There is a micro content that characterizes the updates of the main social networks: I’m talking about the hashtag, an element that should be used to indicate the subject of your tweet, your post on Facebook or Google Plus. Without forgetting Pinterest and Instagram.
Hashtags were born in 2007 when there was only Twitter to relaunch the news. They were first used by a San Francisco attorney but had visibility during the San Diego forest fire. That is when Nate Ritter used the word #sandiegofire in his tweet. Since then, hashtags have been used to outline and make tweets related to emergency situations easily identifiable.
Then, with a speed that only social networks possess, they entered common use, and today they are used in any status. Hashtags find space in everyday Twitter use but are often misused. Or in any case, they are used without a precise objective, without a guide. These micro contents are also part of your Twitter strategy: here are some pointers to get the most out of hashtags.
The Topic Of This Post
- 1 Define the topic
- 2 Re-enter your searches
- 3 Branding
Define the topic
The main goal of a hashtag on Twitter: is to give more information on the post you shared. A hashtag should suggest to the user what the topic is, what it is about, who it is addressed to. In a Twitter post, for example, the jokes are limited, and to give the tweet greater clarity, you can use acronyms or abbreviations to help the user decide.
Check out this tweet. I shared a post from Moz and defined the topic with a hashtag. That is, I gave the reader an extra signal by suggesting what he will find in that article. Remember that even on social media, you can take advantage of the principles that bring good results in content curation: you don’t just have to collect content, but you have to search, select, enrich and target them before putting them together in a useful form. Here, in this case, the hashtag can be a great way to enrich and target shared content.
Re-enter the searches
One of the advantages of hashtags: they allow you to enclose all the updates that have chosen that word. Consequently, if you use a hashtag for your update, it will be included in the lists and therefore viewed by people interested in that hashtag. What does this mean? You can reach people interested in the topic addressed.
This is the page that Twitter returns when I click on the hashtag #blogstrategy. My tweet is also on this list, so it is viewed by interested audiences. Often all this is translated as an invitation to abound with hashtags: the more I put in, the more opportunities I have to be found in these searches.
Obviously, this is not the way to act, especially if you want to insert hashtags in a social strategy. Choose only the keywords you need, the ones that align with your target.
But only this last keyword becomes a hashtag because, most likely, people looking for IKEA are interested in other content: products, offers, information on IKEA stores. My content would be bordering on spam. I could have entered the hashtag # brand, sure, but I usually prefer not to overdo the number of hashtags. Is there a limit? No, but this research is detailed: tweets with one or two hashtags receive 21% more RT than messages without, but the percentage decreases when this threshold is exceeded.
Branding
Exactly, a hashtag is perfect for moving your brand and for conveying the name of your project on Twitter. It works well with daily business (I add my brand name with the hash) or defines a particular business along with the brand name. An example: #NataleIKEA to attract the attention of those looking for Christmas offers or #visualsamo for those interested in courses dedicated to the visual topic.
In both cases, there is the brand name, but there is also a prefix that defines a specific area of interest. In this way, you give the user the possibility to choose which hashtag stream to follow (there could also be #supportIKEA, #clientiIKEA …). In this case, imagination can help you to create a hashtag that best represents your brand: remember that during the live-tweeting of an event, you will have to choose a hashtag that is easy to remember, tweet, and read. Last tip: be careful what you choose; a hashtag can become a boomerang! Here’s a classic example of useless hashtags:
Remember that Twitter also offers a module to collect and display hashtags on the website. So if you have organized an event and want to show follower updates, you want to take advantage of a classic widget in the sidebar. But now it’s your turn: do you want to add a tip to use hashtags on Twitter in the best possible way? Do you usually plan to include these saving bonds keywords in your tweets, or do you rely on a simple improvisation? I await your contribution in the comments!
[adrotate banner = “8”]
Do you want to learn how to use Twitter professionally? Discover our online course “Effective Twitter Marketing.” Watch the free lessons and start tweeting now!
