Suppose you are one of those businesses that used social media earlier. In that case, you are probably aware of how vital hashtags are. Hashtags were widely used on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to increase engagement, awareness, and more. In fact, according to sprout socials, using trending hashtags can help improve viral attention on your post.

Still, many digital marketers question the relevance of hashtags to social media today. Some believe that hashtags are a waste of time. And while might hashtags aren’t as helpful as they used to be, they’re not dead. Using hashtags is still effective in extending the reach of your posts.

Likewise, this article will tackle why people still use them and how to use them properly.

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the symbol #. It can be used in social media to identify messages on a specific topic.

The hashtag was created in 2007 by Chris Messina to categorize messages on Twitter. He proposed using hashtags as a metadata tag that would allow users to apply dynamic, user-generated tagging. This makes it possible for others to find messages with similar content easily.

Hashtags have become popular on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. They have been used in other ways, such as in journalism and marketing campaigns.

Why should you use a hashtag?

As mentioned earlier, hashtags are an excellent way to connect with interested people or related to your niche or content. For example, suppose you have an eCommerce fashion business. In that case, you could use hashtags such as #clothes, #dress, or #ootd to promote your products.

Likewise, here are a few more explanations as to why you should use hashtags in your social media strategy.

1. Reach target audiences

Using hashtags on your social media posts can help boost your reach toward your target audience. It is essential to social media marketing because it can effectively link content to a particular topic and reach target audiences.

A hashtag is created using the pound symbol (#) followed by a keyword or phrase. A space follows this before the next word or phrase you want to hashtag. And when you use the right keyword, your post will be included in their feed.

For example, if I wanted to talk about my favorite TV show, I would use #myfavoriteTVshow.

2. Compel an action

A hashtag compels an action because it reminds people to take some kind of action. For example, if someone wants to promote the idea of recycling, they might use the hashtag #recycle. The hashtag will remind people that they should recycle and do it now.

3. Shows support for social issues

Hashtags are a great way to display support for social issues. It can be used to express opinions, emotions, and other thoughts. This can be done by adding a hashtag before or after the statement.

Some hashtags have become popular in recent years due to their popularity with celebrities and influencers on these platforms. For example, #metoo is an example of a hashtag that has been popularized by celebrities such as Alyssa Milano and Rose McGowan. They have helped raise awareness about sexual harassment in Hollywood and beyond.

4. Build brand awareness

Hashtags are also used as branding tools. You can use them in your business name or slogan so that when people search for that keyword, they will find your profile or company website easily.

For example, if you have an ice cream store and call yourself “The Coldest Ice Cream,” you could use #thecoldesticecream as a hashtag for your social media profile. This can help you increase brand awareness or invite people to your profile.

5. Increase customer engagement

The use of hashtags has increased in recent years. Hashtags have become integral to social media marketing because they are the easiest way to categorize content and increase customer engagement.

It is used to group posts under a common topic. It is a way to categorize posts and helps increase customer engagement. Likewise, it can help marketers create more content, find new customers, and increase the reach of their posts. It can make it easy for people to find them on social media platforms.

What makes a good hashtag?

Now that you know why you still need to use the hashtag, it is now time for you to learn how to do it right. Here are some easy and general tips for using hashtags on social media.

1. Short and easy to remember

According to Hootsuite, the length of hashtags may vary depending on the platform. Still, a  good hashtag should be short and easy to remember. It should also be catchy and meaningful to the audience.

Otherwise, here are some hashtags per social media platform.

• Twitter – Use one to two hashtags per post.
• Facebook – Use two to three hashtags per post.
• Instagram – Use three to five hashtags per post.
• LinkedIn – Use one to five hashtags per post.
• TikTok – Use two to three hashtags per post.
• YouTube – Use three to five hashtags per post.

2. Reflects your brand

Hashtags are an essential marketing tool for businesses. They can be used to reflect the brand’s identity and promote the company’s products and services. A good hashtag should be relevant to your company or product. It should also be easy to use with other social media channels and easy for customers to remember in their everyday lives.

3. Not overused

While using popular or trending hashtags is tempting, it sometimes comes with disadvantages. For example, the hashtag #throwbackthursday has more than 55 million posts on Instagram alone. If you tag your next posts with this hashtag, there will be a slim chance that users will see your post in this thread.

So, if you want your hashtags to go viral, they mustn’t be overused. Try to stick to hashtags with less than 1 million posts for small accounts. That way, your post will be more noticed and will have a chance to be viral.

4. Limited numbers

When choosing a hashtag for your campaign, it’s important to remember that some platforms have limited characters per post, including hashtags. Thus, limiting your hashtags is crucial to maximise your post descriptions.

Here are various hashtag lengths per social media platform.

• Twitter – Up to 6 characters per hashtag.
• Facebook – Up to 15 characters per hashtag.
• Instagram – Up to 15 characters per hashtag.
• LinkedIn – Up to 11 characters per hashtag.
• TikTok – Up to 12 characters per hashtag.
• YouTube – Up to 10 characters per hashtag

5. Checked with analytics

The best way to determine if a hashtag is worth using is by checking it with analytics. This will allow you to see the hashtag’s popularity and whether it has any negative connotations. Moreover, checking your hashtags with analytics will help you measure the potential of your hashtag campaigns, possible engagement, social media sentiment, and latent reach.

Plan your hashtags with Flexisource IT Social Media Marketers

Whether you are new to social media or just looking for a way to increase your post’s engagement, a hashtag can help you. With more than 12 years of existence on the internet, it has helped various businesses to grow their accounts. And it will be less likely that hashtags will soon see their demise.

So, try to maximise its worth and use it before it goes away! And if you want to know more about social media, Flexisource IT can help you. Contact us now!