As a business owner, tapping into the potential of social media is essential for your growth.
Easier said than done. But, have you ever experienced frustration for not getting your social content to reach your target audience, no matter whether you create helpful content?
Or even worse, have you ever wondered why your competition is crushing it on social media platforms, but you don’t manage to? You may not be using hashtags for your posts!
Hashtags are one tool that can unlock powerful opportunities to reach new audiences and drive engagement from existing followers.
Using relevant hashtags on social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn can help you target your audience more effectively and optimize your posts for better search engine rankings.
In this blog post, we explain how to use hashtags for business purposes so that you can leverage this powerful marketing tactic today!
Before diving into how to use hashtags for business, let’s start defining a hashtag.
A hashtag is a word or phrase prefixed by the # symbol in front of a keyword. You can use hashtags to group all related posts about one topic into one place and track conversations about a specific topic. Hashtags make your content searchable and reachable on social media.
For example, suppose you have a website that publishes content about meat recipes. You might create a hashtag like #meatlovers and then post recipes, tips, and other information that pertains to your niche audience. This will allow users to find your content easily when looking for relevant information about meat recipes.
The final goal of hashtags is to make your content easily accessible to users.
The types of hashtags you use will vary depending on the industry your business serves. An excellent way to start with hashtags on your social media posts is by looking at the trending hashtags other competitors are using and including them strategically across your content.
Hashtags can help spark conversations, connect people with similar interests, and help to grow a brand’s reach. Below are some reasons why you should use hashtags for your marketing strategies.
Help you build brand awareness
If your business is just getting started in the market, using industry hashtags or branded hashtags will increase the chances of your business profile showing up to social media users. You will increase your business’s online visibility by raising awareness of your company and brand.
A branded hashtag will also help you promote your business by simply including your company’s name throughout your posts. Strengthening your brand awareness is key to driving new followers and customers.
Help you generate more traffic
Using hashtags effectively will generate more traffic for your business, as any time users look for a specific keyword, your business will show up. Try targeting particular search queries users would type in when looking for your products or services. The more related hashtags you use across your different posts, the more significant traffic you will generate.
Help you create engagement among users
Including hashtags in your posts means that you are starting a conversation about a trending topic with your followers. This will help you generate engagement as users will likely interact with your content, comment, and even contact you.
The higher your engagement, the better the signal for search engines that your business is relevant to your industry, which translates into higher rankings.
Allow you to keep up with trending topics
Hashtags target relevant and trending topics in your industry. This represents an opportunity for your business to reinvent itself and innovate by creating relevant content across that topic.
Users want hot and trending content about what’s currently impacting the market. A trending hashtag can definitely make the difference between being relevant or irrelevant to consumers.
Do some research and find out what trends are competitors or relevant figures in your industry discussing through hashtags. Then, create content around the same hashtags that drive conversation among users. You’ll likely experience an increase in engagement and traffic generated.
Help you rank for specific keywords
Not surprisingly, hashtags are specific and relevant search queries and topics consumers are looking for. Using the right hashtags on your content will help you rank for those keywords, which improves your SEO performance.
However, don’t abuse the power of hashtags. You want to include only relevant hashtags in your content pieces naturally based on the discussed topic. Overusing hashtags or stuffing them can instead harm your campaign or post’s performance.
Help you target your audience effectively
Including hashtags on your social media marketing campaigns can help you reach out to your buyer persona if done strategically. You want to research what your target audience is searching for through hashtag search. Once you have identified the top hashtags in your industry, you can create targeted content that drives more engagement and appeals to your target market.
Now that you know some benefits of using hashtags for your business, you might wonder, how can I find hashtags I should be targeting? You can use several tools and strategies to find the right hashtags for your business. Let us mention some to you.
You can first examine your competitors’ social profiles to find hashtag ideas for your business. Most likely, they are also using hashtags to increase their reach. Take a look at the hashtags they use and write them down. If it works for them, it will also work for you.
Use social media tools
Another way to discover relevant hashtags is by using social media tools. Usually, social media platforms have features to find which hashtags are being used in your industry, such as Twitter.
Use related hashtags
Look at what comes up when you type a specific or general hashtag around your industry. For example, if you are a digital marketing agency, type #digital marketing on social media and check what related hashtags pop up. Those are the ones users are searching for.
Search for trending hashtags
Trending hashtags are one of the best information sources for creating content. It’s hot and relevant content being discussed by social media users. Browse through the different social media platforms and find trending topics in society.
You can create content to support social causes or movements to benefit your company. However, be careful about what you post, as these topics are controversial and can harm your brand if mishandled.
Use social media listening tools
You can use social media listening tools such as Hootsuite or HubSpot to identify trending hashtags in your industry and make the research process even faster. Also, social media listening tools will display how each hashtag performs on each social platform.
Now that we’ve talked about the basics of using hashtags for business, let us share with you some ways to implement them effectively on social media.
Don’t use too many hashtags
Using too many hashtags hurt the performance of your social media posts. Too many hashtags make a post look spammy and can decrease your engagement rate and performance. 5-6 hashtags are better than using 30. Make sure that the hashtags you decide to use are specific, short, and relevant to the content you are posting.
Use location hashtags to target the area you serve
Targeting location hashtags will help you target the community of users looking for information about your products or services in your area. These types of users are more likely to drive conversions to your business. Additionally, it will help you build brand awareness and exposure in your specific zone.
Use product and brand hashtags
Product and brand hashtags help you start a conversation around your products and services, representing an opportunity to make more sales and communicate your value proposition to online users.
Also, you can use these types of hashtags to promote your company through customers’ testimonials and reviews. Users can read about other customers’ experiences with your business when they look for that specific keyword and help you strengthen your company’s reputation.
Now that you know the basics of using hashtags for business, let us share with you some ways to implement them effectively on social media.
Instagram Hashtags
We recommend using 3 to 5 hashtags per post to maximize your reach. Studies show that using 3-4 hashtags per Instagram post increases engagement rate to 3.41%.
You can include them at the bottom of your post. Also, you can add them to your business’s page bio. With Instagram Insights, you will be able to visualize how your hashtags are performing across your posts.
LinkedIn Hashtags
You can include hashtags in any part of your LinkedIn posts. The recommended amounts of hashtags range from 1 to 5 per post.
Be careful; LinkedIn is a professional social network. Select hashtags that best suit the tone and purpose of the platform. You can also check for relevant and timely hashtags by typing your keyword on LinkedIn’s search tool. The more hashtags you follow in your industry, the more related will show up on your feed.
Facebook Hashtags
One of the biggest perks of Facebook is that no matter in which part of your post you insert your hashtags, it’s still going to work. It is recommended to use 1 to 2 hashtags per post. A study showed that posts with 1 hashtag experienced higher engagement rate as opposed to others with more hashtags.
Hashtags also work in private groups, so identify which hashtags are primarily being used and include them to organize your content based on topics.
Twitter Hashtags
Use hashtags anywhere across your Tweet. We recommend including them in the beginning, middle, and end. This will give a better emphasis on the topic being discussed.
You can also include them in your retweets or comments. Use 1 to 2 hashtags per post as a maximum, and keep up-to-date with trending hashtags.
Statistics show that tweets with 1-2 have 21% more engagement and 55% more chances of getting retweeted.
This will be easy as Twitter is the top social platform for users who want to follow trending topics.
YouTube Hashtags
When posting content on YouTube, include no more than 15 hashtags, or your video might get penalized for spam.
You can include your hashtags in your video descriptions and title. This will help group other related videos you have previously published on the same topics.
A hashtag in a video title or description can increase the number of views by 26%.
If you don’t know where to start gathering hashtags for your YouTube content, type # on YouTube’s search bar and browse through some trending topics across the platform.
TikTok Hashtags
For TikTok, you can include hashtags in your video’s caption. It is recommended you use 3 to 5 hashtags for better performance.
You will be able to look at trending hashtags in the discovery section of the app. Create hashtag challenges so that you increase visibility and engagement for your business.
Incorporating hashtags into your marketing strategy is a great way to reach your target audience and create successful campaigns. You can establish your unique hashtag or tweek pre-existing ones to give your campaigns the boost they need.
If you want advice on ensuring your social media marketing strategies succeed, why not get a free marketing plan from one of our experts today? Let’s get started on crafting an effective strategy and putting those hashtags to work!
