Effective use of the hashtag

by Kimberly Deas

Hashtags (#) have become a part of our everyday social media world. You see them on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

It is a standard used on every social media.

Realistically, hashtags are only functional on Twitter and Pinterest.

On Twitter, hashtags are a way to discover and catalog specific conversations. Since Pinterest is mostly visual content, hashtags are used to describe the pictures that are pinned. Facebook and LinkedIn do not have any functions for hashtags.

Here are 6 tips to effectively use hashtags (#) for business:

1. Hashtags are self-created, so choose one that is appropriate for your topic and brand. Pick something memorable, easy to spell and as short as possible.
2. When using a hashtag for an event, communicate the hashtag to your attendees/audience so that they know the correct hashtag to use and respond to others who use the hashtag.
3. Sites like Twubs are hashtag directories to explain certain hashtags. Lever­­age common hashtags like #FF (Follow Friday) can drastically increase your audience.
4. Monitor the hashtags used by your followers to engage with them as appropriate.
5. Don’t overdo it with hashtags. One or two hashtags per post is enough and not every post needs to have one.
6. Use broader hashtags. For example instead of #soup, use #cooking, or #food to ensure you connect with a broader audience.

Effective use of hashtags can drastically increase the reach of your social media and your audience.

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Kimberly Deas combines her 10+ years’ experience in telecommunications with a background in personal coaching and results-oriented training.