The Ultimate Guide To Hashtags

Hashtags always start with #.

If you’re hashtagging with a private account, those tags won’t do much good. Make your account is public for the best results.

Keep them short and sweet. When hashtagging, it can be easy to get carried away. However, it can make it hard for people to find on social media when you string too many words together.

Less can be more when it comes to hashtags. Overloading a post with too many can come across as spam content.

Never use punctuation or spaces in hashtags. The words should all flow together like #ILoveDigitalMarketing.

Use letters and numbers, but never numbers alone. For example, #7 will not bring favorable results. However, #No7 will.

Never add characters before a hashtag. Instead of news#digitalmarketing, use #digitalmarketingnews

Capitalization: Using all lowercase hashtags will certainly bring decent results. However, using upper and lowercase letters can make the hashtag more readable for the user and tends to have a slightly higher engagement rate.

Using hashtags on Facebook can help increase your reach, gain visibility, and attract new followers. Try using up to two hashtags relevant to your audience and/or trending on social media for the best results.

Since hashtags originated on Twitter, one would think the more you use, the better engagement you will get. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Using two hashtags can often double your reach, but more than that can decrease engagement.

For all you who love to hashtag, Instagram is a safe place to load up your posts. It’s recommended that you use up to 30 per post. However, not all tags are created equal, so it’s always good to follow up on what tags performed well and which ones did not to continue to evolve your hashtag bank for best results.

LinkedIn recently jumped on the hashtag bandwagon. Currently, there’s no limit to how many hashtags you can include in a post, but it’s best practice to keep it between two to three to keep it professional and less spammy.

Pinterest did announce back in 2018 that they would implement hashtag capabilities into their platform. However, there’s not enough data to support posts with hashtags do better than those without hashtags. Instead of using hashtags, use specific keywords related to your posts to help achieve a broader reach and create more engagement.

Branded hashtags are the tags you use specifically for your business. It could be your #businessname.

These hashtags would be the ones most relevant to your industry. For instance, a few tags for our industry would include #digitalmarketing, #socialmediamarketing, #smallbusinessmarketing, etc.

If you’re posting timely content or weighing in on a popular public opinion with a social post, including a relevant trending hashtag will help you achieve a broader reach.

If you’re hosting a special event or even attending an industry conference, event hashtags are a popular way for attendees to see updates on all things related to the event.

When running a particular marketing campaign or ad, hashtags can create engagement or link a specific call-to-action. For instance, if a brand launches a new product, you’ll see some companies add a hashtag while asking their customers to post feedback or photos using their specific tag. It’s a great tool to create buzz.