Social Marketing Tip #2 – Use Hashtags Effectively

Mindy

Social Marketing Tip #2 - Use Hashtags Effectively

If you have been using social media long enough, no doubt you are familiar with hashtags. Hashtags first became popular on Twitter as a way to search for posts relating to certain topics or groups. It quickly became a way for people from all over the globe to connect with each other. Along that same vein, hashtags are now being used for brand awareness and marketing. Using hashtags correctly could potentially help you not only grow your social following, but help you connect with clients who are searching for your exact style, service, or product. BUT, recognize that the key term here is to use them correctly, because Millennials know when brands are trying to be sneaky and spammy. But don’t worry, I’m not going to let that happen to you. Read through the following tips to make sure you are using your hashtags effectively and properly.

How to Use Hashtags Effectively on Social Media

Using hashtags on Twitter, where it all began. I know you’re probably not doing much marketing on Twitter and I don’t blame you. The platform has become very noisy but it does still have some value, especially for trending events (think of a big celebrity wedding, for example). But since Twitter is the birthplace of hashtag searches, I want to make sure I touch on it just a little. If you want to use hashtags on Twitter, don’t use more than 2 or 3 hashtags per tweet, which shouldn’t be too difficult due to Twitter’s 140 character limit! You can also check what’s trending and see if anything could relate back to your business. For example, if you are a florist, can you think of anything witty to tie in red roses with #TheBachelor tweets?

Here’s a great example of using a hashtag right on Twitter … For National Cereal Day, Lucky Charms took a picture of the Twitter logo formed by blue moon marshmallows. They use two hashtags – the trending one and their slogan.

Social Marketing Tip #2 - Use Hashtags Effectively

And in contrast, here’s a very confusing tweet from an event planning company (names have been blurred to protect the innocent). Too many trending hashtags! I’m not sure at all what this tweet is trying to tell me.

Social Marketing Tip #2 - Use Hashtags Effectively

divider

Hashtags are a must on Instagram. If you aren’t including a bunch of hashtags on every image you post to Instagram, you are missing out on a ton of engagement. That’s because hashtags have become KEY on Instagram. Unlike Twitter, you can use several hashtags on Instagram without cluttering up your followers’ feeds. That’s because Instagram shortens your image description, making it easier for viewers to scroll through and see more images and less text. Here are some general Instagram hashtag guidelines to follow:

  • Keep the hashtags relevant to the picture. Some people will load up their picture with trending hashtags that have nothing to do with the image. This is seen as spammy, so don’t do it!
  • Check that your hashtags make sense. Proofread before you publish. Make sure your hashtag does not unintentionally spell out something naughty or inappropriate.
  • Make sure your hashtags aren’t too obscure/rare. No one is searching for #PhotoFromLosAngelesWeddingLastYear. But they are searching for #LosAngelesWedding and #WeddingPhotographer.
  • Do not use ONLY hashtags. If you caption an image with a bunch of hashtags but don’t have any other comment or description, that tells me you’re not looking for engagement, you’re just looking to show up in searches! Include a caption that tells the story of the image, or asks a question of your followers, then add your hashtags. Your photos and posts should primarily serve your audience; hashtags are secondary.

For Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags per image. I recommend using between 10-20. There is a lot of debate on this topic. Many “Instagram experts” will tell you to maximize all 30 hashtags for each photo no matter what. But I’m firmly in the “less is more” camp on this topic. When I see users loading up each image with hashtags, I wonder if they are really sharing just to share or is it simply a marketing tactic to get as many likes on their photo as possible? The truth is it’s probably a little of both. Personally I use around 15 hashtags per image and this makes me comfortable. I feel like I’m doing my due diligence to market my images to the people who might be searching for those topics, but I also don’t feel like an Instagram sell out.

This post is a great example of hashtag usage on Instagram from The Perfect Palette. The caption starts out with an explanation of the image and why she loves it. She then gives credit to the vendors by tagging them. She then includes a call to action, asking her followers what they think of the image. Then below all of that, she uses hashtags that are all relevant to the image.

Social Marketing Tip #2 - Use Hashtags Effectively

The following post is from a photographer. There is no image description; they just go right into the hashtags. The first hashtag is #theknot, which tells me this photographer is primarily interested in getting their work featured by The Knot instead of putting their audience first. That is followed by a slew of hashtags, and a bunch are repeated. There are also some confusing hashtags here …. #rings and #flowers (the photo is not of rings nor flowers), #fashion (you can hardly see what the subjects are wearing), #sunset (perhaps the sun was setting but there is no sunset in this picture), and several different cities. Was this photo taken in Downtown Los Angeles, Palos Verdes, or Laguna Beach? Not sure, since all of those cities are tagged.

Social Marketing Tip #2 - Use Hashtags Effectively

divider

Hashtags on Facebook look silly. Facebook was late with adapting hashtag search technology and it never really caught on. If you must use hashtags on Facebook, try to make it relevant to trending topics (such as “National ____ Day” or live events like the Superbowl or Oscars) and use only 1 or 2 hashtags. Studies show engagement on Facebook posts actually dips when hashtags are used, and really dips if 3 or more hashtags are used. So be strategic when using hashtags on Facebook, and when it doubt, leave them out.

The post below is a great example of a brand using a hashtag on Facebook in a smart way.

Thank goodness there is someone out there to teach us grammar. #HappyWorldTeachersDay

Posted by Sharpie on Monday, October 5, 2015

And here’s an example of using hashtags in a non-effective way. The post doesn’t present a complete thought/sentence, and includes way too many hashtags.

Social Marketing Tip #2 - Use Hashtags Effectively

divider

I hope this article has given you a little clarity on how, when, and where to use hashtags. If you have any follow up questions, feel free to ask me in the comments! I am here to help you.

[signature]

About the author

Mindy is the owner of Fairy Tale Social and has over 10 years of content creation and blogging experience.

Leave a Comment