Do hashtags really work? I have to say I was very skeptical at first but now that I have been heavily focused on Twitter and Instagram, I can honestly say WOW, they really do make a difference. I love them now and can’t do a tweet or Instagram post without one, two or twenty as is the case in Instagram.
A hashtag is a word or phrase that has the symbol # in front of it. Like #success #abundance or #getmoreleads. Broadly speaking, a hashtag helps to categorize your content on your social media platforms. They seem to be most successful on the platforms of Twitter, Instagram and Google +. Hashtags in tweets are retweeted 2x as much as a tweet without. And with Instagram, your specifically targeted followers will grow almost on autopilot using hashtags. But with Facebook, hashtags have been shown to have a negative impact on your presence.
Hashtags were first proposed in 2007 by Chris Messina who realized a need to organize topics within a growing and diversified Twitter community. It took another two years for the hashtag to really be accepted in the social media world.
Hashtags have some very cool implications and can greatly enhance your social media marketing experience. By using hashtags properly you can grow your presence beyond your reach.
Hashtags are basically a tool that can be used to broadcast information to the right audience and allows you to find like-minded people. Essentially they help you find highly targeted followers that are interested in you. This will lead to a higher engagement rate and will increase your presence online. In this way hashtags are very similar to keywords and tags that you include in written, audio and visual content that appears on the internet.
Hashtags have many uses as outlined below:
1)To highlight the subject of your message.
For example: #Attractionmarketing is all about being your authentic self.
2)To categorize your content
For example: #Attractionmarketing is all about being your authentic self. #mindset
3)To increase the reach of your audience.
Tweets with hashtags are retweeted more often than tweets without.
4)Keeps your message relevant. Find out what you have in common with your audience
Hashtags in messages makes it easy for people to find your message.
In the two examples #1 and 2 above, your content will appear when people who are searching for attractionmarketing or mindset content, type it into the search bars on many social media platforms. So this helps people quickly and easily find you. Not only will people find you but they will be the right people for your content and you.
Hashtags help you find and connect with relevant influencers, prospects and customers. This is a huge bonus because if you connect with top influencers in your niche, you can then start building a relationship with them and that will increase your influence.
The Holy Grail of a hashtag strategy is to get so well known that your name becomes a hashtag and then goes viral. This will take some time and consistent effort. For this to happen you must grow a large enough audience in a specific enough niche and provide enough valuable content for people to seek you out. Examples of Top Influencers in network marketing/social media would be Eric Worre or Mike Dillard.
Tips When Using Hashtags
1)Make your hashtag easy to read by capitalizing the first letter of the word in a phrase, #GetMoreLeads.
2) Twitter hashtags are clickable and when clicked will take you to the searchable page for that hashtag.
3)Don’t spam your hashtags. Twitter works best if you limit your hashtags to 2 or 3. Instagram allows 30 hashtags and is perfectly acceptable to use that many. As said earlier, Facebook users usually don’t like hashtags.
4)Make sure your hashtags are relevant. You want your hashtag to be relevant to your audience or you will end up losing your audience.
5)There is a sweet spot for a hashtag. For example, hashtags can keep your content in front of eyeballs. You want a hashtag that has a large enough audience but the hashtag can’t be so popular that everyone uses it and your content will go through the feed quickly.
Finding good relevant hashtags is similar to finding good keywords and tags. There are programs on the internet that will help you with your hashtag research such as hashtagify.me or hashtag.org . Twitter has a tool that when you start typing in a hashtag, it will give you relevant suggestions.
I hope you found this blog useful and helped clear up any confusion about hashtags and how to use them to increase your presence online and grow your audience.
The post Hashtags? What Are They Good For? A Strategy To Grow Your Business appeared first on Lisa R. Fraser.