Have you ever scrolled down your newsfeed and come across #photooftheday or #tbt and wondered what this means and why your friends are using these pound signs. Welcome to the world of hashtags!
Many people and businesses use hashtags to make it easier for their content to be found by new audiences. Why do individuals and businesses use them? They want to get more exposure for their individual or company brand. They are also a key tool in networking to gain more followers and traffic to their accounts. We will explain more in-depth on how hashtags are used by all people.
How to Use Hashtags
We will start off by telling you that hashtags are best used on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. While there may be a rare occasion to use a hashtag on Facebook, the platform generally does not recognize them, and users enjoy the little benefit of searching for hashtags.
Once you have finished writing your post, you can decide which hashtags are the most relevant and would drive the most traffic to your social media accounts. Think of these like SEO keywords – important words relevant to your business or audience. You can search for a variety of hashtags that others have used by using Google Keyword Planner or by searching tags on Instagram.
The best part about hashtagging is that you have the freedom to hashtag your favorite things and find people who also enjoy those things as well. Who knows, maybe you’ll find the one through your use of hashtags 😉
If you would like to know where you should add hashtags on each social media platform, you can read our other blog here.
How Do They Work?
If you are a company or an individual that supports a local professional sports team, like the Angels or Dodgers, you could always post a photo rooting for them and then add #Angels or #Dodgers.
You can view who else used the same hashtag by doing a hashtag search on the channel. Here you will find every person also using the #Angels or #Dodgers hashtag.
Now that you have found those people, you can communicate with them and build a relationship.
Hashtags are also a great way to learn more about a certain topic and be on top of trending topics.
If you live in L.A. and want to discover upcoming events in Los Angeles, you could always type #laevents to learn more about what is happening in your area.
Or perhaps you want to know more about other products and services in your industry and what benefits they offer.
As a business, it is always best when you can grow your following. The more hashtags you use, the more your post will be displayed across social media. Whenever you do start posting with hashtags, it is important to be mindful not to use too many. Although hashtags are a great tool, using too many will discourage your audience from wanting to follow you because they will think your posts are too spammy. In addition to your posts looking too spammy, some platforms will not allow you to post over a certain number.
Instagram posts that use hashtags gain a 12.6% increase in engagement.
This is just Instagram, but can you imagine the possibilities for your other social media channels?
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