Hashtags are everywhere on social media be it Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram, you’ll find them easily. It’s not only that just they are being used but, they are delivering benefits as well. We must say that hashtags have become an integral part of social media marketing for all businesses and they have shown their worth as well.
But to use anything for your business, you need to know its right approach to prevent any problems later on and get the best out of that strategy. Similarly, hashtags are also required to be used with the right approach and the right intent. Because that is how you can take the best advantage of the hashtags. In this post, we will tell what you should do and what you should avoid while using hashtags.
Do’s of hashtag marketing
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User-friendliness
This tactic requires the most attention during hashtag marketing as if your hashtag is not user friendly, it will not get the attention you want. So, while deciding the hashtag to be used in your posts, you first focus on making it user friendly. For that, the best strategy is to capitalize the first letter of each word in your hashtag. For example, reading #DigitalMarketing will appear more user friendly than #digitalmarketing. The reason is simple, that capitalizing the first letter of each word makes it easily readable.
Another important factor to be considered is to be clear and relevant. Use direct hashtags that can clearly convey the message rather than using allusions.
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Focus on using trending ones
Taking the help of already popular hashtags in your posts will help in giving you exposure quickly than posting without them. We must say that this is a pro tip in hashtag marketing and the reason for this is its deliverability. Using trending hashtags increases the visibility of any post and when a user searches for that popular hashtag which is also used by you, your post will also be there in the search results shown to that user.
But it shouldn’t be like that you can use any trending hashtag in your post. Relevancy of the hashtag to your post must be there to get the right attention.
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Use in body
If you think that hashtags are only there to be used only in the caption of posts or in the heading part, then you are wrong. Hashtags can be used anywhere where they can fit relevantly. One of the most important uses of hashtags is in the body of any message you want to deliver via social media. Let’s say, for example, if you are conveying something about digital marketing that is your business’s niche, then you can use #DigitalMarketing in between the body part of your content. This is another good idea to be found on the social media platform where there are millions of users.
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Make your hashtag used by other
If you have created your company’s hashtag and are using it in your posts to get attention, then it could be the best idea to request others to use that hashtag as well. Considering this will improve your brand’s reputation along with a wider reach.
If others use your hashtag, it is a sign that it is popular and more people will use it in their relevant posts. This chain will give a direct benefit to your company. Plus, with this technique, you will be able to engage with your target audience by finding the posts having your hashtag and giving your opinions.
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Tell people why they should use your hashtag
If you think that people will easily do what you say then think, why will they do it? What benefit will they get? Found any answers? No? Let us make it easy for you. For your hashtag to be used by your influencers, followers, or clients, you have to give them a solid reason. That reason could be anything, a retweet, lucky draw, exclusive coupons, or discount offers. You need to understand that it is a give and take strategy, and it works best in this way only.
Considering this will ensure more engagement from the target audience and they will reciprocate in the way you wish to.
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Research is necessary
Doing research while hashtag marketing holds the key. It is important for you to know which hashtags are being used by the people when they are talking about your brand. Plus, you should also analyze whether those hashtags are relevant to your business or not. Doing this will give you an idea of how people are behaving while talking about your brand and you can make any necessary changes if required.
Research before using anything is a must and doing this in hashtag marketing will make you aware of any unwanted or irrelevant hashtags that are being used with your brand.
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Use hashtags smartly
Smarter the approach better will be the results. Smartness is also required with your hashtag marketing to be on the right path. As we know that Twitter is from where hashtags originated and the second most popular platform for using hashtags is Instagram. Thus, keeping this fact in mind, you are required to give much more attention to these two platforms while using hashtags as that is where you will get most of the attention.
Considering the hashtag popularity of Twitter and Instagram does not mean that you should ignore other platforms that support ‘#’. Again, we are saying that you need to play smart and with that you should also use relevant hashtags on Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube but fewer than the two popular ones.
Don’ts of Hashtag Marketin
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Avoid flooding hashtags in your posts
Everything is poison if consumed more than its recommended limit. Similar is the case with hashtags, if they are used in large numbers, they could become like poison for your posts and will be considered as spam. And with that, you might be asked to remove that post or your ID will be blocked.
So, it is important for you to know how many hashtags will be enough or relevant for your posts to get the attention of the right people. Though Instagram allows using up to 30 hashtags in one post yet it is advised not to use more than two and those should be the most relevant two.
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Don’t use too long hashtags
Hashtags are meant to be short and easily memorable not too wordy. There is a perception in some people’s minds that adding more words to a hashtag will make it better and increase the chances of being discovered easily. But this is wrong, as hashtags don’t have any space between them thus, using long hashtags will make it difficult for the audience to be read and due to which most of them will ignore that.
So, focus on keeping your hashtags short so that people can easily memorize them and use them in their posts wherever they feel is relevant.
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Avoid using hashtags claiming to increase followers
You might have seen hashtags like #likeforfollow or #followforfollowback, especially on Instagram. But these kinds of hashtags create a negative impact on a business whether it is small or big. Such hashtags are used by individual social media pages just to get the attention of people. For them, there is no target audience but for businesses there is. So, avoid using such hashtags as it is seen that most of such hashtags offer only an adult or irrelevant content.
Businesses must focus on getting the quality rather than quantity and these hashtags have the least chances of driving quality to your posts, rather they might downgrade your reputation.
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Don’t use irrelevant hashtags
In the process of including trending hashtags in the post, many businesses do this mistake of adding a hashtag that has no relevance to their post or business’s niche. Remember, this is never going to help as it might backfire. Seeing your post in the hashtag search result that is not relevant will annoy people and they might mark your post as spam. And you know, spamming is not tolerated anywhere.
So, smartness is to only use relevant hashtags. Don’t scream for a trending one if you are not able to find it, because this is the best practice of hashtag marketing.
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Keep aside more common hashtags
Even if they are trending, smartness lies in avoiding the use of hashtags those are most common as they are already being used by numerous people. It creates a tough competition and lowers the chances that people will be able to see your post despite having a trending hashtag.
So being a smart social media user, don’t waste your post by using a hashtag that is too common, instead use a unique one irrespective of the fact that it is trending or not.
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Don’t use banned hashtags
Not all hashtags are worthy and especially on Instagram, special care is required while using them. Why we are saying this is because there are certain hashtags that have been banned by Instagram. Thus, before deciding to use any hashtags in your post, it is important for you to know the hashtags that are banned.
If anyhow you have included a hashtag in your Instagram post that is banned, it will be spammed by Instagram and you might face ID ban as well. So, before using any hashtag do search for the ones that are banned and avoid using them.
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Using all caps hashtag? Avoid
As we know that one of the most important factors while using a hashtag is its user-friendliness. If a hashtag is not user friendly, it will be ignored. Using a hashtag with all letters in the capital will make it less effective. For example, #DIGITALMARKETING is less readable when compared to #DigitalMarketing. Thus, don’t think it as a classy move to use all caps hashtags as doing this will only affect your post negatively.
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Don’t completely rely on hashtags
Yes, hashtags do deliver, they improve visibility, ensure better engagement, and attract the right people on your posts. But despite these factors, you cannot completely rely on them to ensure a strong digital presence. Hashtag marketing is just a way to strengthen your hold among competitors, not a sure shot formula to generate leads and revenue.
So, make hashtagging a part of your social media marketing strategy not only social media strategy.
Wrapping It Up
These are some of the dos and don’ts of hashtag marketing that are important to be considered. Avoiding these points and making mistakes will cost you a lot and might negatively affect your other marketing efforts. While practicing digital marketing, you cannot hide from hashtags as they are all around on social media, and to give tough competition to your rivals, you need to use them effectively.
We hope that reading this post might have given you an idea of what you should do and what you should avoid to get the best out of your hashtag marketing strategy. Implementing this will definitely reap you great benefits and make your efforts work out for you.