Why Hashtags Are Important
By Emily Klempel, Social Media Manager
You may have thought before that hashtags are useless and just look spammy, but if you use them the right way, they can be very beneficial for your brand! First off, here are some basic principles to keep in mind when using hashtags.
Make sure you don’t use any spaces or symbols, or the hashtag won’t work!
Your account has to be public or your posts won't be shown to anyone outside of your following, despite using a hashtag.
The best hashtags tend to be short and easy to remember.
Your hashtags should be relevant and specific to your brand.
On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags. Don’t add more than 30!
You can add the hashtags in the comments section instead of the caption if they don’t add necessary context to your caption
With these tips in mind, here are three ways hashtags can benefit your brand on social media.
Increase engagement and visibility
Hashtags can help your target audience find you. On Instagram users can follow a hashtag the same way they would follow an account. This allows you to reach an audience that isn’t following you with the use of hashtags. For example: if you add #foodie to your post, that will allow people who follow that hashtag to see your post on their feed even if they don’t follow you. This is why it’s important to use hashtags that are relevant to your content and brand so that you reach an audience with similar interests. This can help with gaining followers and increasing engagement.
Hashtags can create increased visibility for a campaign or help promote an event. Creating a specific hashtag for a campaign or event can make it more recognizable and engaging. When used to promote an event, the hashtag connects you with your followers and your followers with each other.
Build brand awareness with branded hashtags
In addition to using trending hashtags, you should create at least one hashtag specific to your brand. This will help establish your brand, and you can encourage your followers and customers to use your branded hashtag when they post about you. Be sure you create a hashtag with little or no use so you can dominate the hashtag with your brand. Use it in all your posts to establish its credibility.
If you post user-generated content on your Instagram a branded hashtag is a great way to source that content. Instead of scrolling through your feed or tagged posts, you can go to the hashtags page to find content related to your brand.
Add context to a social media post
Hashtags can be used as part of your caption to add context to the post. Longer captions aren’t always a best practice for social media, and hashtags can give context without requiring a full sentence or explanation.
They also can help your post stand out in the feed more than a basic caption. Like using an emoji, hashtags are eye-catching for someone scanning their feed. Using the right hashtags can help users quickly understand what your post is about. Sometimes, this could mean the difference between someone stopping to read your post or scrolling past.
Ready to dive into your brand’s social strategy, including hashtags? The Foodie Tribe Team can help you build an authentic, engaging, and creative social media strategy to help your brand stand out. Reach out to us today and we can schedule a call to chat about your brand!