Do you know how to use hashtags? How about how not to use hashtags? Read on for all the DOs and DON'Ts before you get started.
Whichever social media platforms your brand uses as part of its social media strategy, knowing how to use hashtags will help boost your brand’s social media reach and engagement.
But if you’re sticking with #ThrowbackThursday posts on Twitter, unsure of how else to use hashtags, stay right here. Your brand can do a lot more.
This post breaks down the basics of effectively using hashtags on social media and why you should use them.
You’ll also learn:
Let’s get started.
A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the pound symbol.
On social media, it serves as an indication (for users and algorithms) that a piece of content relates to a specific topic or belongs to a category.
Hashtags help make content discoverable in on-platform searches and, effectively, reach more people.
The pound symbol on your keyboard—also called an octothorpe— was initially used to mark numbers.
They were first used as hashtags in the summer of 2007 by Chris Messina. That’s when the web marketing specialist walked into Twitter’s offices with an idea. Because of the platform’s brevity, he suggested the company start using the pound symbol to group related Tweets together.
This was the first-ever use of the hashtag:
how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?
— Chris Messina (messina.eth) (@chrismessina) August 23, 2007
Since then, the use of hashtags, their reach, and their effectiveness has only grown.
Hashtags are a way to connect social media content to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation.
They’re not just for Twitter anymore, either. Hashtags are effective on other social media platforms too. (Find more details on how to use hashtags for each platform below.)
Including hashtags in your posts means taking part in a conversation happening on that social media platform. And most importantly, it makes your posts visible in that conversation.
This can lead to greater engagement, boosting your brand’s social media engagement through likes, shares, comments, and new followers.
Creating a branded hashtag can be an effective way to promote your business and drive conversations.
For example, the Raptors’ branded hashtag #WetheNorth lit up during the team’s winning 2019 season. It has universal appeal, and was one of the most-used hashtags by Canadians in the first half of 2019.
YOUR 2019 @NBA CHAMPS! #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/3mNvchZqzT
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) June 14, 2019
Another example is Cheerios and its #CheeriosHeartHuntSweepstakes campaign. This contest encouraged followers to purchase Cheerios products and also spread awareness of the brand by posting photos on social media.
Find a heart inside your Cheerio and share it using the hashtag #CheeriosHeartHuntSweepstakes for a chance to win cash prizes. Ends 11/15/19.
Rules: https://t.co/UD1I9CPJI3 pic.twitter.com/8bqZCG6y8J— Cheerios (@cheerios) October 15, 2019
Using a hashtag that’s connected to an issue beyond your brand is a way to mobilize behind an important cause or issue.
For example, #EachforEqual and #IWD2020 were used across social media platforms, including LinkedIn, on International Women’s Day.
Brands can also create a branded hashtag that also shows its connection to a social issue.
For example, the Canadian telecommunications company Bell uses the branded hashtag #BellLetsTalk to promote mental health awareness.
Double T Ranch integrates horses into therapy to support those recovering from addiction and trauma. Learn more. #MentalHealth #BellLetsTalk https://t.co/mUz54SeguJ
— Bell Let's Talk (@Bell_LetsTalk) February 26, 2020
On Twitter, you don’t have a ton of space to write a caption. You have 280 characters, to be exact.
On Instagram, longer captions aren’t always the most effective. Same with Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn or any other platform—sometimes less is more.
Using a hashtag can be a simple way to contextualize what you’re talking about, without using up valuable characters or writing repetitive captions.
For example, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 2019. Using the #Apollo50th hashtag was part of its digital campaign. On World Emoji Day, which is also in July, NASA posted one of the most popular tweets:
☄️ . * . *
* 👨🚀 🌒👨🚀👨🚀
* . 🛰️ . *
⭐️ * .
. 🚀 * .
. . .
. * 🌎 * #Apollo50th #WorldEmojiDay— NASA (@NASA) July 17, 2019
Hashtags contextualize this creative Tweet, making it clear that NASA is celebrating both the anniversary and taking part in the World Emoji Day conversation.
On Linkedin and Instagram, users can follow hashtags as well as other users. Using a few popular hashtags can be another way to help new users find your brand.
For example, if you use #travel on your Instagram posts, someone who follows that hashtag will see your recent post in their feed. You might gain some new followers this way.
This section is for influencers and brands who work with influencers.
When working with brands, influencers have to let their audiences know that a piece of content is sponsored. It’s the law — the FTC (Federal Trade Commissions) released detailed advertising disclosure guidelines for online influencers in 2019. Failure to comply can result in high fines for both the influencer and the brand.
So, influencers: always add hashtags clearly indicating a sponsorship to branded posts.
Brands: make sure that you look for such hashtags when reviewing and accepting influencer content.
The most popular hashtags out there aren’t necessarily the best hashtags.
For example, the hashtag #followme has more than 575 million posts on Instagram. Hashtags that solicit likes don’t engage your followers and don’t add any meaning to your social media post.
They also look really spammy. And you don’t want that.
But don’t ignore popular hashtags, either. For example, #throwbackthursday or #flashbackfriday or other daily hashtags can be fun ways for your brand to join a wider social media conversation.
As of June 2021, some of the most popular Instagram hashtags of all time include:
Of course, popular hashtags differ depending on what social media platform you’re using. On LinkedIn, popular hashtags include #leadership and #productivity.
While there are millions—even billions—of posts using popular hashtags, they’re relatively universal. They aren’t specific to an industry or a theme. And don’t say a lot about your brand.
So, try to identify niche hashtags that are relevant to your brand and what you represent.
To find hashtags that are specific to your brand, your industry and your audience, you’ll have to do a little research.
Start by doing a competitive analysis on social media. Gather intel about your competitors and any relevant influencers within your brand’s niche.
Make note of which hashtags they use most often and how many hashtags they use in each of their posts. This will help you learn how your competitors are engaging with your shared target audience and which keywords they tend to use.
Hashtagify.me helps you find the best Twitter hashtags or Instagram hashtags for your brand.
With this tool, you can search any hashtag and see how popular it is. For example, if you search the popularity of #springtime, you will get results showing you this hashtag’s overall popularity, its recent popularity, and the trends for the month and week.
You can also type in your Twitter or Instagram caption. Then, it will provide you with hashtag suggestions.
RiteTag lets you type your social media caption into the text bar and upload the photo you’ll pair with your caption.
RiteTag generates trending hashtag suggestions based on your content. You’ll see the best hashtags to get your post seen immediately, as well as hashtags to get your post seen over time. Click “Get Report” for detailed analysis on the hashtags it displays.
A tool like Hootsuite lets your brand use search streams to discover which hashtags are the best for each social network you’re on. Put simply, search streams make it easy to see which hashtags are the most popular and the most effective.
Bonus: Read the step-by-step social media strategy guide with pro tips on how to grow your social media presence.
Get the free guide right now!Learn more by watching this video:
If you already have a good grasp of which hashtags are working well for your brand, consider using related hashtags. These might be a little more specific than the popular hashtags you’re already using, which could help you connect with a more targeted audience.
On Instagram, the related hashtags show just above the “Top” and “Recent” tabs when in the Explore section of Instagram.
On LinkedIn, you can find more hashtag recommendations after clicking on a hashtag. Choose the “Discover more hashtags” buttons after clicking on the ellipsis.
Keep track of which hashtags you’ve used on past posts. Analyze which posts have been most popular, then see if there’s a trend with the hashtags you’ve used.
If you notice some of your most popular posts always contain a few of the same hashtags, make a point to include those in your future posts as well.
Here, find simple, easy-to-read tips for using hashtags on different social media platforms.
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You can use hashtags anywhere in your Tweets. Use them at the start for emphasis, at the end for context, or in the middle of your post to highlight a keyword.
Hashtags can also be added in a comment when you Retweet, in replies and in your Twitter bio.
You can also:
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Hashtags can be included in any part of your written Facebook post or in the comments.
Hashtags are also useful for grouping content in private Facebook groups by theme or topic. This is important for brands to keep in mind considering Facebook is seeing its users shift to private channels.
You can also:
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Include hashtags after writing a great Instagram caption. You can also include hashtags in the comments section when engaging with your followers.
And you can include up to 10 hashtags in your Instagram Stories. (However, Instagram Stories are no longer featured on hashtag pages or shown to users who follow a tag. This means that hashtags won’t necessarily help get your Stories in front of new audiences, but you can still use them to add context to your content.)
It’s also possible to include hashtags in your brand’s Instagram profile bio.
For even more tips on Instagram hashtags, read this detailed guide.
And, of course, watch our strategy video:
You can also:
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Add a few hashtags in your brand’s YouTube video title or in the video description.
Click on the hyperlinked hashtag to see a feed with other videos that also use that same hashtag.
Remember: Don’t use more than 15 hashtags. YouTube will ignore all the hashtags, and maybe even flag your content because of your spammy behaviour.
YouTube hashtags aren’t the only way to help users find your videos. We have 12 tactics that will help your brand’s videos get views.
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Incorporate hashtags anywhere into your LinkedIn posts.
You can also:
For more tips, read this guide to using hashtags on LinkedIn.
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When using Pinterest for business, include Pinterest hashtags when writing a Pin description or in a written description when Repinning.
Pinterest even offers hashtag suggestions (in the mobile version only) when creating a new Pin.
If you’re not already, it’s time to start using hashtags in your social media posts. Even though they first gained popularity in 2007, they’re even more useful today for your brand!
With Hootsuite you can set up streams to monitor hashtags and see how effectively you’re using them. Try it free today.
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