Hashtags Across Platforms

Hashtags are one of the greatest tools social media has to offer, but also one of the most challenging to use correctly. Similar to most social media platforms, balance is key both in quantity and quality.

Marketers are fans of repetition, but using the same self-promotional hashtag in every single tweet might not be the very best strategy. At the same time, connecting with like-minded individuals, potential employees, and promoting your brand to the best of your ability often includes a strategy using hashtags and catchy phrases that could potentially go viral.

Early adopters are more likely to be familiar with how to use hashtags well than those just beginning to use social media as a tool. Even after spending a few months or years on Twitter, people still aren’t quite sure what hashtags are for or why they see them everywhere. And with the advent of Facebook hashtags and Instagram hashtags and yes, even Pinterest hashtags, there are plenty of places to be confused by them! 

Ready for a bold statement? Twitter is kind of like life—it all comes down to relationships with other human beings. The goal of social media is to build relationships in some capacity, and hopefully those relationships lead to something even more valuable in the future. The essence of hashtags is giants like Twitter and Facebook trying to help users create relationships and engage in conversation with people you know (and those you don’t). As long as your brand understands that hashtags are about more than feeding clicks or hoping for retweets, you’re using them well. They are the key to having more permanent experiences and listening to what the world is saying with the click of a button, which is actually an incredibly lovely concept.

So here’s how to use these challenging, rewarding little friends. First of all, Twitter recommendsno more than two hashtagged words or phrases per tweet. This might not seem like many, but it’s very true to Twitter’s central strategy– choose your words wisely, because you don’t have many. Additionally, don’t feel compelled to add a hashtag to every single tweet you write. If you tweet something only vaguely related to interior design, it truly does nobody any good to add the hashtag just in case.

And finally, check hashtags that you frequently use to find out what others are saying and how your brand can be a part of that. Hopefully as you use hashtags, related businesses and people will discover you and you’ll discover others as well. Twitter is the new word of mouth—the only difference being that the words are lined up nicely in your newsfeed.

To learn more, read our recent post about the #icebucketchallenge and how charities are benefiting from the use of hashtags. And look for future posts on hashtags in Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram– that’s right, it’s one big, complex conversational world! 

Maggie has a love-hate relationship with hashtags. She’s a writer at Social Media Contractors.
Aticle Source http://www.socialmediacontractors.com/hashtags-across-platforms/