How to successfully harness the hashtag

Hashtags now have a place on most popular social networks including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Vine and Pinterest. They’re the most popular means of categorising content on social media and, as you probably know, allow you to connect with and engage other social media users based on a common theme or interest. They play a huge part in building reach and visibility on social media, allowing brands to start wider conversations or join existing discussions their fans might be having.

They’ve been around since 2007, yet some brands still haven’t quite got to grips with the humble hashtag (we’re looking at you, #susanalbumparty). Follow these tips to harness your # key and avoid a marketing disaster in the process.

KNOW THAT HASHTAGS WORK DIFFERENTLY ON EACH NETWORK

While all hashtags have the same tagging purpose, the way they are used varies by network. Most networks will have guides on hashtag selection and use – here are Twitter’s, Facebook’s and Instagram’s – so make sure you get to grips with the guidelines for networks your brand is likely to use.

FOLLOW THE RULES FOR WORKING HASHTAGS

There are a few basic rules you need to follow for your hashtags to work:

A hashtag should be all one word with no spaces.

It can’t contain any punctuation. Even an apostrophe will break your hashtag.

It must always have a space in front of it, otherwise it won’t be recognised.

A hashtag can contain numbers, but only if it contains letters too.

They’re fairly simple, but be aware that something as small as a typo or a rogue space can sabotage a post.

BE SPECIFIC AND CHECK WHAT’S TRENDING

Be smart and be specific with your hashtags. Remember how quickly #McDStories became McDonald’s horror stories? Take the time to discover the most popular and relevant hashtags on a specific subject for each network and try and understand why they work. Check the trends on each network and use a site like Hashtagify for inspiration.

KEEP YOUR HASHTAGS SHORT AND TO THE POINT

Hashtags should be short and easy to decipher, not a #longmessofwordsstrungtogether. Remember than on Twitter you only have 140 characters to play with – a hashtag should not be taking up half of those. But, think twice before trying to solve your long hashtag dilemma with an acronym – if no one knows what your string of capitals means, it’s not going to get you anywhere.

DON’T USE MORE HASHTAGS THAN WORDS

Remember, hashtags serve a purpose – and that purpose is not spamming your followers. Even if they’re all relevant, multiple hashtags are very distracting and take away from the content of your post. A general rule of thumb for Facebook and Twitter is to stick to one or two relevant hashtags. You can get away with more on Instagram – anything up to about ten shouldn’t detract from your engagement levels, but try and keep it neat by putting them after your caption.

THINK BEFORE YOU NEWSJACK

Newsjacking – jumping on the back of a trending topic or hashtag with your own promotional message – can be a great way to get attention and show off your brand’s wit and ability to react in the moment. However, it can also go horribly wrong. Look before you leap onto the bandwagon – look into a trend and read what people are saying before using the hashtag in your own posts. If it’s not directly relevant to your brand or your audience, you probably shouldn’t bother.

Hashtags can play a huge part in your social content’s reach, so it’s worth making sure you’re doing it right.

Get more tips on the importance of building a community on social media in our free eguide.