How can you get ready for 2018’s #holidays?

Whether you’re raising awareness for World Mental Health Day or celebrating your inner foodie with National French Fry Day, there’s a national holiday for you.

Brands rely on hashtag holidays to get people to engage, share content, promote a cause or celebrate. However, with the vast number of hashtag holidays celebrated across the globe, it’s difficult to know which version of the hashtags are correct and the most used.

Don’t get lost in a hashtag holiday wormhole. Instead, use this guide to stay organized you’re your social media marketing strategy and see the most popular hashtag holidays for 2018.

If you’re uncertain about which hashtag holidays you should use in 2018, we’ve also provided a quick process to prioritize and strategize your approach.

Here are three questions brand managers should answer before participating in hashtag holidays:

1. Is the hashtag relevant to your brand?

A Sprout Social customer survey discovered when brands share irrelevant information, 41 percent of people tend to unfollow the company on social media. This insight is crucial for any organization’s bottom line, especially since 57 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase something from a brand they follow, and 75 percent have made a purchase because of social media.

Avoid being the one that hijacks a hashtag holiday and promotes something that has nothing to do with your brand or product. The hashtag holiday you’re celebrating should speak to your audience, not annoy them.

Start by selecting an efficient hashtag.

Some brands worry about using the correct hashtag for something as popular as National Friendship Day. There are various hashtags associated with friendship, but what if your brand is one of the few using the wrong hashtag?

Luckily, you can combat confusion by deep diving into the message volume and sharing data between the various hashtags. Sprout Social has compiled a list of holidays and identified which occasions were the most popular by social shares and volume in its “Twitter Keyword Report.”

In addition to uncovering holiday share of voice, the report also shows which hashtag iteration was most commonly used for each holiday.

2. Is the hashtag holiday overlapping any major holidays?

Using the right hashtag holidays at the right time can be tricky business.

For example, National Hamburger Day falls on May 28, but that also happens to be Memorial Day in 2018. There’s a fine balance between posting something inappropriate during a holiday and meshing the two together.

Don’t fret hamburger makers, there’s a tasteful way of promoting the national food day and the somber national holiday without being inconsiderate. For example, you can offer discounts for veterans.

Remember, hashtag holidays can be celebrated globally, so it’s important for brands to identify holidays celebrated by any region they’re targeting.

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

3. Is the hashtag’s performance being measured?

You’ve got your content planned and your hashtags picked, but how do you know if your efforts paid off? Brands still struggle to track and measure performance when it comes to social media, but there are ways to ensure you’re not wasting time.

It pays to visualize your campaigns and for a lot of organizations, that includes hashtag holidays. Additionally, you need a tool to understand the share of voice across various brands, product lines or even your competitors.

Download the holiday hashtag calendar from Sprout Social here.

Darryl Villacorta is the Social Media Manager at Sprout Social. He has a background in digital media and loves all things related to tech, social media and video. A version of this article originally ran on Sprout Social’s blog .

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