Social Media Marketing with Hashtags: Part 1
On social media, hashtags serve as an indication that a piece of content relates to a specific topic or belongs to a category. Hashtags help make content discoverable on platform searches and, effectively, reach more people.
Including hashtags in your posts means taking part in a conversation happening on that social media platform. This can lead to greater engagement, boosting your brand’s social media engagement through likes, shares, comments, and new followers. So, the question is, how can you include hashtags into your social media strategy?
Help your target audience find you
On Linkedin and Instagram, users can follow hashtags as well as other users. Using a few popular hashtags can be another way to help new users find your brand. For example, if you use #Knoxvile on your Instagram posts, someone who follows that hashtag will see your recent post in their feed.
Build on Your Brand Identity
A branded hashtag is a hashtag that your company has created and promotes as a way of tagging your company directly. For example, we use #MarketRetrievers and #FetchYourTargets on almost every post to create brand recognition and encourage others to interact with us through these hashtags.
Find Related Hashtags
Related hashtags might be a little more specific than the popular hashtags you’re already using, which could help you connect with a more targeted audience with a niche topic. On Instagram, the related hashtags show just above the “Top” and “Recent” tabs when in the Explore section of Instagram.
Overall, hashtags are a simple and effective way to increase engagement through social media marketing. We're going to dive deeper into hashtag best practices in Part 2 of this series, but in the meantime, reach out to Abby Wheeler at awheeler@marketretrievers.com or 615-587-7266 to get started with your social media strategy today!