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You see them everywhere online. Those little blue pound signs with words attached. Hashtags.
Hashtags have totally taken over social media; so much so that many children don’t even know what a “pound sign” is. The presence of hashtags can be viewed as annoying or as a super helpful marketing tool! Whatever your current opinion of hashtags, here are some tips on how to put them to good use.
Hashtags are links created online that are used to join posts of similar topics. They often follow written content and can be parts of movements, events, or simply silly and fun. When someone clicks on your post’s hashtag they are redirected and see other posts which use the same hashtag.
Below are a few ways that hashtags can be used to interact with people online.
Companies often use a common hashtag or two to link pieces of their marketing campaign together. They can create brand awareness and make a company stand out. To do this, be sure to use a unique hashtag that is special just to you, or indicate your business is taking part by using another company’s hashtag.
Coca Cola’s #ShareaCoke campaign is a great example of the use of a hashtag for marketing. This hashtag is very popular on social media, with 671,849 posts on Instagram alone.
Be on the lookout for the #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday deals this weekend.
The use of social cause hashtags has a similar purpose to those of marketing campaigns. They focus on bringing people together, raising money or taking a stand.
You may recall the use of the hashtag #IceBucketChallenge to raise funds for the ASL Association in 2014. This trending hashtag campaign helped to raise more than $100 million dollars for the foundation. Other notable hashtags in this category include #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter.
Hashtags can be used to link holidays and let people celebrate together while seeing how others are celebrating. Traditional holidays like #Thanksgiving and #Christmas are a great way to wish people well. #HappyThanksgiving is already trending on Twitter as Americans celebrate this weekend.
Other national and international days happen year round.
Upcoming national/international days coming up include:
As your marketing company, we use hashtag calendars like the National Day Calendar to decide what hashtags are appropriate for your posts. Let us know if you would like to opt out on social media posts involving national and international hashtags.
Sometimes you’ll want to use a hashtag to add a bit of fun or context. These hashtags can be great, just be sure not to get too overzealous with your tagging! “Trending” items are hashtags which have had a large increase in usage.
Some of the top hashtags this year are:
#food
#photooftheday
#love
#selfie
#style
For additional help with hashtags, we’ve linked the help sections from Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Check out what the social sites themselves are saying!