We all know what hashtags are. We use them every day on our social networks and even in emails and other publications. They are part of our lives, and we have become accustomed to seeing them everywhere, even in film titles or political campaigns. But the truth is that just eight years ago when we saw the hashtag “#,” we associated it with that rarely-used symbol on our phone keyboards, right?
The world had changed a lot since 2007 when Chris Messina, a Google employee, decided to use this symbol to implement a way of directly linking Twitter users’ messages. Nowadays, hashtags are part of our reality, and the best we can do is take advantage of them.
And as the use of hashtags has gone beyond the borders of Twitter and has spread to most social networks, we want to tell you how to use them on each network, as each platform is different and requires personalized treatment. But don’t get overwhelmed. With these basic tips, you will get your hashtags to succeed in the main social networks. Let’s get started!
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The “mother” social network of hashtags. Not everything goes when using hashtags, and it is easier than it seems to make mistakes that distort the message we want to convey. One or two is the perfect number; your message will lose its appeal after that. And of course, don’t even think about #hashtags #on #every #word – it’s a horrible practice on any social network! Apart from making it difficult to read and understand your tweet, the only thing you will achieve will be to get an unfollow from your followers. Although they can be at the end, they look much better and more natural if they are part of the text.
Another important point is the “Trending Topic.” Twitter shows us the current trends through them, and they are usually expressed in the form of hashtags. Take advantage of the “Trending Topic” of each day and include them in your message, as long as they make sense. The latter is very important, as those accounts that use the TTs to talk about things that have nothing to do with anything are very annoying.
If, for example, we were to use the #EarthDay hashtag to talk about email marketing or ask our subscribers, “is there anyone who can write my essay for me,” we would be making a big mistake. So now you know, choose your hashtags wisely and don’t use them in a “crazy” way, but always think about whether they can benefit you in any way, for example, by attracting the attention of your target audience.
The first tip for this social network is to use them! Everyone uses hashtags on Twitter. They have become the protagonists of Instagram, and even Google Plus is proliferating their use. Still, few people know what benefits can bring using hashtags on Facebook, and there are even many who are unaware that you can put tags on this network.
In addition, clicking on a hashtag will bring up a feed of public posts that include the hashtag, and you may also see related hashtags appear at the top of the page. Use these to get your posts more exposure and organic reach. You can also create your own hashtags and encourage your followers to use them, improving engagement.
Using your own hashtags works very well with events or promotions, for which you can create a specific hashtag, simple and easy to remember so that everyone can find you. Also, since there is no way to highlight text on Facebook (neither italics nor bold), it is an excellent way to draw attention to certain words in the text. But, as on Twitter, you should not overuse them or use them lightly.
This social network is the one that uses the most hashtags per post. By now, you will be sick of seeing images with a sentence and 3 or 4 lines of tags. It is clear that this social network does not comply with the rule of using just a couple of hashtags.
Instagram users use hashtags as a very effective way to get new followers. Some of the most used hashtags on this social network are:
#love, #instagood, #me, #tbt, #cute, #follow, #followme, #photooftheday, #happy, #tagsforlikes, #beautiful, #girl, #selfie, #picoftheday, #like, #smile, #like4like, etc.
The best advice to companies is that they should take advantage of these popular tags to make themselves known, always relating them to the image published. This way, users will find and visualize your brand more easily. There are several tools to find out which hashtags are trending, such as Iconosquare or Tastagram. Take advantage of all the benefits of this platform and succeed through images.
