Modern Marketing Guide: Using Hashtags in 2023

You must have seen #throwbackthursday or #getreadywithme posts on Instagram. Well, as weird as it sounds, following the trend sometimes gives you the biggest exposure and increases your reach. They might be difficult to understand but once you get the hang of it, you will appear in all of your relevant search fields.

Hashtags are mostly used for Instagram and Twitter but now Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn also encourage their use. The Meta platforms have a feature where you can search your content by typing in the hashtag. Imagine if someone from your target audience searches a hashtag that you used and your post pops on the top!

In this article, we will learn about the importance of hashtags and why you should use them as a social media creator.

Diving Deep into Details

We all know the basics of a hashtag but let’s do a quick review. A pound symbol or an octothrope, are its former names before hashtag. The first-ever user of the hashtag was a web marketing specialist who told Twitter to try this new strategy. Now we know how far that has come!

You can connect with other people on social media platforms through hashtags. They are effective, used by many, and are supported by platforms as well. Let’s learn about some of the essential things before using hashtags.

Hashtag Essentials

• Start with a “#” (of course!) and the words should be in a continuous series. If you add a full stop, comma, or space, the hashtag will break.

• Your hashtags should have a maximum of 3 words. Too-long hashtags are difficult to recognize and are usually not used by the masses

• Don’t add an infinite amount of hashtags because that might make it look like spam. Try to limit the number and use only relevant ones.

• Don’t use out-of-topic hashtags because that is also considered spamming.

• If you’re using hashtags on a private account, your posts will not be seen by those who don’t follow you. However, if you have a public account, your non-followers will also see your post.

Hashtag Tools

If you type “hashtag tools” on Google, you will come across a lot of tools that use AI to generate hashtags. Though they are good but sometimes they give out irrelevant hashtags that might make your post look AI-generated. When you type the “#” symbol on any social media platform and start writing your relevant content, they will suggest you a hashtag and will also show how many posts have used it. It is very helpful for those who do social media marketing on a regular basis.

Importance of Hashtags

You have learned their basics, essentials, and how to use them. Now why should you use them in the first place? Hashtags have become essential in promoting your content organically. If you’re low on budget but want to create a strong social media presence, then hashtags will help you achieve that.

We have gathered some of the main uses of hashtags that have changed the social media game for many.

• Increase Follower Engagement

• Be Found By Target Audience

• Build Your Company with “Branded Hashtags”

• Write Less, Say More With Hashtags

• Support Local/Global Issues

Finding the Most Useful Hashtags

Discovering hashtags that go well with your niche and are relevant requires a bit of hard work. But these steps will help simplify things.

1. Take Notes from Influencers

Hashtags can be confusing sometimes. If a hashtag is being used a lot, doesn’t mean it will lead you to your audience as well. Using hashtags that have a balance between their users and your niche is the perfect choice.

You can take help by visiting influencers who have a similar niche as yours. You should see what hashtags are effective for them and try using those one by one. Don’t fill up your posts with hashtags because people lose trust when they see a creator doing that. We know it is for your benefit but it is better to use them one by one, not all at once.

2. Make Use of Trends

This is an effective strategy when you have run out of hashtags or when a trend is big. On Twitter, it is commonly seen that people mix up trending hashtags with their normal ones, no matter if they’re in the same niche or not.

It does boost their posts but for a short time. It is better to use trending hashtags that are relevant to your niche. Then only those people who want to see your posts will see it. Else, it will increase your bounce rate. You have to consider all these small things before using hashtags.

3. Bring Out the Old Ones

You can always reuse your old hashtags from posts that have performed well. You can do the same by taking out old hashtags from your favorite influencer’s posts. This is a great way to use hashtags because those ones have been used a lot but they’re currently not being used by anyone.

Recycling and reusing saves the environment and this hashtag recycling will save your social media profile. This will also boost your old post which hasn’t been seen by your new followers. So, this is a win-win situation for you.

Using the Optimal Number of Hashtags

You can include hashtags in your posts as well as comments, it is effective as well. Using them in stories is useless but if you want to appear trendy, you can use them. You can also use hashtags to group content in private groups in accordance with a theme or topic.

Here is the ideal number of hashtags you can use for the following platforms:

• Instagram: 3-5

• Twitter: 1-2

• Facebook: 2-3

• Youtube: 3-5

• LinkedIn: 1-5

• Pinterest: 2-5

• TikTok: 3-5

Ending Statement

Hashtags are useful and a very essential part of your social media posts. Using it the right way will increase your chances of getting more recognized. But make sure not to overuse it or else your content may seem like it is written by a bot. Take everything with the right balance and you will make a solid social media profile in no time!