In the digital world that we live in, follow, advertise and market in the newest trend is hashtaging. However, when using hashtags (#) there is a guide one must follow in order to maximize the newest trend in gaining an audience or followers. Yes there is a proper way to hashtag in the social network world, which clearly individuals who do not know the etiquette will hashtag everything, even partial or whole thoughts.
Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon demonstrated the over use of hashtags in a recent skit for Jimmy Fallon’s show.
Although hashtags have been used on the Internet long before social media websites such as: Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter; with its 140 characters limitation, really brought hashtags to their popularity and the forefront. The hashtag is primarily used to group together related posts, topics and categories to one central search. According to Twitter in 2011, reports showed that 10 percent of tweets will include a hashtag.
When you are using hashtags in your marketing and advertising, remember to keep in mind that Twitter hashtags are a powerful social media tool for business promotion and trend tracking. To hashtag like a pro here are some things to remember when hashtagging for your business.
– Keep hashtags brief!
– Hashtags should be directly related to the topic at hand.
– Posters can include more than one hashtag within a single Tweet.
– Hashtags can be and are directly searchable to everyone.
– Hashtags serve a universal purpose however can be perceived differently on different sites.
– To make an impact, check the popularity of your hashtag before using by going to hashtag.org.
– Never use spaces even if there are multiple words in a hashtag. Separate them by capitalizing the first letter of each word.
– No punctuations are required! I.E. commas, exclamation points, periods, question marks and quotations.
– Using numbers is okay.
– Hashtags are being used to set the tone and voice of brands, businesses and individuals.
– Create your own hashtags.
– Use hashtags to generate a buzz. Create a contest, raffle or promotion is a great way to get Twitter talking about your brand.
Above all, Hashtag with context and add to conversations, it will take those tags further or maybe even viral!
