The Story of Hashtags and how to use them correctly?
We all know what hashtags are and they are SO frequently used in any content.
How did they start?
“The pound sign was adopted for use within IRC (Internet Relay Chat) networks circa 1988 to label groups and topics. Channels or topics available across an entire IRC network are prefixed with a hash symbol # (as opposed to those local to a server, which use an ampersand ‘&’). The use of the pound sign in IRC inspired Chris Messina to propose a similar Twitter system to tag topics of interest on the microblogging network. He posted the first hashtag on Twitter:
How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?
— Chris Messina, (“factoryjoe”), August 23, 2007
Twitter did not adopt Messina's suggestion to use the hashtag. Still, the practise took off after hashtags were widely used in tweets relating to the 2007 San Diego forest fires in Southern California.” [Source]
These days, hashtags are not only used to “categorize” the posts, but they also help in “creating a brand” by having unique hashtags for a particular brand (This is especially important on LinkedIn for your Personal Brand and Company brand). They are used to identify any event or a campaign as well as uniquely.
“On Instagram and LinkedIn, users can follow hashtags as well as other users. Using a few popular hashtags can be another way to help new users find your brand. For example, if you use #travel on your Instagram posts, someone who follows that hashtag will see your recent post in their feed. You might gain some new followers this way.” [Source]
This is the most simplistic way I could find to describe it.
How to find the best hashtags for you or your brand/business?
1. Competitor Analysis: You can copy the renowned and popularly used hashtags from your competitors (It’s not plagiarism, so you don’t need to worry). But don’t forget to include your brand’s unique hashtags too!
2. Understand your Audience: When you search for a Keyword on Instagram (or any social platform), you can see a list of popular hashtags related to that keyword. They are the ones your audience is following the most.
3. Use tools: There are many tools like all-hashtag, hashtagify.me etc., to help you find the best hashtags related to a particular theme (the theme of your content).
What I usually do?
I focus on the content that we are releasing. For example — If this were a post and I had to write hashtags for it, here is the list of hashtags I would recommend using (I haven’t used any tools in this):
#hashtag #hashtags #hashtagmarketing #historyofhashtag #hashtaghistory #chrismessina #topicsofinterest #digitalmarketingtips #categorizing #categorizetopics #instagramtips #instahashtags #instagramhashtags #linkedinhashtags #twitterhashtags #creatingabrand #brandhashtags #brading #popularhashtags #besthashtags #competitoranalysis #uniquehashtags #understandyouraudience #targetaudience #audienceunderstanding #keywordhashtag #keywordanalysis #hashtagtools #hashtagstools #hashtagtool #hashtagstool #contenthashtag
It is often said that you need to have a hashtag involving max 2–3 words, but sometimes more than that also works. It depends on the context and the hashtag itself.
Lastly, one of the most important things you must keep in mind is the number of hashtags to use. Instagram gives you the option to use 30 hashtags, but it is unnecessary to utilize them all. Similarly, it is recommended that you should not use more than 6 hashtags on LinkedIn. For Twitter also, it is recommended to use 1–2 hashtags at max.
I hope this was helpful! Let us know if you want any help with Digital Marketing for your business at zenithec.ltd@gmail.com or reach out to us here. Stay Safe!
