We all know what hashtags are. We see them everyday on our digital platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. In a nutshell, a hashtag consists of a word or phrase preceded by a # sign. But how did we start using them?
Hashtags initially rose to fame on Twitter, where people used them to talk about a relevant or trending topic on the platform. Today, the infamous hashtag is used for so much more.
Instead of just starting a conversation or making a statement, the hashtag plays a pivotal role in a brand’s marketing campaign. Many companies use this strategy to stay current, and increase online awareness. Hashtag marketing delivers opportunities for them to promote their products or services by engaging with their target demographic on a certain platform or via multiple channels.
Some of the benefits of using hashtags in your marketing campaign are:
- Increased brand awareness
- Better engagement
- Established brand identity
- Improved search engine optimization (SEO)
- More online buzz as it drives people to talk about your brand
How can you incorporate this strategy into your influencer campaigns?
Influencers have amassed a huge following and established a reputation on various digital platforms. They mostly share their thoughts, experiences, and expertise on their respective niches and they post relevant content to engage their audience.
In fact, research shows that 49% of online consumers rely on influencers when it comes to choosing which products to buy. In addition, businesses that invested in influencer marketing received a 520% return on investment. These numbers just prove that the power of influencers is not something to be taken lightly.
Implementing a results-driven influencer campaign can be a daunting task, but hashtags can be a big help in enhancing the success of your marketing strategy. They make it easy for your target audience to search your product online. And, they can even present more opportunities for your business to expand market reach.
Hashtag Marketing on Instagram
With more than a billion active users, Instagram is one of the most heavily trafficked social networks. It is also the most preferred platform for influencers.
Understandably, both brands and influencers are populating this platform. Frequent, and consistent content is proven to generate excellent engagement on Instagram. So, both the influencer and the brand should work diligently to create campaign-specific hashtags to further drive interaction, and improve awareness.
Campaign hashtags are often used on Instagram when a brand wants to launch contests, product giveaways or promotions. These hashtags, along with the influencer’s creative way of sharing content, give plenty of marketing opportunities for your business.
Keep in mind, though, that you should keep hashtags short and simple when adding them to your posts. That way, your target audience will find it easy to connect and relate to your brand, and specific campaign.
Another great way to create brand loyalty, is by taking note of those who respond to your hashtag on Instagram. You can give them a reply to show how much you value their feedback and interest.
Hashtag Marketing on YouTube
ThinkWithGoogle’s data statistics show that 4 out of 10 millennials expressed that they relate to a YouTube influencer better than their own family or friends. With influencer marketing continuously growing as an industry, it can’t be stressed enough how important it is to use tactics to increase views and engagement on the video-sharing platform.
Research shows that using hashtags on YouTube increases views and engagement by over 10%. YouTube influencers also leverage hashtag marketing on Instagram to promote themselves and attract more viewers. Hashtags like #youtuber, #subscribe, #youtubevlogger, and #youtubetutorial are some of the most commonly used ones on Instagram.
Moreover, using hashtags on promotional posts on YouTube, boosts the SEO of your brand or specific campaign. After uploading, add a video title and description, and at least three relevant hashtags to boost the searchability of your video.
Adding hashtags to your posts enhances the credibility of your video, and your brand as a whole. Discerning consumers and users have increasing demands for quality and authenticity when it comes to searching for content and products online.
Hashtag Marketing on Twitter
More and more brands are leveraging hashtags on Twitter to enhance engagement and reach. By adding a hashtag to a tweet, you are exposing your brand message to a much wider audience on the platform.
In addition, marketers and influencers can use hashtags as a tool to start conversations on Twitter, exchange ideas, create a buzz around a certain topic, launch a campaign, collect data, and gather feedback from potential customers. When done correctly, this strategy provides a plethora of marketing opportunities that will make a positive impact on your business in the long run.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Hashtag Marketing on Twitter
- DO create a unique hashtag that highlights your brand’s message or specific campaign.
- DO make your hashtag readable and relevant to the topic.
- DO try to include trending or event-related hashtags to your campaign-specific tweet without sounding inauthentic.
- DO include campaign-specific hashtags to your tweets to further promote your brand.
- DON’T string too many words in one hashtag.
- DON’T spam your brand’s tweets by adding too many hashtags in a single tweet.
- DON’T forget to perform a hashtag search and monitor the conversations and engagement.
- DON’T underestimate the power of retweets as it helps expand your reach and keeps the discussion flowing.
Hashtag Marketing on Facebook
Though most commonly used on Twitter and Instagram, placing hashtags on Facebook still has its fair share of benefits in terms of improving the content’s searchability and engagement. Influencers who use Facebook as their chosen platform to engage with their audience can leverage hashtags to create a buzz around their preferred topic, public events, videos, and other types of content.
The key is to use strategic hashtags to expand your reach, drive engagement, and increase awareness. So here’s a quick guide to creating relevant, industry-specific hashtags on the biggest social media platform out there:
- Before choosing the hashtag for your public Facebook posts, do a quick hashtag search to monitor the conversations and posts on the topic.
- Keep track of the conversations and discussions around the hashtag in order to get an overview of what type of content your target market typically consumes on Facebook.
- As a business owner or marketer, you must be specific about what type of content (e.g., video, image, blog post) and hashtag you want the influencer to use on their Facebook posts. However, you should keep in mind that having a smooth, collaborative relationship with the influencer is important. So give them concise details about the campaign but don’t ask the influencer to lose his or her distinct style or tone.
- If you’re using two or more words in a hashtag, always capitalize the first letter of every word to make it more readable.
- Don’t include too many hashtags in a single post.
Final Notes
The strategic use of hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube has the potential to widen the reach of your posts, expand your network, drive better engagement and interaction, and keep online users talking. So identify what works for you and take advantage of all the perks it can bring to your influencer campaign.
Author Bio:
Social media and Max Chekalov is a match made in heaven. Prolific digital marketer with considerable skill in graphic design and writing, his endless thirst for knowledge and communication can be sated only by the dynamically changing world of social media. Always on top of the latest trends and development in social media marketing, Max’s curiosity and vision bring invaluable insight and value to any project.
