What is a hashtag and how can marketers use them?

Hashtags were born in 2007 when a Twitter user used them in his tweet. This small little hash symbol became so popular and widely accepted by people that people started to use them everywhere and later on Facebook and Instagram introduced hashtags on their platforms. 

The fundamental benefit of using a hashtag in your tweet or post is that people can easily find them if they are following that specific hashtag. This feature not only enabled many businesses to get kick-start their hashtag strategy but also started to get used by many people to raise their voices on the platforms. Marketers also saw an opportunity to use them in their marketing campaigns as they work as an optimization tool.

Hashtags have become a new modern strategy for advertising. Brands and marketers have used them as a tool to create their brand awareness and identity by using unique campaigns and using a fancy hashtag with it. It actually got the eye of the Genz and they really liked the idea of being part of something big. Even if it was not.

how can marketers use hastags?

Marketers use them to get their products and brand name out there. They want to capture the audience of a trending topic, so they can promote their products that may be related to it.

Hashtags are a way of tagging posts so that they show up in multiple places. By adding a hashtag to a post, you can make the content go viral on social media because it will be shared again and again.

There are five main ways marketers use hashtags:

• 1. They are used for humor.

• 2. They are used to engage followers and potential customers in conversation.

• 3. They are used to build relationships with influencers and other brands.

• 4. They can be used to increase traffic to the brand website or blog.

• 5. They can be used to find and follow people who are interested in the same topics.

In addition to these uses, They can also be used as a tool for political activism.

Statistics

Marketers use hashtags to increase their social media engagement. According to a survey, 80% of millennial respondents (age 18-34) used hashtags on Twitter for marketing purposes. Social media users who are attracted by the hashtag topics can easily find and interact with your content. The power of hashtags is undeniable.

Content

Hashtags can be used to improve the reach of your content. If you post a photo on Instagram and add a hashtag related to the topic of the photo, people who search for that word will see your photo. This increases the likelihood that they will engage with your content.

A few examples of popular hashtags on Instagram are:

#instagood #igers #photooftheday #tbt (Throwback Thursday) #followme #love #happy #cute #picoftheday #iphoneonly #me #followforfollow

How to optimize your hashtags?

If you want to get as much Instagram engagement as possible, you should concentrate on optimizing your hashtags. You need to make sure that you are using the right ones for your posts, and that they aren’t already being used by other influencers in your niche. You can use SEO keywords as your hashtags because they are short and memorable. Knowing what is a good hashtag is critical because it will help you get more exposure, likes, and comments.

Relevancy

Make sure you are using hashtags that are relevant to your category. If you are a digital marketing agency you can use hashtags that are related to marketing terms. This will help you to get discovered by more people as they’re already looking for related content or service.

Trends

Researching what is in trend is the most important part of a successful hashtag strategy. Don’t copy someone else’s hashtags just because they are trending or you think it might be good to use them because they might get viral.

Less is more 

The most important part of your hashtag strategy is that keep as little as you can don’t try to spam a post with hashtags. Keep a check that you’re not repeating the same hashtags again and again.

Tools 

Today everything is available on the internet. You can find a variety of hashtag generator tools that can help you get started. Remember always test what is working and what is not. It is difficult to choose which hashtag is better but you can get insights from a tool called Hashtag Stack, which not only shows insights of a hashtag but also show you related hashtags with the volume of posts created. You can find other tools also but I will recommend you, Hashtag Stack. 

Conclusion

Hashtags have been now around for a decade and almost everyone understands their purpose. It is up to you how you use this great tool to generate organic comments, likes, and follows. You must test all the relevant hashtags that are relevant to your brand. They not only help you create a unique identity but also provide you the leverage to gain attraction.