Hashtags are very popular tools on social media & we find almost everyone using them. But what is the reason behind using Hashtags? How do they work? How many can we use? How to find relevant Hashtags?  Well, this blog will clarify all your doubts and make you a pro in choosing the right hashtags for your social media pages.

         You will learn 

• What are Hashtags
• How are they important
• Hashtag Strategies for different Social Media Platforms

What is a Hashtag?

A Hashtag is a label for content that helps you find you instantly find the content you are interested in. Hashtags gained popularity on Twitter but today is used in almost all social media platforms.
If you are posting a picture of a scenery on Instagram & want it to reach to nature lovers or travellers you can simply say #nature or  #travel etc. All the relevant people will search for suppose #nature on instagram & find your post there.

Basic things to be kept in mind while using Hashtags

• They start with symbol # - They will only work if you use symbol # before & do not use space, punctuation & symbols.

• Make sure your account is public - If you use hashtags in a closed account it will be visible only to your followers.

• Use the relevant hashtags - It is important to search the correct hashtags that are related to your domain else all your efforts are futile.

How Hashtags help you?

• Helps your Target Audience reach you

If you are a business page, Hashtags will help your relevant audience connect with you. If you are selling a shampoo & post a picture of your product using #haircare, all those following #haircare will be able to see your post. 

• Boost your engagement on Social Media

Using hashtags indicates you are participating in social media happenings & makes your post visible in the relevant conversations.Using Hashtags leads to bringing greater engagement leading to more likes, shares, comments & followers.

• Build a Brand

Using a well thought hashtag for your business helps to build your brand awareness. Example Cocacola used #ShareACoke that proved to be one of the brilliant campaigns.
#YesWeCan is a hashtag that was quite popular in Obama’s Presidential Elections in 2008 when hashtags were not very popular in political campaigns.
 

• Support a social cause

Hashtags are popularly used to support a social cause or campaign. Some of the most popular recently used Hashtags are #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter & #StayHomeStaySafe.


How to find relevant hashtags?


1. Competitor Analysis- Try to see what hashtags are used by your competitors and try to use those hashtags. See if those hashtags are doing good for your competitors.

2. Using hashtags tools- There are many tools available online to find the right Hashtags. Some of them are Ritetag, Twitonomy, Hashtagify etc.

3. Research Hashtags used by influencers & popular posts - Analyse which Hashtags are used by influencers & most popular posts & try using them. Once you get a hang of it, you can have your own Hashtag Strategy.



Tips for Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram is the platform where you can use the maximum number of hashtags.

1. Always use Hashtags on Instagram - Reports say using relevant hashtags on Instagram will help you get 12.6% more engagement on an average.

2. Upper limit of Hashtags - You can use a maximum of 30 hashtags on posts & IGTV & 3 Hashtags on Instagram stories.



Tips for Hashtags on Facebook

1. Don’t use too many hashtags- It is suggested that you should use 1-2 hashtags per post for best engagement. Research suggests that using multiple hashtags brings less engagement.

2. Make sure your posts are public- Hashtags will work only if the posts are public else the posts will be visible to only friends & followers.



Tips for Hashtags on Twitter

1. Use 1-2 Hashtags - It is better not to over use hashtags. Research says using 1-2 Hashtags brings more engagement by 21%.

2. Research for all trending hashtags- Spend time in research trending & relevant Hashtags. You can use “Twitonomy” to find relevant hashtags.



Tips for Hashtags on Linkedln

1. No optimal number of hashtags- Hashtag is a pretty new feature on Linkedln so it is better to use 2-3 hashtags rather than populating your posts with hashtags

2. Try using relevant hashtags on business pages- Using hashtags on your business page will help your target audience find you.

Hope this article will help you find the relevant Hashtags that will help you connect with your target audience and build a strong brand across social media platforms.