The pound sign, the number sign, however you refer to the infamous tic-tac-toe symbol when you press SHIFT+3 on your computer, the hashtag has since evolved from a simple character on the keyboard to a social media icon. Initially as a tool used by Internet Relay Chat (IRC) in 1988 to organize groups and topics across the network, it was not until 2007 that the very first Twitter hashtag was invented by Chris Messina. Just like that, the previously known “pound sign” has evolved into one of the most highly influential social media tools across a wide spectrum of social platforms.
Businesses across the globe have since been adopting the use of hashtags for social media marketing, regardless of industry type. With over 4.33 billion users on social media (55% of the worldwide population) at the beginning of 2021, there’s no question that content of all kinds runs the risk of getting lost amongst the high volume of daily users and posts. The real question is: how can hashtags help to boost a company’s social media presence? If your business isn’t using hashtags right now as part of your social media content strategy, here’s three reasons why you should start today:
Stretch your Company’s Reach
Hashtags grant businesses the ability to search and be searched by other individuals that share common interests. As a feature that can be clicked on, which is especially essential on Instagram where URL links are not compatible in a post’s content, hashtags take users to a realm of similar content that is used under the same hashtag. This allows your business the chance to appear more on related searches, increasing your visibility all through the use of a pound sign. You can even follow certain hashtags on Instagram to filter content for you, so if you’re perplexed on how to use hashtags effectively, be sure your content incorporates relevant hashtags that pertain to your industry.
Jump on the Trending Train
Hashtags give your business the chance to be a part of global discussions. From movements to products, social media users can join the worldwide conversation, gaining fresh insight about a topic and sharing inputs by using trending hashtags. In fact, back before Twitter embraced the use of hashtags to group relevant content, inventor Chris Messina had recognized the power of hashtags when Califonia resident, Nate Ritter, was tweeting about the wildfires in San Diego. Nowadays, Twitter users can search for trends with their “Trending Topics” tab. By applying trending hashtags to your own content, your brand has the ability to participate in online engagement and potentially draw in new clientele.
Generate your Own Hashtag for a Business Boom
We can all recall a hashtag that some of our favorite brands have created, for example, (and my personal favorite,) Wawa’s #FreeCoffeeTuesdays which the company created to promote free coffee on Tuesdays of a specific month. Not only does creating a hashtag for your own business allow your customer base to engage with your company on social media but can benefit your business on the backend by tracking a specific campaign or by monitoring online conversations pertaining to your product or brand, all through the use of a hashtag. Who knew the hashtag held so much power?
Whether you are on the fence about which hashtags your business should use or want to learn more about how to use hashtags effectively, you can typically find hashtag tools out there that have pulled and compiled popular hashtags or certain platforms, like Instagram, has a built-in feature that allows you to view the number of posts already published with the same hashtag. However, there’s more to the art of hashtags than just simply throwing random hashtags on your post, hoping your social media presence will boost. Leave it all to our social media savvy Content Team at beMarketing for expert social media services! Contact us today to discover how our hashtags for social media marketing tactics will help your company #thrive.
Mary Adams, Communications Coordinator
beMarketing
