#Awesome #YOLO #FollowForFollow!! Hashtags are EVERYWHERE and for a good reason. They improve social media performance across the channels.
Brands use hashtags on their posts to increase reach and encourage social influencers to join the conversation. They were previously most widely used on Twitter and are now supported by most social platforms including; Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Flickr.
In fact, they’ve become so common that people have started using them too much. I’ve even received text messages that included hashtags. I ask why? It’s important to consider what platform you are using before you decide what hashtag to use each platform is different and you must remember that when posting hashtagged content.
Here are 5 reasons why and where you should use the hashtag:
1) Engagement – A hashtag immediately expands the reach of your tweet & Instagram post beyond just those who follow you, to reach anyone interested in that hashtag phrase or keyword.
Facebook on the other hand mostly reflects hashtagged posts of your liked page, or of people you are friends with. This makes it difficult to communicate with users who aren’t your followers or friends list unlike Twitter & Instagram where anyone can get involved.
2) Search – Hashtagging posts makes it easy for browsers to search for specific posts. Sites like Instagram and Twitter allow searches for real-time results.
Popular hashtags produce instant & timely results and this is a lot more popular on Instagram & Twitter than any other social networks.
3) Exposure – Once a hashtag has been created it’s out there for all to see, this means you can pretty much create your own keywords and tap into active conversations reaching an already wide audience and giving you more exposure.
4) Gain Followers – Often Using hashtags enables you to gain more followers. For example, Instagram users are more likely to gain more likes and followers by hashtagging images and videos than those that do not. A popular hashtag on Instagram is #F4F which translates to “Follow for follow”. Users ask others to follow them in order to get followed back.
5) Cross-promotion – Brands are likely to replicate the key hashtags over each of their social media platforms. Using the same hashtag consistently creates conversations over multiple platforms and eventually increases engagement.
For example, Archies Online created the “The Bond Of Love” Rakhi campaign which encouraged users to share their childhood memories with their siblings. Sharing #TheBondOfLove multiple platforms users could share over Facebook and Twitter, in a result the hashtag made it to the Indian trends on Twitter.
