As with everything, there is a right way, and a wrong way to do things. The same goes for hashtags. Hashtags can be an extremely powerful tool if you use them correctly. On the other hand, they can make you look, well, like an annoying idiot.
This little symbol has infiltrated the web, no doubt. And we admit, it’s quite catchy. You can find relevant content for a specific topic by clicking on a hashtag. You can optimize social conversations with hashtags. You find people with similar interests with hashtags. And better yet, people can find you. Creating the right hashtag can expand your social media reach and attract potential followers, fans and customers, if you are a business.
Anyone who even has a passing presence online has become aware of the ubiquitous nature of the “hashtag.” 2013 was no doubt the #yearofthehashtag. If you’ve been taking a hiatus from technology the past few years, we’ll fill you in.
A hashtag, which is a meta tag, is a phrase or word preceded by the pound or hash symbol (#). Putting a # in front of a word or phrase allows others to click it. People include hashtags in their social media posts to make their content accessible to others.
For example, if you have written a blog about content marketing and blasted it on your social media platforms, a relevant, correct use of a hashtag in a post would be #contentmarketing. If you really want to get snazzy, you could make it #contentmarketingtrends2014. This hashtag makes sense and it’s something people would click on.
If you are using a hashtag in a personal post rather than a business one, and you love to ride bikes, for example, a good hashtag would be #bikelife. You can even put more than one in a post, like #wearyourhelmet. However, please refrain from hashtags of the long, sentence-like nature, i.e. #sundaybikeridesarethehighlightofmyweek. There is just no need for that.
When four techno-nerds decided to develop a site that allowed for sharing with people that were not already friends and from their ambition, Twitter was born. As a further refinement, hashtags were developed as a way of promoting content on Twitter.
When placed in front of a word, the hashtag forms an automatic link between the content in the post, and all other similar content. As such, this little pound sign now helps connect similar thoughts, promote events, form groups, etc.
The hashtag was NOT created for you to write your autobiography and put a # in front of it.
To sum up what we’ve said above, we’ve outlined an easy to read Hashtag Etiquette Guide. When it comes to properly using hashtags, be sure to follow these 6 pieces of advice:
In summary, make your hashtags count, and don’t be this person:
It would been wrong of us sign off without referring to the infamous Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon hashtag skit.
rong of us sign off without referring to the infamous Justin Timberlake and Jimm No amount of hashtags or status updates will proivde you with results you ned to scale your business. Not alone, anyway. You need to combine them with four components of the Business Growth Stack, the proven framework used by big growth brands across the country.
As laid out in Steve Brown's book, The Golden Toilet, this system helps you:
Get your copy of The Golden Toilet now and gain the knowledge you need to help your business succeed.