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Knowing how to use the best hashtags for your business is essential to doing well on social media. Here’s your intro into using the best hashtags for your business.
#Hashtags are all around us. I was reading an article that said, “The hashtag is simply the pound sign rebranded.” I was floored. This was literally the best rebranding I’ve ever seen. I had never thought of the hashtag like that, but it was true. Pound was out, hashtag was in. Using the best hashtags for your business is crucial to being found on social media sites. They’re utilized on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram most frequently.
What are hashtags?
Hashtags are a method of searching for like content. Instead of typing in the social site, you can simply click on a hashtag on a photo and be led to a group of photos or posts that include that hashtag. Think of it like a small community.
How do you search them?
You search a hashtag by clicking on it. Think of it as a link. You can see how many other people are using it. The more use it, the more you want to use it. Here’s what searching with a hashtag looks like:
As you can see from above, I clicked on the hashtag #SmallBusiness from my post. Then I looked at how many other people were using it and the number was 3.2 million people. Why is this a good hashtag? The first reason, I’m targeting those with small businesses. The second reason, 3.2 million people are using it, which means that 3.2 million people could be searching for that hashtag.
How many hashtags should I use?
Each social media site is different. On Instagram, Buffer and TrackMaven suggest:
On Twitter
On Instagram
From what I use on Instagram, it’s typically a little over 11 hashtags. But I do the hashtag pyramid in order to make sure I don’t forget any. Here’s what I mean:
- Use hashtags that are related to the photo. If your photo is a beautiful beach scenery you might use #Beach #Waves #Outdoors #Sand #Sun #Vacation
- Use hashtags that are related to your industry and what you do. For mine I use #Marketing #Entrepreneur #SmallBusiness #MarketingTip #MarketingHelp
- Use hashtags that are related to where you want your clients to be such as #Orlando #ThorntonPark #Jacksonville #Miami #FtLauderdale #Bradenton #Sarasota #Tampa
On Facebook
For Facebook interaction, I typically only use one or two hashtags. I feel it’s the same as Twitter, the more you use, the more distracted people become. However, you still want to use some so that if people are searching them, they can find you.
Use trending hashtags
Trending hashtags are ones that everyone is talking about. These can be very time sensitive, so you won’t want to schedule them in the future, you’ll want to tweet or post about them currently. Twitter has a section on the left of the desktop that allows you to see what’s currently trending. Here’s what was trending when I wrote this blog (#LakeEola is local!)
There are also other websites where you can find what trending hashtags are being used. Some of those sites are
Use industry specific hashtags
According to this article from PostPlanner.com, there are specific hashtags that different industries should be using some examples are:
Makeup
- #FaceOfTheDay
- #Shimmer
- MakeupMafia
Real Estate
- #JustListed
- #RealEstate
- #Properties
- #Broker
- Realtor
Travel
- #Travelgram
- #Cruise
- #VacayTips
- #WhereToNext
Those are just some of the examples they give. They have a lot of other industries to check out. Try implementing those specific ones within your content to see if you acquire any new followers.
Use hashtags in your content
Content hashtags aren’t necessarily branded hashtags, but they’re hashtags that are used within the content on your post. As an example, Nike uses ones that are relatable to this video of Kevin Hart, #TrainWithHart #TodayIGetStronger.
Using location hashtags is very underutilized. I feel like a lot of people don’t take advantage of this easy one and there’s hardly any research that goes into it! Here’s an example of what I do with my Instagram photos:
I usually use about seven of them in my caption highlighting areas that I want to get customers from. This is helpful when locals in those areas search for the hashtags (as we spoke about earlier) and find my business.
So there you have it- the insider’s guide to using the best hashtags for your business. For more information on the best hashtags for your business and more tips, follow us on social! Follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram for more tips and tricks of the marketing trade!
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