Using hashtags in social media is kind of a trend now. You can notice that influencers and owners of popular social media pages use them a lot and more importantly – they use them wisely. Read the article to discover how to use smart tags! Great tags can help you reach more followers interested in your content. Ready?
Why do you need to use hashtags?
It is believed that hashtags first appeared on Twitter to help people find, follow and participate in a conversation. They have a similar role today as they are used to organise, promote and draw attention to content. Hashtags can also be understood as keywords or topics people are looking for in social media. If you use hashtags:
- You are easily found by your target audience – many people use hashtags to find content related to a particular subject, for example, #sailing,
- Your clickthrough rates are improved – using hashtags can double your engagement and increase clickthrough rates if only you do not overdo them.
#HashtagsBasics
Let’ s start from basics. Hashtags can be created from any word or short phrase (numbers can be included), you only need to put # sign before it. You can insert hashtags in a sentence or just at the end of it. Also, you can capitalise the first letter of each word, but it is not obligatory. Just remember not to use:
- spaces,
- punctuation,
- special characters.
Hashtags on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook
Too many hashtags can drop your reach and engagement rate. 2 hashtags on Twitter and Facebook guarantee that you don’t lose engagement. However, on Instagram using more hashtags is crucial. Don’t get spammy anyway – Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags, but about 9-10 are ideal to receive the best possible effect.
Use hashtags like a pro!
Now it is a time to get a bit more advanced to learn how to use hashtags wisely! It is essential to use hashtags which are indeed related to your post. If you don’t follow this rule, you will get users annoyed. Poor user experience associated with your brand is probably not what you need! It is also worth to include hashtags in every post. Which hashtags exactly? First of all, the best short ones as they are easily discoverable and searchable by users. In addition to this:
- Use hashtags calendar or create your own – participate in discussions regarding a topic of the day, especially the ones important for your industry! You can find it here: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/national-days/,
- Don’t use only the most popular hashtags – the most popular hashtags are used by almost every user. It means that your post easily gets lost in thousands of others and you have fewer chances to be “top” with your post. Your strategy could be mixing less and more popular hashtags together,
- Create your own hashtags – some brands create and use special hashtags which are not associated with their company’s name. For example, it can be your slogan if it is short enough or a product name. You can also create a unique hashtag for your marketing campaign!
Top free tools to master your hashtags usage
You can see a list of free tools below, which can help you to discover the best hashtags. In addition to this, try to check similar accounts and check which hashtags are used by your competitors!
Twitter trends – on your Twitter homepage you can always see the trendiest hashtags in your region. Use them when relevant!
displaypurposes.com– an online tool which shows you the most relevant and popular hashtags on Instagram. Just type any hashtag related to your post content and check new ones which show up.
trendsmap.com– an online tool which shows the most popular hashtags on Twitter sorted by country. Just navigate the map and discover Twitter trending topics!
ritetag.com– an online tool which shows you the most popular hashtags to get seen now on Twitter and Instagram. What is more, you can also generate a basic statistic for hashtag usage on Twitter. Just type the hashtag which you think is relevant for your post and search!
Ready to use hashtags on your social media? I hope so! However, if you need any support with your social media do not hesitate to contact DailyDigitalMedia.
Check another social media-related article:
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