How to ensure your hashtags have the maximum effect

Most people are familiar with the idea or concept of a hashtag.

You can thank Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake for their hashtag skit on“Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” for the popularity of hashtags; the word hashtag was even included in the Oxford dictionary in 2010.

The digital tag appears on almost every social media channel because it is used to categorize content and social media posts, and it is easily added to any content: just add the “#” sign before a single word or phrase.

The tool is an effective way to boost your brand message, ensuring your content and social media posts are discoverable. Plus, it can grow your audience beyond just your followers and reach people with common interests.

When someone adds a hashtag to their social media post, it can be indexed by the networking platform and will be searchable and discoverable by other people; when someone clicks on a hashtag, the social network directs the user to list of all posted content with that hashtag.

How can organizations use this tool to drive engagement and get their content in front of more eyeballs?

[RELATED: Learn how to boost buzz, build brand recognition and engage employees on the hottest social media platforms.]

According to Rival IQ, there are six ways:

1. Choose your hashtag(s) wisely. Pick a hashtag that fits your content. For example, if you are sharing a helpful career article, add the hashtag, #career.

2. Keep it short. Don’t choose or include hashtags that are long in terms of the number of characters in the hashtag. Long hashtags are usually ultra-specific, and most people won’t use them. More general tags are better for search.

3. Live blog/tweet events. Events, especially large industry events, usually have their own hashtag. Make sure your social media posts about those events include those hashtags.

4. Create an event of your own. If you are hosting an event, you can create your own hashtag and/or include popular hashtags like #contest #freebie or #swag.

5. Join or create a chat. If you can’t find an industry chat, you can learn how to join or host a Twitter chat.

6. Automate. For example, you can use “If This Then That” (IFTTT) to search for hashtags.

There are some things you and your organization should not do with hashtags to avoid costly mistakes.

1. Never insert your promotion into a tragedy. In other words, don’t add a hashtag to your social media that is associated with a horrible event or occurrence unless you are working directly to address the tragedy in the name of public good.

2. Don’t go overboard. Don’t use too many hashtags. A limit of three is a good benchmark for marketers and brand managers.

3. Avoid used keywords. Don’t use hashtag keywords that are associated with other companies, TV shows, movies, and celebrities. Instead, use hashtags to highlight what make you unique.

Check out this infographic below by Rival IQ to learn more about how you and your organization can optimize the use of hashtags on social media networks.

Matthew Royse is the director of marketing communications for Forsythe Technology, a leading enterprise IT company . A version on this article originally ran on the Knowledge Enthusiast blog.

from PR Daily News Feed http://ift.tt/2hEfRDL