How to Use Hashtags on Social Media: A Beginner’s Guide

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What is a Hashtag

Before we can decide how to use hashtags to grow your business, first let’s look at the history of hashtags and how they became a foundation to almost every social media platform since.

• “Tags” first came on the digital marketing scene in 1988 where they were used to organize online chat
• The term “hashtag” was coined nine years later by a blogger named Stowe Boyd
• Chris Messina tweeted using the very first hashtag in 2007. Two years later, the up and coming social platform, Twitter adopted the idea of hashtags to continue to share trending information with its users

A hashtag is a word or phrase that is used to label images and posts on social media platforms. When you search for a hashtag within a platform, you’ll see all the relevant posts that have been published and related content that also used the same hashtag.

Using Hashtags on Social Media

Hashtags are used by social media platforms to group posts and content together in one place for users to discover it more easily. Hashtags are preceded by the # symbol, like so: #hashtag.

Since the trend started, the hashtag has been an important part of social movements and helping brands expand their reach.

Almost 15 years later, where are we with the hashtag? Is it still relevant in marketing? Let’s dig in to each platform to decide if you should be incorporating hashtags in your own social media marketing strategy.

Hashtags on Facebook

Facebook hashtags are clickable links to other posts with the same or related hashtags.

Using trending hashtags in your Facebook posts or adding the right hashtag to your posts will help to make sure that your post will be shown to people who search using those keywords.

Although the Facebook platform doesn’t heavily rely on them, you can find hashtag suggestions by using the search feature at the top of the page. For example, if you were wanting to search for hashtags related to wine, just start to type in “#wine” at the top and a list of all the recently or most popular used hashtags will be shown.

Where can you use a Facebook hashtag:

• In comments and replies on Facebook
• In a Facebook post
• As a niche hashtag to promote brand awareness

Hashtags on Twitter

Twitter hashtags are used to tag a topic or keyword, making it easier for you to find tweets about that subject.

For example, if you wanted to see what people were saying about the Apple keynote, you could enter #apple in the search bar at the top of your Twitter feed and all tweets with this hashtag would populate in your search results.

If you want to include a hashtag in one of your own tweets, just write it out normally within your tweet and it will automatically be turned into a clickable link. When clicked on, this link will take users to a page where they can view all other tweets that have used this same hashtag.

To find hashtags on Twitter, click on the # symbol in the app and Twitter will share hashtags related to content you follow in the “For You” section as well as other trending tags.

TIP: Want to check out what’s trending right now as a Twitter hashtag? Check out this map by TrendsMap to find a trending hashtag to use for your part of the world or audience.

Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram and hashtags go hand-in-hand. Instagram hashtags are one of the best ways to get new eyes onto your content.

Adding relevant hashtags to your Instagram post will get them in front of more people who don’t currently follow you. More eyes on your content means more potential followers, which means more people seeing the content you worked so hard on!

Finding hashtags on Instagram is super easy. Just click on the compass icon at the top and start to type in your keywords into the search feature. The app will auto populate related hashtags and also tell you how many posts are being captioned with the tag so you can tell if they are trending or not.

Creating an Instagram Hashtag Strategy

One of the most common questions I get from my clients is how to get a good hashtag strategy going for their account.

You might be thinking, “What makes a great hashtag?” A good Instagram hashtag will:

• Provide context for what your post is about.
• Allow you to compete with other people posting similar content (in a positive way).
• Be relevant and specific enough to draw in an engaged audience.

Here are some things to consider when building your hashtag strategy within the Instagram algorithm:

• The number of posts that use a specific hashtag. You want to use hashtags that have enough volume that you can compete with other posts using the same tag, but not so much volume that your post gets lost in the shuffle. A general rule of thumb is to look at tags that have anywhere between 30,000 and 300,000 posts using that tag. Of course, you can go higher or lower than this depending on your niche and the size.
• Using unique hashtags can be great for building brand brand awareness but will also be difficult to find for others, unless you have a brand that is well-known
• Create a list of different hashtags that are niche related that you can refer back to as you create your content
• Use them in your Instagram story to share other complementary products or services or even to shout out your gratitude to social media users

Hashtags on TikTok

Hashtags are an essential part of TikTok, with the app’s search feature used over 2 billion times each month.

When you start using TikTok, you’ll notice that every video is accompanied by a set of hashtags. These hashtags help users find videos related to specific subjects or themes. You can search for any hashtag, just by tapping the magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen.

Hashtags are a way to discover new content and creators on TikTok, as well as a way to join in on trending conversations. You can include hashtags in your own videos to make them more likely to be discovered.

When you search for a hashtag on TikTok, you’ll see several sections of content:

• Top: The top section features popular videos that have used this hashtag recently.
• For You: The For You section is a personalized feed featuring videos that are based on your interests and interactions with TikTok.
• Trending: Trending shows popular hashtags that people are using on TikTok at the moment.

The Hashtag Challenge

When you see a hashtag on TikTok, it means that other users with public profiles have created videos with that same hashtag. Clicking on a hashtag will show you all of the most popular videos using that hashtag. If you search for a hashtag, you’ll also see the number of videos that have used it.

If you want your video to be featured in the “For You” page for any particular hashtags, make sure to add those hashtags to your video description. The best way to get featured is by creating great content, but adding relevant and a popular hashtag can give you an extra boost.

Hashtags on LinkedIn

Using hashtags on LinkedIn is a great way to connect with others in your industry, and can help you to start conversations while networking. You can also find related content in the hashtag feed to share with your audience or to engage in simply by clicking directly on it.

You can even choose to follow a particular hashtag which is great for social listening to find out who might be mentioning your brand.

Hashtag examples on LinkedIn include: #businesstips #entrepreneur and #supportsmallbusiness

You can find hashtags on LinkedIn in several ways.

• Click on the More icon in the app and then click on Discover to find suggested hashtags based on your use
• Click on the More icon within a post that you are interested in and click Improve My Feed to get additional suggestions
• In “My Network” click on “Hashtags for…” section to find trending hashtags in your community

TIP: When you use a hashtag in your bio, it won’t become a link that users can click on. If you want to create a searchable keyword to help people find your profile, use the word without the “#” symbol and make sure it’s included in one of your headline keywords or summary keywords instead.

Hashtags on Pinterest

Hashtags are not just for social posts.

Hashtags on Pinterest are clickable, which makes them extremely useful as search terms. If you’re a wedding photographer, instead of using the difficulty-to-remember URL link, you can use an easy to remember #weddingphotographer hashtag on Pinterest to drive traffic to your site.

Unlike other social platforms where hashtags are used by people to organize content and make their posts more discoverable, hashtags on Pinterest work more like keywords that boost pins’ visibility in search results.

According to a study by Curalate and Piquora, pins with at least one branded hashtag produce 23 percent more likes and 80 percent more comments than pins without any hashtags at all. WOW!

This is because people don’t follow or favorite brands (and so they don’t see brand posts) – they follow or favorite topics like “beach vacations” or “fall fashion.”

So including relevant hashtags in your descriptions helps people who follow those topics find you when they search for content that interests them!

This is great news for marketers: Because of how hashtags work on Pinterest (as keywords), it’s an excellent platform to take advantage of if you want to boost SEO efforts!

Creating Branded Hashtags

Take the time to research the hashtags trending in the industry where you want to establish yourself as a thought leader and make note of them for future reference. Next, create branded hashtags that are relevant to your brand. These will be different from hashtags used on other platforms like Instagram or Twitter, so do some research first!

For example, my branded hashtag that I include with almost every post is “dreamhustlesparkle.

TIP: Make sure to stick with your niche when coming up with unique branded hashtags. You don’t want anyone visiting your profile seeing irrelevant content about fashion over finance just because those topics may have more followers than what’s relevant for them when visiting yours specifically. Quality over quantity every time.

Best practices on using hashtags to market your business

Using hashtags properly can help your business reach more people, particularly if you use it well. Here are some best practices to get the most out of hashtag marketing:

• Choose the right hashtags for your business. Using the best hashtags for your business will help you get discovered by the right people and build a strong follower base. You’ll make it easy for people who are interested in what you have to offer to find your posts and follow you. Your community hashtags should reflect your brand voice and should be easy to remember so that your followers will use them.
• Use keywords that relate to your content. If someone is looking for information about something specific, they’re more likely to use a hashtag than search through the platform’s main feed. Make sure that the hashtags you’re using on Instagram relate directly to the content within each post so that interested users can find your brand through their hashtag searches. Don’t use irrelevant hashtags or you may confuse or alienate your audience when they aren’t directed to relevant content.
• Use precise hashtags whenever possible instead of generic ones so that you can reach an even more targeted audience with each post. The more specific you are when choosing relevant keywords, the easier it will be for Instagram users who are searching for those terms specifically to come across your posts and follow your account if they like what they see!
• Use an event hashtag to share upcoming events that your business is having and encourage your followers to use the same unique hashtag when posting about it (this is especially great for live events)
• Create and utilize branded hashtags. A branded hashtag is one associated with or used by your brand as part of its identity.
• Use hashtags in campaigns. Hashtags can be used for specific events and campaigns, allowing you to track their reach, identify brand advocates, and interact with users on Twitter and other social media platforms.
• Use hashtags to create a community. Hashtags can easily connect like-minded individuals-or turn them into rivals in some instances.
• Use hashtags to network. If you’re hosting an industry event or attending one (or even just following along at home), find out what the official event tag is so you can track all conversations related to the conference using that hashtag and join the conversation yourself.
• Use hashtags for research. Are people talking about your business? Or maybe they’re talking about your competition? Or perhaps they’re discussing their favorite color? There’s no better way to find out than social media!
• Don’t use too many hashtags in one post, especially if they are irrelevant. This can flag your account as spam and you could be shut down

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