It was a pound sign, the number symbol, and now it has become one of the most used special characters …the hashtag.
Hashtags are great to use but sometimes they can be tricky, especially if you are trying to use them for a specific purpose and are not very familiar with how they work. Here are my tips when using hashtags to make sure you’re getting them most out of them.
#efficiency
Engage the right audience.
Hashtags are primarily used to connect your message to people who are already interested in the topic. For example, if you are putting out a tweet about your work with mental health, using #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwarenesss, etc. will get a lot of views because people are looking at them. Even better, you are able to put your message in front of an eager audience.This means that more already-interested people are going to see your post. This increases your chances of engagement and also increases your visibility.
Trying to introduce a new topic using a new hashtag can be tricky. Unless you have a huge following, a new really specific hashtag may not catch on. You can amplify your messages by also using established hashtags to bolster use of your new hashtag. We’ve seen this happen with events or issues that really resonate with people. So, it’s ok to use more than one hashtag in your posts. But don’t go crazy! #Hashtags #are #hard #to #read #in #a #post. Don’t sacrifice readability just to use a bunch of hashtags. It’s a delicate balance
You have to think about the searchability of what you are writing. Use common keywords that are really searchable to help your message be seen by considerably more people than a really specific hashtag like #MyHomeTownOf258People.
Another tip is to search hashtags related to your topic to see what others are already using. Pick the most popular hashtags and use them as your secondary tags in your posts.
P.S – if you’re not sure why I capitalized all the words in my example hashtags, check out another one of our blogs here.
