Do’s and Dont’s of Hashtags

They are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TV and even around the streets. For most people a hashtag is a word and/or group of words followed by the pound sign that seems to be used freely around social media, but what most people don’t know is that hashtags have useful purposes and can become a powerful tool for advertisers if used properly.

Going back to the humble origins of the hashtag, it started on twitter as users found the need to be able to group conversations together in a simple way, for instance if people were discussing a specific conversation about hockey, they would use the hashtag #hockeygame in order to be able to track all the tweets surrounding that topic. It wasn’t until 2007 when Nate Ridder, a San Diego resident, started using the hashtag #sandiegofire to broadcast news surrounding this incident that this practice started to spread. Fast forward to present day, everyone from your neighbour to McDonalds is using hashtags.

Do: Use a hashtag to allow people to follow a specific topic
Like the example above, if there is an accident and you want to keep the community informed send a tweet with a hashtag that alerts people. If you are at a conference and want to share some of the insights from the speakers, use a hashtag to share this knowledge with the audience.

Don’t: Excessive hashtags
On twitter, it’s recommended to use up to a maximum of two hashtags per post. Excessive use of hashtags decreases engagement and it’s actually penalized by twitter. Keep your hashtags smart and concise.

Do: Promotional Hashtags
As long as you keep them short and sweet, hashtags are a great tool to advertise your latest campaign. Having a spring sale? Call it #springfling , hosting a product launch? Make it an occasion #productxball

Don’t: Hashtags on Facebook
Facebook released the hashtag feature at the end of last year but it hasn’t really taken off, as a matter of fact recent findings have shown that brands using hashtags have seen a decrease on engagement.

Do: Know your networks
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google + are the only networks where hashtags are an actual feature that lets you track specific content. Using hashtags in networks such as Pinterest or Linkedin makes you highly unprofessional and it gives a clear tell that you are new to the social media space.