DID YOU KNOW: THERE ARE 500 MILLION TWEETS SENT A DAY… THAT’S 6,000 TWEETS A SECOND!
I remember the day Twitter joined Facebook in the world of social media. Ever since March 2006, Twitter has been my favourite social network without question. Whilst I enjoy using Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn; Twitter is where I chose to engage with my audience, and vice versa.
When you talk about hashtags on social media, most users would first think about Instagram as this is the network which predominantly uses hashtags to categorise search which is a shame, and will be a problem for most small businesses moving forward. Whilst hashtags on Instagram are great, you mustn’t forget about hashtags on Twitter, and how powerful they can be.
Hashtags on Twitter are extremely powerful, and a great way to focus on a specific topic or conversation however, they are only effective if you know how to use them properly. What works on Instagram, does not work on Twitter.
I found a great infographic from The Huffington Post that I wanted to break down and share with you. Keep reading to find out the power of hashtags on Twitter.
#THEPOWER
Did you know that Twitter made the hashtag famous??
As a small business owner, hashtags are an extremely important part of your social media marketing strategy. You should treat them like as a way of driving brand engagement, increasing recognition online and to positively impact customer loyalty.
#THEBASICS
Do you know how a hashtag works? A hashtag is to be used before a word on Twitter to make it searchable. Twitter then categorises each hashtag to create a stream which can be easily viewed on Twitter. Hashtags can be used during any part of a tweet and they will not appear in a search if your Twitter account is private.
#BESTPRACTICES
DON’T OVERUSE HASHTAGS
If you are going to use hashtags in a Tweet, make sure you are only doing this for one or two words. Anything more than this, and you are spamming your audience, and making it difficult for them to read your tweet.
PICK A BRAND HASHTAG
If you are using Twitter for brand awareness, pick one hashtag and use this as a way to engage with your audience. When choosing a hashtag to speak for your brand, make sure it encompasses your brand, industry and the message you want to share online
TWITTER CHATS
Use your hashtag to encourage a two way conversation with your audience. You can even run a live Q&A which is something that will generate a lot of positive sentiment online.
TAKE HASHTAGS OFFLINE
Just because a hashtag was created for online purposes, it doesn’t mean that it is ONLY effective online. Take your hashtag offline to further increase engagement.
BE OBVIOUS
When choosing a hashtag, make sure it is memorable and something people can use easily. Be obvious with your choice, and make it easy to associate with your brand.
I hope you now understand the power of hashtags on Twitter, and if you want to see the full infographic, you can do so here.
How do you use hashtags on Twitter?
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