Hashtags are a vital part of the experience on social media. If you want your content to travel, make sure to add hashtags to your posts every time. Some social media platforms truly rely on hashtags and the key to reaching your target audience is to create your own branded hashtag. By definition, a hashtag is “a word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#), used on social media websites and applications, especially Twitter, to identify digital content on a specific topic.” When you use hashtags, your post becomes categorized and more discoverable. Hashtags help your brand because by using them you reach a wider audience. Hashtags are very easy to use and this blog will explore a few rules for creating the perfect hashtag.

Come up with a good hashtag name

The most crucial thing is for your hashtag to be relevant, unique, and short. If your post is food-related, choose a food-related hashtag, etc. don’t just pick any random hashtag and attach it to your post. If you want to stand out with your hashtag, make it authentic, simple, and catchy. You also want your hashtag to be easy to remember. It is a good idea to reference your brand in your hashtag because it becomes easy to track what people are saying about your brand this way and it also makes your brand a buzzword that everybody will know because they will be exposed to the hashtag with your brand reference included. If you need help with coming up with a great hashtag, you can always use a hashtag generator. Examples of hashtags that include the brand are the #ShareACoke Champaign by Coca-Cola and the #MyCalvins Campaign by Calvin Klein.

Know your intention

You need to know what you would like a customer to do after they see your hashtag. You want a hashtag that catches the customer’s attention as well as have a hashtag that calls for action such as #linkinbio or #followformore. You want to create a hashtag that you can envision your customer using. Keep the hashtags simple and you can even just use your brand name as a hashtag, this is often the best option to go for. Remember when creating a hashtag, you can use emojis, numbers, and letters but you cannot use characters such as numbers and commas. Make sure your hashtag is understandable.

Use it consistently

The beauty of hashtags is that they can be used on any social media platform at any given opportunity. Aim to use hashtags with every post that you make and when you use hashtags, don’t use too many of them, stick to between 3-5 hashtags per post for effective results. Use hashtags at the end of your post, your campaign banner, and even your email marketing material. Use hashtags whenever possible to get your message across and increase your exposure. To use a hashtag more effectively, include it in your post rather than just adding it at the end of your caption. This creates conversation.

Think about emotions

The best way to leave the biggest impression is to evoke emotions. Emotion-evoking hashtags are more impactful, memorable, and powerful even if the hashtag doesn’t include your brand name in it. If your hashtag can evoke an emotion, it will encourage people to share it so make sure to pull at their heartstrings and make them laugh or cry. It is even effective to make people angry.

Track it, always

Finally, you need to track your hashtag to assess how well it is doing, how it is being perceived, and if people are engaging and using your hashtag. There are tools available that you can use to track your hashtags such as Hashtagify which tracks your hashtags and gives you an in-depth analysis of the findings. This tool also helps you discover trending hashtags.

You should aim to always use at least 3-5 relevant hashtags with every post that you make on social media. Not only will it make your post more visible but it could bring in more engagement and followers which is a benefit. Remember the key is to come up with a good hashtag name, set your intentions, use the hashtags consistently, consider emotions and always track your hashtags.