How To Harness The Power Of The Hashtag

It feels like hashtags have been around forever now, but unlike most social media features that end up being consigned to the history books after a year or two, these nifty little marketing hacks continue to stand the test of time.

In this blog post, we’ll take an in-depth look at hashtags and how they can be used to boost your posts or gain exposure for sales and promotions. We’ll also point out how best to use hashtags in your social media management to ensure you get the most from your efforts.

What Are Hashtags?

Let’s start from the beginning. For those who don’t know, hashtags are when you attach the # symbol to words on your posts to ensure more people see it. This works by making your posts discoverable to anyone searching or following that particular tag, so when they click or search for that tag, your post will appear.

So in essence they act like labels for your social media posts so if you’re selling something cool or announcing a great promo, adding hashtags can help get more eyes on your post and drive up engagement.

How To Use Hashtags Effectively

Although using hashtags may seem simple, there’s actually more to it than just throwing as many in as you can. So here are a few tips to help you use them effectively:

Make Sure They’re Accurate

First, it’s important to remember that you need to be honest and transparent with your hashtags. It’s no use trying to draw potential customers in with a hashtag that doesn’t relate to your products or services. 

For instance, if you own a business that operates in a less glamorous industry, say, you sell cardboard boxes, there’s not much value in using a hashtag like #designertrainerssale as this would be counterproductive.

Sure, you might get more people coming to your page, but as soon as they see what you’re offering doesn’t relate to the hashtag, they’ll think you can’t be trusted and they’ll be out of there in no time! What’s more, if social media moderators notice you continually using misleading hashtags, you may be penalised. 

So be honest with your hashtags and make sure they reflect precisely what you’re offering or your efforts will be in vain and they might even hurt your online reputation.

Don’t Overdo It

Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags and some people see this as a sort of quota they have to hit!! However, as the old phrase goes, sometimes less is more.

Now we’re not saying you can’t use more than one or two, but don’t overdo it or your post could start to look spammy which could put off potential buyers. We would usually say around a dozen hashtags is optimal.

Use Time Wisely

When it comes to using hashtags, some platforms are better than others. Indeed, Instagram and X are great for harnessing the power of the hashtag, but if you’re using Facebook to market your products then you might find this strategy is a waste of time.

The reason for that is hashtags have never really taken off on the platform. Most businesses say that using hashtags on Facebook hasn’t made much of a difference to their sales or exposure. 

So while we’re not saying you shouldn’t use them on Facebook at all, in the interest of time management and getting the most out of your marketing efforts, we wouldn’t spend too long filling your posts with hashtags.

Use Research Tools To Find Hashtags

While you might have some luck taking a stab in the dark, it’s always best to do some proper research before adding some hashtags to your post. This will help you zone in on the keywords you’re looking for, which should help increase visibility and drive engagement in your posts. 

There are plenty of tools out there you can use. One of the most popular is Tucktools’ tracker which tracks the hashtags on all the most popular platforms including Instagram, X and TikTok. It’s also absolutely free, which is always a bonus!

So those are our top tips for using hashtags for your social media posts. As you can see, there’s much more to hashtags than simply throwing some on a post and hoping for the best. By utilising best practise, you can help your social media posts get the exposure you’re looking for.

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