If you use social media, whether for personal or for business, you’re likely familiar with hashtags. A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a #, used on social media (especially Twitter and Instagram) to identify content on a specific topic.
Hashtags were first used in 2007 on Twitter. Because of the platform’s low character count per tweet, it was suggested to use the pound symbol to group related Tweets together. Since then, the use, reach and effectiveness of hashtags has grown exponentially.
what is a hashtag?
People use hashtags to categorize their tweets or posts so that they show up and can be searched easier in the social media app. When a user clicks or taps on a hash tagged word, you’ll see other posts that include that hashtag. You can include a hashtag anywhere within the post, but most of the time they are grouped at the end.
Then, hashtags that are very popular are often trending topics, and are being talked about by several users. On Instagram, when you use a hashtag, you can see how many other people are using that same hashtag. Typing a hashtagged keyword in the search bar can help you discover content and other accounts based on those keywords and your interests.
Hashtags are essential when it comes to your brand, social media and content strategy.
hashtag basics
- Start they keyword or phrase with a #
- You can’t use any spaces, punctuation or symbols
- Make sure your accounts or public. Otherwise, non-followers may not be able to see your hashtagged content.
- The best hashtags are short and easy to remember.
- Use relevant and specific keywords in your hashtags. If it’s something too obscure or random, it may be difficult to find and/or won’t be used by other users.
- Limit the number of hashtags you use. In most cases, more is not better. (keep reading for more information about this.)
why use a hashtag?
Generally speaking, hashtags can connect social media content and posts to specific topics, events, themes or conversations. They make it easier to discover posts around those topics or keywords, and aggregate all of the content with that same hashtag.
However, using hashtags can also help:
increase engagement with your followers.
By including hashtags in your posts and social content, you’re both creating and taking part in a conversation happening on that platform with other users. They also can help make your posts more visible in those conversations related to those topics and keywords.
By taking part in and creating these conversations, you can increase engagement with your posts and brand through likes, shares, comments and new followers.
build your brand.
Using a branded hashtag can help promote your business and brand, as well as drive conversation and engagement with your followers.
For example, a sports team may create a hashtag around their rivalry game. Or, if a company is hosting a contest or sweepstakes, they may use a branded hashtag to drive that conversation and bring users together.
An example of this is the #ShareACoke campaign by Coca-Cola, encouraging people to share a coke together by offering personalized bottle labels. Another example is #ShareYourEars by Disney and Make-A-Wish. For every post, Disney donated $5 to the Make-A-Wish foundation, raising more than $1 million.
support and join relevant social conversations and issues.
Often times, if there’s a big social issue or conversation, people take to social media to show their support of the cause. In most cases, a hashtag is created to bring these posts of support together. Your brand can post using these hashtags to show your support and join the conversation.
For example, #IWD2020 was used on social media to support International Women’s Day. Or, #BLM or #BlackLivesMatter showed support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
add context to your content.
When it comes to social media posts, quality is better than quantity. Posts shouldn’t be too long or you risk losing the interest of your audience.
On Twitter, you’re actually limited on the length of your post and you only have 280 characters to say what you need to say.
Using a hashtag can help contextualize or add information to what you’re talking about without taking up valuable space.
make your brand easier to find.
On Instagram and LinkedIn specifically, users can follow hashtags in addition to using or searching for them. Using a few popular hashtags in your posts can help new users find your brand easier.
The popular hashtags you use should be relevant to your brand and content. For example, you may use #travel, #coffee, or #pizza in your post, so someone who follows that hashtag will see your recent post in their feed. They can then either follow your account, or engage with your content.
examples of popular hashtags
Some popular hashtags can be a fun way for your brand to join a larger conversation on social, and keep your brand relevant. According to best-hashtags.com, the best hashtags in 2020 were:
#love
#instagram
#covid
#like
#instagood
#photography
#summer
#follow
#fashion
#art
Other popular hashtags included #music, #photooftheday, #life, #happy, #quarantine, #nature, #memes, #stayhome, and other COVID-19 related hashtags.
Keep in mind that hashtags may differ based on the platform you’re using. While Instagram hashtags may focus around photography, art, or fashion, LinkedIn hashtags may be more leadership, productivity and management related.
how to find the best hashtag to use
Research has shown that 88% of brand posts that include at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without, so coming up with the best hashtag for your content can significantly boost your brand and engagement.
In order to find hashtags that are specific and relevant to your brand, industry and content, as well as audience, you should take time to do some research.
monitor your competitors
Do a social media competitive analysis. Search your brand competitors on different social media channels to learn:
- what they are posting about
- what content their followers engage with
- what hashtags they use
- how many hashtags they use per post
- who relevant influencers may be
This research can help you understand how competitors are engaging with your target audience, and which keywords and content they post about.
use tools
Hashtagify.me helps you monitor your social performance, find the best hashtag suggestions for Twitter and Instagram, and identify influencers. You can search any hashtag to see how popular it is, and get examples of popular hashtags within your niche or industry.
You can also type in your Twitter or Instagram post or caption, and the tool will provide you popular hashtag suggestions.
RiteTag is another tool you can use to find hashtag suggestions, and also has a hashtag generator for Instagram where you can upload your post in the text bar, and RiteTag will generate trending hashtag suggestions based on your content.
track the trends
Twitter has a native search feature that allows you to keep up with the latest trending topics and hashtags. Simply go to your dashboard, click on the #Explore tab, and select the “trending” tab for a list of trending topics.
SproutSocial and Hootsuite also help you create lists of trending hashtags through their social listening tools and trend reports.
Finally, Trendsmap helps show you the latest trending Twitter hashtags, as well as exploring hashtag performance over time, and Keyword Tool lets you find top hashtags using Instagram autocomplete.
listen
Pay attention to the types of content and hashtags your audience is engaging with and posting about. Search channel-specific streams, or use tools like Hootsuite, to find which hashtags are the most popular and effective.
By listening to your existing audience and understanding what they are interested in and paying attention to, you can use similar hashtags and post relevant content that will continue to increase engagement.
search related hashtags
Once you start to understand what hashtags are giving you the reach and engagement you’re looking for, use related hashtags. These go one step deeper and are more specific than the popular or general hashtags you may already be using, which could help you find a more targeted or relevant audience.
For example, on Instagram’s Explore section, related hashtags show above the Top and Recent tabs. LinkedIn provides you with hashtag recommendations after you type or click on one.
track and analyze
Keep track of what hashtags you use in your posts, and analyze which have been most popular. Is there a trend where your posts with one specific hashtag perform better? Do your posts around a particular topic with a particular hashtag get more reach or engagement?
If you notice your top-performing posts always contain a few of the same hashtags, be sure to include those same hashtags more often in your future posts.
You can also create more content related to your top performing hashtags, which can increase engagement and brand awareness and relevance.
Important things to track regarding your hashtags are the popularity, reach of posts you use hashtags in, post engagements, and new followers gained.
how to use hashtags on different social networks
Not all hashtags on all social media platforms are created equal. Some hashtags work better on different platforms, and hashtag strategies should differ based on the platform you use to be most effective.
- Use 1-2 hashtags per post.
- Use hashtags anywhere within a Tweet, or in a reply.
- Type a hash tagged keyword into the Search bar to find related hash tagged content.
- See trending hashtags in Twitter’s trending topics.
- Use 1-2 hashtags per post.
- Use hashtags anywhere within the post, or in comments.
- Can help group content in private Facebook groups.
- Search for hashtags in the Search bar.
- Click on hashtags to see a feed of Facebook posts with the same hashtag.
- Use 5-10 hashtags per post (though you can use up to 30).
- Add up to 10 hashtags in your Instagram Stories.
- Include hashtags after your Instagram caption, or in the comments section.
- Search for hashtags in the Tags tab of the Explore section.
- Follow hashtags, so that you’ll see the post of any user who also uses that hashtag.
- Post hashtags as the post’s first comment so followers can focus on the caption, not the hashtags.
- If you have an Instagram Business account, use Instagram Insights to see how many impression your profile got from hashtags.
- Use 1-2 hashtags per post.
- Use hashtags anywhere in the update or article.
- Search hashtags in the Search bar.
- See trending hashtags in the “news and views” section on the homepage.
- LinkedIn provides hashtag suggestions as you write an update.
- Keep hashtags professional.
- Follow hashtags to see recent posts using that hashtag.
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