you need it. Hashtags make it easy to see all the latest trends in your industry or topic area so that you can stay up-to-date with everything happening online.
The hashtag is an important tool used by many people across the world every day – from celebrities and influencers, bloggers and journalists, companies and brands - even governments! It's now time for YOU to start using them too!
Types Of Hashtags
Brand-Specific Hashtag
Brand-Specific Hashtag is a hashtag used by brands only. The name of the brand comes first followed by the social media username, making it easier for users to find their account and get help or look up information using that brand's website. A successful example would be something like Air Asia - #AirAsia
Content Hashtag
Content Hashtag is a hashtag used to share content and directly engage the target audience. Content Hashtag is suitable for any type of content, from videos about a brand to photos and even blog posts. Related hashtags are easy to use as well!
Trending Hashtag
Trending Hashtag is the most creative form of content. It's a hashtag that enables you to contribute without having to actually say something. Trending hashtags often match with other trending topics in the industry and word filter, based on location, time or topic of conversation.
3 Reasons Why You Should Use Hashtags
1. Organizing Your Content!
You know as well as I, that social media can be an all consuming activity. Whether you are on multiple platforms or spending your entire day watching cat videos on YouTube — it is hard to maintain the interest of followers who have grown tired of seeing your selfies and content related to each platform they follow (remember time moves quicker than we do?). There’s a reason why some companies spend millions marketing themselves without investing in Facebook “likes”, Twitter followers or Pinterest public boards. I would venture to say that at the end of the day your most engaged followers will move onto other platforms because they get tired of seeing their brand in such a narrow scope on social media. Just imagine if you were able to expand your audience by tapping into smaller but extremely relevant niches?
The world is changing and what was once useful no longer applies. Hashtags let you do just that by organizing your social media content and making it accessible to hungry fans of yours. I recommend using one main hashtag for each major portfolio as well a few secondary tags for extremely relevant hashtags such as #retail or #tech that would help organize the focus on specific brands rather than just general concepts like Best Travel Destinations and Off Road Vehicle Brands – Those are too broad in today’s digital era where more channels exist in two clicks on your smartphone than in years past.
2. Growing & Engaging Brand Clarity
A hashtag has purpose not just to help you create a more organized digital presence but also act as the ultimate means of communication with followers who have become confused and jumbled among social media platforms or content portals that no longer serve their needs alone (remember those days are over!). You see so much clutter on all channels today most people don’t even bother to scroll up or click on links. It does not matter if you have thousands of followers, hundred thousand fanatics or over a million strong following – it only takes one person out of the blue who doesn’t know how to use hashtags in their tweet and make your hashtag useless (and no I am not talking about using them incorrectly). Hashtags let you be part of their community, ease them into the wonderful world of social media while providing clear and concise direction that leads to a treasure trove. When used properly it creates clarity in marketing campaigns – if your message is focusing on one major objective why make yourself even more confusing?
3. Automation Requires No Hands & Hours Of Social Media Time
In the past when one was ready to start marketing they first had to devote hours / days into figuring out everything – discovering if a company or product resonated with you, deciding on which social media platforms worked best for your target audience and finally fine tuning what information needed to be displayed. Hashtags take away all of that as it is so clear cut and concise you can literally streamline content in less than an hour! It even lets companies who want to use a content strategy take control of their campaign, eliminating the risk and uncertainty. By assigning context based hashtags you are instantaneously giving people direction that they follow instants after another person uses it in an image or idea post on Instagram! Your fans know exactly what you’re trying to say as well because your hashtag was made for them!
Upside Of Hashtags
Site Specific and Devaluing the #
Hashtags, unfortunately, carry their own set of cons, one of which is specific to the site. It means that a hashtag found on Facebook does not correlate to the hashtags used on Twitter, Instagram, and other sites; each website keeps its own system of hashtags. Furthermore, using too much hashtags reduces the latter's strength and makes them appear to be insignificant. According to Juntae DeLane, founder of Digital Branding Institute, this can permanently cheapen your brand’s social media. A few hashtags are better than using multi-word phrases.
Banned Hashtags
Instagram has fought back with Shadowbanning due to an increase in phony accounts and inauthentic measures to increase an Instagramer's following list, such as automated bots or hundreds of hashtags. It is the process of preventing a user's content on social media in a way that the user is unaware of. This has allowed Instagram to filter out accounts that do not comply with their terms of service. Instagram has also banned a number of hashtags, for example, if you search for #beautyblogger on the search bar, a message will appear and say that it may not match the community guidelines. A repeated use of restricted hashtags can result in multiple flags being added to your account. So, for the best part, be safe.
Hashtags have been a part of social media since the beginning, but they've become an essential part of marketing and communication. They're used to connect with other people, build communities, create brand awareness and even spread awareness about important issues. When used effectively, hashtags can be a powerful tool for reaching your audience and connecting with them in new ways.
In order to get the most out of hashtags, we recommend that you start by asking yourself these questions: What are my goals? Who is my target audience? What message do I want to communicate? Once you've answered those questions, it will make it easier for you to put together an efficient plan on how best to execute our desired campaign. Do follow our blog posts to learn about effective tricks that can help you market your brand better!
