5 Tips for Using Hashtags on Social Media

Your social media presence is important to your business. Considering 81% of people have social media profiles, it is vital that you build up your social media pages to maximize your chances of reaching new leads.

The hashtag is an important social media tool to help you reach these leads. Whether you need lead generation services in Dallas or a lead generation campaign or a custom digital marketing campaign in Jacksonville, WebFX is here for you.

Give us a call at 888-601-5359 to learn more about the services we offer!

Hashtags grew in popularity over the past few years, and people continue to use them on their social media profiles. Hashtags are an opportunity for your business to expand your brand. For example, you can create hashtags to encourage people to participate in your campaigns and learn more about your business.

If you haven’t used hashtags in your social media marketing campaigns, it may feel like uncharted territory.

You may be wondering how to use hashtags properly. What kind of hashtags are effective with your audience? Here are some tips to help you use hashtags successfully on your social media profiles.

1. Know your platform

The social media platform you use will determine the number and type of hashtags you use. Each platform has an “acceptable” number of hashtags you can use. While some platforms enable you to use dozens of hashtags, it doesn’t mean that people want to see posts with that many hashtags.

Facebook is one platform where it is better to use fewer hashtags. This platform utilizes hashtags, but it isn’t very hashtag heavy. If you want to use them on Facebook, it is best to stick to one or two hashtags.

Twitter is another platform that doesn’t use very many hashtags. This is due to the character limit. When you only have 280 characters, you don’t want to use more than half of them on hashtags.

It is best to stick to one to three hashtags on Twitter.

This enables you to use trending hashtags, but also include regular text in your tweet. Instagram is the best platform for hashtags. This platform enables up to 30 hashtags in one post.

While it isn’t recommended that you use that many, Instagram is a great place to use multiple hashtags.

Marketers are always debating on the right number of hashtags to use on your posts. Some say it is best to stick to 5 or 6 hashtags, while others say that 11 is the sweet spot. You may need to use your best judgment and decide how many hashtags are too many for your posts.

When you know your platform, you know how many hashtags are acceptable. This will help you shape a better social media campaign for your business.

2. Create specific hashtags

If you want a hashtag to focus on your business, you need your hashtags to be specific. Generic hashtags may be used often, but they won’t generate the right buzz around your business.

Let’s say you own an organic food shop. You make your own sauces, spices, and other foods.

You decide to post a new flavor of sauce on your social media pages. Which hashtag is better for your campaign: #food or #pastasauce?

In this case, #food is a very generic hashtag. Food is a broad topic that can include anything from bread to meat.

This hashtag won’t drive in people who specifically love pasta. By using a more specific hashtag like #pastasauce, you are driving in people who specifically like pasta and pasta sauce. This is a more specific hashtag that will drive in more credible leads for your business.

You can focus better on your target market by using more specific hashtags. It is important that you use specific hashtags to obtain better traffic for your business. By using specific hashtags, you will garner more qualified leads for your business.

3. Make your hashtags easy to remember

If you want people to use your hashtags, they need to be easy to remember. If your hashtags are too complicated, people won’t use them.

It is important that you try to keep your hashtags short. Your audience will have a harder time remembering your hashtag if it is too long.

You’ll need to consider keeping your hashtag short or creating an acronym for it. Some of the most popular hashtags on social media started off long, but became condensed as they became more popular.

Some examples of condensed popular hashtags include #mancrushmonday and #throwbackthursday, which became #mcm and #tbt respectively. These hashtags are extremely popular because they are catchy and easy to remember.

This is something to keep in mind as you create your hashtags. Generally, you’ll want to stick to shorter hashtags. This will make it easier for your audience to remember them and use them.

If you’re looking to use a longer hashtag, consider coming up with a shorter hashtag or acronym to coincide with it. This will help your audience understand what the hashtag means and give them the opportunity to use it. For example, Target has the slogan “Target Run and Done.” If they used this as a hashtag, it would be too long for users to type out.

Instead, they shortened their hashtag to #TargetRun. By creating hashtags that are easy to remember and use, you will see better results with your campaign. This is an easy hashtag to remember, and it coincides with their slogan.

This is a great example of using a shorter hashtag to entice people to use it in their posts.

4. Hashtag at the right time

Not every post needs a hashtag. If you find yourself struggling to use a hashtag in a post, it is best to forego using it. You don’t want to force hashtags on to your posts.

Your hashtags should add value to your post. They should drum up conversation and entice people to use them. It is important that you only use hashtags when they are pertinent.

When you struggle to figure out hashtags, you may resort to using generic hashtags.

These hashtags, as discussed previously, don’t benefit your campaign. You won’t drive in credible leads for your business. It is more important to focus on delivering great hashtags than trying to deliver a hashtag on every post.

Your campaign will perform better when you focus on quality rather than quantity of hashtags.

5. Keep hashtag trends in mind

There are many hashtags that are trending on social media. This is a great opportunity for your business to take advantage of these trending hashtags and get in on the conversation. You can use hashtags such as #MotivationMonday and #WisdomWednesday to promote your brand.

You’ll want to use these hashtags in an industry-specific way.

This ensures that you are still driving people to check out your business. Trending hashtags are a great opportunity to reach new leads. You can promote your business uniquely while using these hashtags.

It is a great way to expand the reach of your brand.

#GetStarted

Hashtags are a great way to take your social media marketing to the next level. Using hashtags, you can encourage interaction with your posts, spread brand awareness, and gain new followers. At WebFX, we know the importance of using hashtags in your social media marketing campaign.

We have a team of 500+ experts that will help you shape your social media campaign.

Our social media savvy team can help you use hashtags to expand your brand’s reach. If you want to start garnering new leads with your social media campaign, contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist! We look forward to helping your business grow!