Today, people across the globe widely use the hashtag, transcending platforms. They utilize it for marketing campaigns, expressing support for causes, and initiating conversations for social media engagement.
Why should you use hashtags?
The main purpose behind inventing hashtags was to bring order to the chaos of social media by grouping similar conversations together, making it easier for audiences to find relevant content.
Today, hashtags have evolved into a powerful tool for growing your online presence. But what can hashtagging achieve? While it may not directly increase your followers, it can still enhance your social media reach by:
• Securing a spot in the top posts for a particular topic
• Appearing prominently in people’s social media feeds
Here are other ways you can benefit from integrating a hashtag campaign into your social media strategy:
Adding context to your social media posts:
In the world of short-form content dominance, hashtags help provide context to your posts, generating more social media impressions without overwhelming your audience with lengthy text.
Helping your audience find you:
Audiences can follow hashtags on social media platforms to discover content aligned with their interests. Whether it’s #travel for travel enthusiasts or #food for foodies, hashtags can help you become more discoverable to your target audience.
Increasing engagement with followers:
Social media engagement posts like questions or contests can be effective, especially if you already have a substantial following. To expand their reach, you can use hashtags to join larger conversations or trending topics, putting your social media engagement posts in front of a broader audience.
Building brand awareness:
Beyond following popular hashtags, you can create branded hashtags using your brand name or tagline. This not only raises awareness of your brand but also helps your audience find specific posts you’ve shared in the past.
Choosing the right hashtags:
Effective hashtags should possess the following qualities:
• Relevance:
Your hashtags should align with the content you’re tagging, avoiding a spammy appearance that could deter your audience.
• Diversity:
Seek hashtags with a significant number of posts, but not so popular that your content gets lost. Diversify your hashtags to maximize your reach.
• Freshness:
Ensure the hashtags you choose are still actively used, indicating ongoing relevance. For example, #ChristmasDay2020 may have millions of posts but won’t impact your social media impressions today.
• Reachability:
Choose hashtags with a popularity level similar to yours, preventing them from being dominated by more prominent accounts and improving your placement.
How to find the right hashtags for your social media campaign:
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Firstly, you can identify popular hashtags relevant to your content using social media tools like Hootsuite or SproutSocial. These tools allow you to monitor conversations within your target audience, revealing trending topics and potential hashtags for your campaign.
Secondly, analyze your previous posts to identify topics and hashtags that resonated with your audience. Even if your past posts lacked hashtags, this analysis can provide valuable insights into what works for your audience.
Furthermore, study your competitors’ strategies to discover popular hashtags within your industry and incorporate them into your social media campaign.
Lastly, utilize platform-specific features to find trending hashtags in your industry, such as Twitter or Instagram Reels hashtags, using the search bar. These trending hashtags can offer additional placement opportunities for your social media engagement posts.
Using hashtags effectively on various social media platforms:
Facebook:
Incorporate hashtags into your Facebook captions, use them to categorize topics within groups, and find posts under specific hashtags using the search bar.
Instagram:
Include hashtags in your bio and captions, use Instagram Reel hashtags to boost discoverability, and engage with followers by using hashtags in comments. Also, add hashtags to Stories, search for them using the Tags Tab under Explore, and analyze their performance through Instagram Insights.
TikTok:
Add hashtags to your content descriptions, explore trending TikTok hashtags using the search bar, and combine niche and trending hashtags for maximum visibility.
Twitter or X:
Insert hashtags anywhere in your tweets, considering their placement for emphasis, keyword highlighting, or context. Find trending Twitter hashtags on the right side of the page and search for tweets related to specific hashtagged keywords using the search bar. Always keep the character limit in mind when using hashtags.
Elevate your social media marketing capabilities with Floodmaker:
If you’re seeking a proficient social media team to lead your organic social efforts, our team at Floodmaker can assist you. We are a full-service agency that maximizes your digital capabilities to fuel your business’s growth.
Schedule a free consultation with us to discover how we can enhance your business through social media.