Since first appearing on Twitter in 2007, hashtags have become a popular way for people to label social media posts and connect conversations about trending topics. These phrases, preceded by a "#" symbol, are now used on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr and Pinterest. For business owners, hashtags act as powerful marketing tools to grab attention and get people talking about brands, products and services.
Creating Conversations
When people click on or search for a hashtag, all the posts that incorporate it pop up in the results. As a business owner, you want your brand to be one of the first things that users see when they search. The hashtag really helped Twitter become a more advanced forum. People can voice their opinions about a specific message that a brand is putting out.
Many brands will literally create hashtags to stimulate questions from their audience to get the conversation going. Forbes does a tremendous job with the #askforbes hashtag. They will get an expert shooting back responses to the hundreds of questions that poor in about the topic of discussion. A retweet alone by Forbes can give an average joe 100 thousand impressions in 24 hours. This is motivating to many on Twitter and it keeps viewers locked in on Forbes's Twitter profile.
Be Genuine and Unique
It all starts with creating a unique hashtag for a campaign. Whether you're marking a new product, drawing attention to a service or promoting an event, you need a relevant phrase that's easy to remember. Do a quick search to see if it's already in use as a hashtag. Once you hit on a distinctive term, start spreading the word through all of your advertising channels to boost awareness. If you try to use a hashtag that's used the campaign can fall flat. Why? Users will be confused when they search that hashtag. One good example is Nu Skin on their Twitter profile they use the hashtag #NSTip to educate and give out health tips. This is simple, it's genuine and a very unique hashtag. It stimulates an educational experience for their audience making it a very effective strategy.
A big part of hashtag marketing is customer engagement. You can encourage your audience to use the hashtag in their own posts by:
• Holding a contest that requires use of the hashtag to enter
• Offering discounts or freebies to people who use the hashtag
• Hosting branded Twitter chats
The point is to get a conversation going with your brand as the hub. Today's consumers want to interact with the brands they follow, and hashtags instill the sense of community they're looking for. The more fun you can make it to interact with your brand, the farther your hashtag will take you.
If you're still stumped as to how to run a hashtag campaign, take a cue from companies such as Digiorno Pizza. Their Super Bowl #DigiorNOYOUDIDNT campaign generated a high level of engagement through the use of a unique persona. By linking their posts with the trending #SuperBowl hashtag, the company got the attention of consumers and kept conversations going throughout the event.
Benefits of Hashtags
What exactly does creating your own hashtag do for your business? Increasing brand awareness is at the top of the list. A hashtag gets people talking about a subject and links every conversation back to your brand. This creates a growing web of brand advocates who expand your reach to new audiences through the most powerful type of advertising: word-of-mouth. By incorporating your brand into everyday conversations on social media, you give your image a chance to spread beyond your website and into new markets.
Since hashtags can be used for anything-business marketing, political campaigns, sporting events and even advocating for a cause-anybody can start a conversation and benefit from the resulting connectivity. This also allows for a targeted approach to hashtag marketing. Creating unique hashtags for specific products, events and interests drives business growth by drawing attention from a variety of demographics.
Hashtags have been around for the better part of a decade and are showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. If you're not already in on this social media necessity, it's time to get started. Keep an eye on trending topics and plan your own campaigns carefully to take advantage of current conversations and expand your brand across social media channels.