When using social media for the purposes of marketing or growing your platform, you need to use hashtags. This blog explains what hashtags are and how to use them.

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag refers to this symbol #. (It used to mean number or pound!) The purpose is to label or categorise a post so people can search for posts by subject area. For example, if you are interested in buying produce with less plastic, you might use the hashtags #ethicalconsumer #plasticfree to find out what other people are doing and who they are buying from.

Handles are not the same as hashtags. A handle refers to a person’s username on social media, e.g., @nazneenes, which is my handle on various social media platforms. You can type this into the search bars of various platforms to find me.

Tagging is also different from hashtags. Tagging is when you specifically add someone’s username (their handle) to give them credit or get their attention. For example, if you were treated at a hospital, you may want to thank the staff and write, ‘Thank you nurses @OlympicHospital.’

Why use hashtags?

Use hashtags to increase views, engagement and followers. On a variety of platforms, people can choose to follow hashtags that are of interest to them. If you use hashtags, your post may appear on those people’s feeds. This means your post gets exposure to new people you are not already connected to. These new people may decide to follow you because you interest them. For example, if you write about keto-diets and you use ‘#keto’, you are more likely to get more views, likes, and possibly follows, because your post is reaching people with an interest in the topic, i.e., people who want to know about keto diets.

Increase engagement by choosing popular ‘trending’ hashtags and mentioning something related to the topic. For example, you might sell whey protein, and you see that #rawmeat is trending. You can be part of the conversation by creating a post about whey protein vs raw meat and add ‘#rawmeat’ to the post. As it’s a trending topic, your post may reach a much wider group of people, and you may get more engagement.

How many hashtags should you use?

Later, a social media planner says that engagement increases with the use of hashtags and suggests a maximum of 30 hashtags on Instagram. (Instagram does not allow more than 30.) It does help increase reach – I helped a client experiment. We hired a keyword researcher from Fiverr to help us find the best hashtags to use. We posted once a day only. The increase in impressions, views and engagement went up significantly. But the hashtags had to be relevant.

General advice about LinkedIn is to stick to three hashtags, to look less spammy.

YouTube suggests a maximum of five hashtags.

Whichever platform you use, check what their guidance says when it comes to hashtags, as they may block your post if you use too many.

What’s a good hashtag?

Hashtags can be a location, brand, industry niche, community group name, the topic of your post, a social movement/special interest, special event (think #blm, #mentalhealthday, #wimbledon2022). Try a combination, for example, something related to your brand, topic, and something socially relevant. There are advantages to using generic hashtags like #family, or specific hashtags #familyreunionbbq. Context matters here, and regular keyword research will help you to know what may work best. You can find good researchers on freelance websites like Fiverr.

How do I know which hashtags are popular?

You need to take the time to know what’s popular by researching. You can find good researchers on freelance websites like Fiverr.

Check what people in your niche use.

Type in hashtags into the search bar on the platform you are using and see which ones appear first (these tend to be popular).

Some social media planners offer hashtag data insights (i.e. they let you know which words you type in are popular). These planners are mostly subscription-based. You might be able to utliise the free trial period and get what you need before having to pay.

There is also a website called Hastagify.me. You’re allowed a few free searches before reaching a quota so search carefully!

Hashtag your brand

Don’t forget to hashtag yourself! It allows people to easily click and find a portfolio of your posts and what you or your brand are about. You can create ‘branded hashtags’, meaning a phrase to reflect your brand. Nestlé’s KitKat uses #haveabreak.

Summary

So in summary:

• Hashtags are used to categorise posts and increase visibilty of your posts.
• Using hashtags in your posts can increase impressions, viewership, engagement and follows.
• The number of hashtags you use depends on the platform you use.
• Hashtags typically reflect the topic of the post, location, a social movement, special interest and special event.
• Popular hashtags for your niche can be researched using a keyword researcher but there are also platforms that can help if you are willing to pay.
• Don’t forget to hashtag your brand and your product lines

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