Tips on How to Effectively Use #Hashtag in your Marketing Campaign

With social media expanding its reach everyday in order for users to connect online, there are some new tools you might not understand how to use properly – and one of these tools is called the hashtag. The #hashtag—a word or phrase without spaces or special characters and preceded by a “#”—can become a profitable and powerful addition to your marketing arsenal.

First gaining popularity on Twitter, where tweets with hashtags receive 2x the engagement of those without, the tactic has become a standard conversation-starting and engagement-driving tool across many social outlets. However, Instagram is beginning to take the lead with the #hashtag tool, allowing your business to obtain more organic followers that have a keen interest in what your company is all about.

Here are some tips on using hashtags effectively in your B2B social outreach:

1. Create a static list of hashtags you will always use, and then add new hashtags after

The first thing you’ll want to do in order to implement hashtags into your marketing campaign is to make a list of all the hashtaghs that you believe will be relevant to your audience that you will want to use regularly. For example, when I write about golf fashion and I post a photo on my social media I will use hashtags such as, “#GolfFashion,” #WomensApparel,” #Instagolf.” Just to name a few.

You want to make sure you choose hashtags that are popular enough, but not TOO popular. You can tell whether a hashtag is too popular if you type it into the search bar on Instagram. For example, #Golf has 13 million posts, whereas #GolfGirls has only 58,000 posts. So remember, your post will be a needle in a haystack if you choose hashtags that have too large of a popularity and you won’t be gaining traction with your social media marketing.

Instead, you’ll want to create two lists: existing hashtags that are already buzz-worthy conversation starters within your niche, and new hashtags that you’re specifically creating to publicize your brand.

Here are some ways to do so:

• Evergreen – This term refers to words or phrases or topics that will be relevant now and in the future for your audience. Make sure a sizable number of your hashtags speak to topics that have staying power.
• Newsworthy – Any big news or events happening within your products industry? Make sure to always keep tabs on the latest newsworthy items and add specific hashtags about the subject into your already existing list.

At the end of the process, you’ll have a list of hashtags ready to go across your social channels!

2. Use your hashtags to join in on conversations

Hashtags also has another important role – it can lead to engagement scenarios and conversations with interested prospects – giving your company the opportunity to make more connections and share content. If you don’t quite understand here’s an example: this golf brand that I follow made up his own hashtag #makegolffunagain. Since I’ve been a follower of his from quite some time he will comment on my golf posts (when appropriate) and use his hashtag. This will generate more leads for him as more people start to notice the hashtag on relevant posts within your industry’s niche.

• Join existing conversations that are relevant. Social listening is great for this. Be sure to note where you can meaningfully contribute or comment on something, and within your message, make sure you use the same hashtags that other interested parties are using.
• Introduce branded hashtags with loyal customers. The best promoters of your unique, branded hashtags are those who are already involved with your brand and helping spread your message organically. Introduce new hashtags into social messages and particularly focus on those who consistently share your social posts, as they’ll help the new hashtags spread the fastest. (ie. #makegolffunagain)

Those are the basics to using and implementing hashtags into your business social media strategy. Hashtags are a powerful way to increase engagement and attract new leads. Start using hashtags in your posts, and you’ll strengthen your social campaigns!