Importance of Hash Tags
Do you know what does a hash tag do for you?
The hashtag has now become an indispensable tool for creating content and increasing user participation. It also helps with the dissemination of relevant information about products, events, news, and trends in the industry or sector.
Twitter was the first social network that introduced hashtags and it became a rage. In a short period of time, it became one of the most important components of a tweet. In addition, other social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr have also incorporated this option.
In this article, explains the basic concepts that every digital user should know about hashtags so that one can better understand what it is, what it is for, and how to use it.
What is a Hashtag?
A hashtag consists of words or phrases (without spaces) preceded by a # sign. This has made it possible for users to participate in conversations on a particular topic, and thus be grouped under a single label.
Example: # SocialMediaMarketing #Twitter #Blogging
When you have already created your own brand, and want to start creating a conversation with the participation of users, just add it to the end of your comment or question.
Example: What song do you like to wake up every day? #happywakeup
What is a hashtag for?
The main objective of a hashtag, as I mentioned at the beginning, is to be able to promote any type of product, event or news about what you want to inform. Another advantage is that it serves to gain reach in your brand, increase the presence and that people can find you easily.
The use of tags is a fantastic opportunity to monitor the conversations of users in social networks on a specific topic and identify which are the most relevant content for your business. In a next post, I’ll tell you about the tools you should use to monitor a hashtag.
How to create a hashtag?
When choosing and creating a hashtag you have to take into account some aspects to achieve the greatest effectiveness in social networks:
Short, Precise and Concise: The hashtag has to be shorter, the more it is much better so that users can write and interact quickly. As on Twitter you only have 140 characters, the longer space, the fewer space users have to communicate.
Memorizable and Readable: Users will have to memorize it in case you want to tweet it, so it has to be easy to remember. Although hashtag is not case-sensitive, we recommend that you use what is known as the ” Upper Camel Case, ” meaning capitalization in a position other than the initial one. In this way, you visually separate words and facilitate reading and understanding.
Example: #loteriadenavidad -> #LateriaDeNavidad
Original and Unique: If you choose an all too common hashtag, it has probably already been used on occasion, so you must choose an exclusive one for your campaign. This ensures that conversations are not mixed with one containing the same hashtag.
Contextualized: It is important that the hashtag makes sense within the context of the message and the campaign, as it may be a very original hashtag, but if it is not contextualized it can confuse the user.
Standard characters: I recommend that the hashtag does not contain spaces, nor , or accents, or tides. If you consider this advice you will avoid any duplicity of data, and you will be guaranteed the number of times a hashtag has been used.
How to use a hashtag?
Now that you know what it is, what it is for, and how it is made a label, it is advisable before you start using them that you consider the 4 types of hashtags that you can use in your campaign:
• The hashtag for brands or campaigns.
• Content Hashtag.
• Trend hashtag.
• Event Hashtag.
The branded hashtags that have been created have three key ingredients, being concise, catchy and most importantly, being unique to the brand. For example, the Red Bull energy drink exemplifies this perfectly by converting its well-known slogan into the #TeDaAlas hashtag.
Its small size and being so recognized allows users around the world to share photos of your favorite drink on the social network they want, and at the same time find the content you want. This type of hashtag is a permanent element and rarely changes.
The hashtag for brands or campaigns
The hashtags campaign created specifically for a particular marketing action, aiming to strengthen the campaign and the brand. These types of labels are often used to promote a product or service, but it can also be a way for consumers to take advantage of exclusive discounts or promotions just by being a Twitter user.
Content Hashtags
The hashtags content is used to connect directly to a target audience. For example, if you are a small coffee shop that wants to increase brand awareness, a creative way to do it is to post photos of your artful and delicious coffees with the hashtags # cafe #arte #latteart.
In this way, it will allow you to attract the attention of the users and attract a multitude of interested parties. If you share your publication in the different social networks you will get your tag to spread successfully, and become a viral content. Mainly, hashtags that describe an attitude or philosophy of life are the ones that work best.
Hashtags Trend
The hashtags that are trend are the most complicated and dangerous because in some cases, join trends can be very counterproductive for a brand. The best option, before you launch into it, is to make sure that the hashtag that is Trending Topic (TT) is related to the brand.
When there is a tendency to support hashtag for a solidarity or social cause and you want to contribute your help, do not do it with a tweet in which you are going to promote a product or service because you risk being harshly criticized by the users. As has happened on some occasion with a famous character.
The image you can see below is about an advertising campaign that made the San Miguel 0,0 beer brand for World Bike Day (April 19), where they created the #sacatubici hashtag so that all Twitter users could share their experiences around the two wheels.
Hashtag Events
Surely, if you have ever attended an event or congress of any sector you have seen that promote their own hashtag. This is done so that attendees can make comments in real time about what is happening or express their ratings.
In addition, it allows all the people who have not attended the event to be informed minute by minute of everything that is happening and thus to be able to participate in the conversations.
For example, this is the case of the Social Media Marketing Day (#SMMDay) in which Social Media, Digital Marketing, and SEO professionals complete their knowledge in a practical way with each of the presentations.
Social Media Marketing Day #SMMDay
Creating a #Hashtag for your next marketing campaign is the best way if you are looking for a fast and effective way to reach a new audience, establish the presence of your brand, or create new lines of communication with your customers on social networks.
