Though the use of a hashtags in social media has been around since 2007, there is still a lot of misunderstanding about how to use hashtags. I even wrote a blog post about it just nine months ago.
After spending several hours of my work day recently explaining why a hashtag search was pulling in content not related to our content (reason: because other people were using this very popular hashtag), I decided we were due for a refresher.
Hashtags are great for inserting humor into posts, creating conversations and tracking campaign participation. But if used inappropriately, a hashtag can cause more trouble than good.
Three tips for choosing a campaign hashtag:
- Research. You cannot “own” a hashtag like you own a Twitter handle. Anyone can use any hashtag. At its core, that is the purpose of a hashtag: to pull like conversations into one universal search feed. For this reason, when choosing a campaign hashtag, a thorough search of preferred hashtags needs to be performed. If a hashtag is being used by another brand or organization and you are attempting to use it too, your message will get lost and your followers can become confused. Searching for a unique hashtag will be well worth the time spent. It is okay to use a more popular or already used hashtag, too, if the existing use of that hashtag aligns with your message.
- Short Length. The length of a hashtag can determine whether people will actually use it. It shouldn’t be so long that it takes up too many characters in a Twitter post. But it shouldn’t be so short that the meaning is ambiguous. A good rule of thumb is 15 characters or less.
- Multiple Words. A one-word hashtag is pointless. Words can be searched by themselves without the hashtag. A hashtag can pull a phrase together, creating a message and starting a movement. Use your hashtag to say something.
Don’t be afraid to use hashtags, but do take the time to be strategic in your use.
