Hashtags not only allow you to navigate social media efficiently, but are also a great tool for promoting posts published by companies and brands. However, in order for this to happen, there are a few rules to keep in mind. Which ones?
A hashtag is a word or set of words preceded by a check (#) that are placed under posts on Twiter or Instagram. Their purpose is to organise the material published, to make it easier to reach and to increase reach. However, these objectives are not always achieved. Why? Here are some common mistakes made when adding hashtags.
- When hashtags are too long and contain spaces
Sometimes those responsible for publishing company posts on social media make spaces between the check and the keyword, resulting in the hashtag not working. It is also common to include multiple words in a hashtag in a single string. In doing so, it is worth noting that although there is no rule indicating how many characters keywords should contain, usually the shortest and easiest to remember phrases are the most effective.
- Keywords that are too popular
Placing popular keywords underneath posts seems like a simple and effective solution, but in reality it only ensures that companies engage social media users for a short while. This is because popular words are used by many people or companies at the same time, which in turn leads to the content being lost among other posts after a short period of time. Furthermore, it is very likely that the company will receive likes not from its target audience, but from random people. For this reason, it is also worth considering creating your own personalised hashtags that will later become your company's trademark - such as #zacznijzmartini created by the Martini brand.
- Too many hashtags
It is also a popular mistake to include an inadequate number of hashtags for the short content of the post. It is worth noting that a viewer who sees 20 hashtags under a post may see it as uninteresting spam, whose sole purpose is to reach a large audience and get as many likes as possible. According to the results of a study by TrackMaven, to engage Twitter users, it is enough to post 1-5 hashtags, while on Instagram, posts containing around 9 keywords are the most popular.
- No observations
Companies that create their own hashtags for their campaigns often forget to observe and analyse their subsequent performance in the social media world. It is worth bearing in mind that analysing and measuring their reach is very important for further social media marketing activities. It is also important to ensure that the hashtags created by the company are not used in the wrong context, which can be done using tools such as Keyhol or TweetReach, which provide information on reach and allow reports to be generated.
Hashtags are an essential part of promoting social media posts, and avoiding the above mistakes will ensure companies reach a wide audience of their target group.
Author of the text: Marta
