Social Media: The Do's & Don'ts of Hashtagging
When you want to reach your target audience, it's important to hit the right notes and this is where hashtagging comes in. The main focus for this should be on Twitter and Instagram. Facebook does accept hashtags however it never really took off so when a hashtag is used it pretty much goes unnoticed. Hashtags have only been around on Facebook since June 2013, and three months later, research from EdgeRank Checker found that using hashtags on Facebook has a zero-positive effect on reach. Posts without hashtags outperform those with hashtags and with this in mind we would suggest avoiding hashtags on this platform.
Twitter and Instagram use hashtagging as one of their main features for users to navigate from one topic to another. When using hashtags keep them simple, relevant and to the point.
Do: Try to type your hashtag into your prepared post e.g #marketingtips. You will see the number of times it has been used on the right-hand side, this shows its popularity - go with the most popular ones!
Don’t: Stuff irrelevant hashtags onto your posts! It comes across as spam. It will annoy people who follow those hashtags and they will likely tell Instagram to “Don’t Show for this Hashtag.”
Hashtags must be used strategically. You will only increase engagement if you give the audience what they’re really looking for, which is quality content that speaks their language!
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