Hashtag 101: Get the basics of this must-know innovation
There is a lot that can be confusing about the world of digital marketing but one of the most used yet most elusive factors is the hashtag. What is it, what does it say, and why do you need it? The best way to handle hashtags is not handle them – let us do it! Read on to learn more about hashtags and then reach out to Webstract Marketing if you want to let us take over your social media marketing.
What exactly is a hashtag?
Once known as a pound sign, the hashtag (or #) first came to be used on Twitter in 2007 and is now used on most social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. On all of these platforms, the hashtag is used to organize content and to make it easy for people to find relate content. Consider this example. If used on Thanksgiving, you could use hashtag #2018Thanksgiving. Once posted on a social media platform, it becomes a link that when clicked, takes you to other posts categorized the same way.
Yes, hashtags are important to you
Often, we come across companies – especially small businesses – who assume that they hashtags are not necessary for them to have a strong presence on social media. This is not true. The fact of the matter is that hashtags make it possible for people to find your content. If you post something without a hashtag, only those who are already following you will see it. On the other hand, if you do use a popular hashtag then you have the potential for thousands of people to find it – and all of them would be interested specifically in what that hashtag offers.
It’s hard to know what hashtags to use
Once you know you should be using hashtags, the next step is to figure out what hashtags to use. In some cases, this can be simple, such as the example used above for Thanksgiving info. However, when you are trying to reach people for a specific purpose it can see difficult. We recommend a few tips to choose the right hashtag:
- Be specific
- Choose a hashtag that has been used at least 2,000 time but fewer than 1,000,000
Consider this example: A bike company would not want to use the hashtag #bike because there are likely millions of pictures with that hashtag. Instead, they want to use a more specific hashtag like #bikepower or #commutebybike.
We can handle this and other digital marketing tasks
The realty of the situation is that most business owners have better ways to use their time than to learn the intricacies of finding and using the right hashtags. This is just one of the reasons that you turn to Webstract Marketing for all your web development needs. From designing the website, to creating a mobile site, to running social media campaigns, we do it all. Contact us now at 855-201-5800 or [email protected] to get started.