hashtags

16/12/2022

Using hashtags effectively

Today, the entire world is pretty much connected to each other via the Internet and most importantly social media platforms. Does not matter whether you are a celebrity, a politician, or some farmer in a remote place far away in the countryside.

As long as there is the Internet, almost every single soul is connected today. And this is just expected to keep growing with more and more people joining in every second and every minute.

But, when it comes to social media and marketing, one thing that plays a huge role in boosting up your business or social presence in such media platforms is the use of #hashtags.

Today, nearly all big as well as small social media platforms make use of #hashtags to promote content over the Internet ever since it was first used in the year 2007 by Chris Messina with the idea that the pound symbol ‘#’ be used to group related tweets together and similar to what you would say using tags in a container would do.

If you are still not very familiar or haven’t got the gist of what #hashtags are and what they can do or are capable of doing, then there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Here, in the following article, I will discuss all there is to know about #hashtags and how you can use them effectively and efficiently to promote your business and social media presence for the rest of the world to see and notice.

Also Read :- SEM vs SEO

What are Hashtags?

hashtag

In the simplest of terms, a #hashtag may be defined as a word or collection of words representing a phrase that represents something preceded by the famous ‘#’ pound symbol of course.

How do hashtags work and why use hashtags?

In terms of social media platforms, when you use hashtags i.e. use the pound symbol before a term. It basically means that the particular term is of interest and you want others interested in that particular term to connect with that post of yours hailing that particular term.

Using hashtags in posts enables you to promote your content with others who may be interested in your particular content, given of course that your content itself aligns with what the hashtag term has to offer.

For example, you are using Instagram and posting a picture of you enjoying a walk on some beach in a famous tourist destination like Thailand. So what are a few of the hashtag terms you think you can use for other people interested in Thailand, beach, and a walk to connect to your post?

The answer I guess is pretty straightforward. Simply, by posting the picture with #beach, #thailand, #walkbybeach and so on will let other people interested in similar content connect to your post.

This was just a basic example that gives you a little peek at how hashtags can work and how they can help you reach other people interested in similar content.

But then, when it comes to digital marketing and using these hashtag tactics to promote your business, page, and content to potential customer audiences out there, then that is a complete niche on its own so to speak.

The better the tactics and the use of hashtags on your content, the more outreach you are able to gain and the better the promotion on such social media platforms. Next, you will see how you can use such hashtag tactics as well as where to start your digital marketing journey with hashtags in it.

How to use hashtags effectively?

Here, I will be listing out some of the best tactics or methods to implement while using hashtags on your post so that you can achieve the most out of it.

Simply using hashtags for random words doesn’t really help if you somehow are planning to do so. This is because the algorithms which each social media platform uses is smart as it can be on its own to differentiate junk tags from quality tags.

This way not only do these media platforms help their users get in touch with good content but at the same time also eradicate content which they find unnecessary and not aligning with what is intended in their hashtags.

Hence, it is very important that you plan out your strategy well and only then jump into the world of hashtag digital marketing if you want to see yourself profiting from it for a longer duration of time.

Keep it short, simple and meaningful

When it comes to social media platforms and their user bases, you have to understand that the attention span of an average user here is very much limited and so is the attention span of its crawler bots. And if you are thinking of something very long and grand to just sum up in one single hashtag, then sorry to disappoint you but that will never work.

The more to the point, straight, direct, and brief a hashtag can be, the better the results. Moreover, the hashtag term you want to use or plan on using should be something that falls in between too complicated and too generic.

This is because complicated ones will never be a trend as it is simply too complicated for the majority of users to follow. And then generic terms are just too widely available out there which although can get you some amount of exposure, until and unless your content is really really spectacular will just get covered with all other contents better than yours out there.

Never overuse hashtags

I guess ‘never to overuse’ is something applicable universally for everything out there. Right? Even in the case of social media content boosting and hashtags marketing, there is a fine silver lining between using just the right amount of hashtags and using an unnecessary number of hashtags.

Every social media platform out there has its own very sweet frequency of hashtags set, going beyond which will just do you more harm than good. Thus, it is very important that you do your own little research on what is the right amount for each and every social media site out there before you actually start using the necessary hashtags for promotion.

Let me just give some examples of how much or how many each social media site can do well with:

Instagram: Although, Instagram allows you to use the highest number of hashtags per post among all the other social media platforms out there. Still, it is a better idea to just stick to not more than 10 per post to reap the most.

Pinterest: For Pinterest simply sticking to two or four max will let you achieve the exposure your content requires.

TikTok: For me, TikTok is just like the wild west. You can never be sure of what works where. But even than using not more than 5 to 6 hashtags works the best for many and should definitely work for you as well.

Facebook: Facebook likes to keep it pretty simple. Hence, using not more than two or three hashtags for each post should work the best for both you and your business.

Twitter: Similar to Facebook in the case of Twitter too, the lesser the hashtags, the better. Simply using two hashtags per post should be optimal for your outreach.

Utilizing trendy and trending hashtags

Here, trendy and trending hashtags refer to two different meanings altogether. Where trendy refers to potential keywords or words with the ability to become trending in the future, trending on the other hand refers to the term or word which is presently popular and widely searched throughout.

For coming up with trendy words, you will obviously need a little intuition of your own and a little research too to understand the current demand of the particular niche you are working in.

And as for trending hashtags, simply getting a good market analysis and research should give you enough options to choose from.

Also Read :- How to Use Google Ads effectively

Review and analyze hashtags before using

Just as mentioned above, trendy and trending hashtags which you want to use simply won’t just come to you. But, rather you will have to do a little research and analysis of your own to understand what type of hashtags to use and what will benefit you the most.

To do this there are a number of tools and sites available out there that can greatly aid you in figuring out the most trending topics as well as the most trending hashtags out there on the Internet today and so on.

Each and every big social media site out there has its very own analytic tools which you can make use of to reap great rewards for your future endeavors.

CONCLUSION:

At the end of all this you have to understand one thing, no matter how good you strategize your hashtags or how efficiently and effectively you use them, until and unless your content is good and quality-centric, the fruits you reap are just brief.

Depending upon how good and engaging your content is, the better the results in attracting viewers as well as converting them into potential leads for the future. If your posts are not interactive and engaging enough, then all the hard work you invest in your hashtag strategy will just go to waste.

Hence, it is very important that you pay close attention to the quality of your content as well as your hashtag strategy before carrying them out to promote yourself as well as your business.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *