Did you know that the original social media hashtag dates back to 2007 and was used on Twitter by Chris Messina, a famous actor, director, and producer? His idea behind using the pound symbol was to segregate groups to initiate topic conversations.
This idea took off and the rest is history. A hashtag strategy is still sensational and more relevant than ever before due to its excellent set of benefits.
Hashtag Benefits
- Perfect Discovery Tool – When using a proper hashtag strategy, your posts are more likely to receive engagement from individuals who don’t follow you. Top hashtags are the contributing cause to this unexpected reach. All of your efforts of providing social media value are streamlined with a hashtag strategy as it narrows down the impression pipeline based on viewers’ interests and relevance.
- Build Community – Hashtags act as group filters bringing like-minded people together based on topics. For example, #digitalmarketing on Instagram has 22.3 million posts. If you are an agency that focuses on providing digital marketing services, adding this hashtag is a no-brainer.
- Kickstart Engagement – If you are looking to gain more engagement on your post, try adding in a few trending hashtags. In a fast-paced social media platform like Twitter, Tik-Tok, or Instagram, your chances of being seen and going viral can go up by incorporating this tip.
- Brand Exclusiveness – Using brand hashtags can filter out more of the User Generated Content, which can boost a brand’s credibility when reshared. Generally, the brand or business name and its tagline are typical choices for branded hashtags. For example, when Netflix releases a new show, its branded hashtag is generally the name of the show. When Squid Game was released, the hashtag was used over 1.8 million times.
Setting Up Your Hashtag Strategy
Now that you understand the importance of hashtags, it’s time to put together a hashtag strategy for your business or brand. The following are some key points to keep in mind when building your hashtag strategy:
- Be conscious of the number and placement of your hashtags. In a recent study, SocialInsider examined 650,000 Instagram posts and found that overall, posts with 7 or 30 hashtags hidden in the caption got the most engagement.
- Keep it relevant. Make sure that all of your hashtags are relevant to your audience and the content you are posting. If you are interested in using trending hashtags, try to find hashtags that still tie into your target audience’s interests.
- Search hashtags before using them. Before you use a hashtag, make sure to search it yourself to see who is using it and what kind of content comes ups. Just because a popular influencer or brand used it, doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for your feed.
- Keep a list. You don’t have to reinvent a new hashtag list every time you post. Compile a list of hashtags relevant to your brand and refer to the list when you post.
- Switch it up. Varying your hashtags makes it possible to reach a wider and more diverse audience.
Creating a hashtag strategy that works for you and your accounts is all about trial and error. Try different hashtags, different placements, and different trends to see what works for you!