Hashtags are one of the most ubiquitous features across social media platforms – whether on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even Pinterest. Whether or not you’ve used social media, chances are that you’re at least familiar with hashtags, however, you may not know what they mean or what they exactly do. If you’re looking to gain exposure on social media for your brand or business, it’s important to know how hashtags work, and how to use them effectively, as they can help you achieve a greater following. In today’s blog, we’ll be diving a bit deeper into the world of hashtags, and how you can take advantage of them in your social media strategy. If that sounds interesting, keep reading below for more information!
What Hashtags Are & What They Do
In its simplest definition, hashtags are words or phrases used to index and categorize social media content – including posts, pictures, blog articles, and more. Usually beginning with a “#”, hashtags can help direct algorithms and users towards specific or niche content. Users can use hashtags to search through the content of a particular topic – for example – if you wanted to see content from restaurants in Boston, you would use “#restaurantsinboston”, “#placestoeatboston”, or other similar hashtags.
How to Use Hashtags in 2022
Inversely, if your business is a restaurant in Boston, you’ll want to make your hashtags descriptive yet relevant to what your business entails. It’s best to use important keywords, like, in this case, “#boston”, “#restaurant”, “bar”, “#restaurantsinboston”. It’s ideal to be descriptive enough about your business while avoiding unnecessary or unneeded filler words – successful hashtags will straddle the line between these two.
In the case of hashtags, more doesn’t necessarily equal better. In fact, most social media experts agree that 4 or 5 hashtags on a single piece of content should suffice. You won’t want to overdo it as you can run the risk of appearing as spammy or disingenuous – the last thing you want your business to appear as online.
Why Should I Use Them?
Though hashtags aren’t absolutely necessary for your social media strategy, they can certainly help elevate your brand in a number of ways.
Gain Visibility & Engagement – After all, the interaction between people is what gives social media its purpose. When you use the right hashtags, you can capture the attention of users, who can like, comment, or interact with your content, giving your brand more validity and visibility. The more the word about your business gets out – the better!
Initiate Discussion – Even if you aren’t seeing immense growth or an increase in visibility, hashtags can be fulfilling in a more personal sense. If you feel particularly passionate about something, for example – Boston sports – hashtags can attract meaningful and stimulating conversation amongst users. This can make for memorable and fulfilling bonds amongst social media users.
Contact Boston Web Marketing
Staying up to date with social media and coming up with a content strategy can be challenging. At Boston Web Marketing our team is ready to help you optimize your social media and make it work for you to improve your SEO. Get started with us today by giving us a call at 857-526-0096 or email us at sales@getfoundquick.com! We look forward to working with you and developing a social media strategy for your business!