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Use The Right Hashtags on The Right Social Platform

Strunk Media Group

Hashtag concept vector illustration of young men and women using smartphones happy to reposting and publishing new trends in social network. Flat human hands hold big hashtag sign on blue background

To use hashtags or not to use hashtags? That really is the question.

Hashtags and social media go together like bread and butter. Using a hashtag can help spread your message and increase visibility organically (aka without spending money). In order to do this effectively, however, you must be sure to format your hashtags to fit the social media platform that you’re posting from. Proper hashtag use requires understanding how hashtags are used on each specific platform, what hashtags are best to use, where the hashtags should be, and how many should be included in your post. Sound like a lot? Luckily for you, we’re experts at social media and have laid out our rules for hashtagging based on each major social media network.

Facebook Hashtags

Facebook started using hashtags in 2015. The biggest social media platform in the world may not be as commonly associated with hashtags as Twitter and Instagram, but they should still be used to improve your post’s reach. Facebook is about conversation and sharing memories, so don’t overload your post with hashtags. We recommend only using one to two hashtags per Facebook post and to capitalize each word for easier readability (i.e. #WednesdayWisdom or #ThoughtsByStrunk). When searching for popular hashtags to include, be sure to incorporate trending topics or a hashtag that could open a door to a conversation in your comments.

EXAMPLE

September is National Suicide Prevention Month, so use the #BeThe1To hashtag to start a convo about what you can do to prevent suicide.

Using Hashtags on Facebook

BEST PRACTICES FOR FACEBOOK HASHTAGS

  • Capitalize each word in your hashtag
  • Capitalize each word in your hashtag
  • Create or use consistent hashtags that your audience will recognize and associate with your brand
  • Utilize trending topics and national days (like posting your staff’s dog photos on #NationalDogDay, aka August 26)

Twitter Hashtags

Hashtags came to use on Twitter in 2007 and the world has never been the same since. Twitter is a place for conversations with more emphasis on humor and discussion rather than imagery. The hashtag was implemented to help users spread and join in conversations, improving the user experience. Twitter hashtags are ideal for adding context to a tweet, joining a conversation, and organizing tweets all discussing a similar topic. While Twitter loves hashtags, it’s still important not to go overboard. In fact, 21% of tweets with one to two hashtags have higher engagement than those with three or more hashtags. Similarly, tweets using over two hashtags tend to see a decrease in engagement. So be sure to use your hashtags sparingly, respectfully, and appropriately on Twitter.

EXAMPLE

BEST PRACTICES FOR TWITTER HASHTAGS

  • Include your own plus an already existing hashtag in a tweet
  • Use trending topics and popular hashtags to join discussions or help your content spread
  • Use hashtags as they naturally appear in a sentence (Hey #trucklovers, who’s ready for the all-new 2019 Ford F-150?! #fordfriday)
  • Only use hashtags that relate to the content you are tweeting about
  • Stick to one to two hashtags, try not to overload tweets with more than three hashtags
  • Research popular hashtags on Twitter by searching for them in Twitter’s search box. Use the popular ones that relate to your content to help spread your tweets, gain more followers and engagement, and improve your brand’s social visibility

Instagram Hashtags

Instagram might be the new-kid-on-the-block when it comes to social media, but it knows how to use a hashtag. In fact, Instagram is the first social platform that gives users the option to follow hashtags instead of people. Posts on Instagram that have at least one hashtag receive 12.6% more engagement than those that do not. That means it’s more important than ever to make sure that your brand is using the right kind of hashtags. If you are, your visibility will improve tremendously. Spreading content organically can be done on Instagram as long as you are sure to incorporate the right hashtags and lots of them. Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags to be used in a post. You don’t necessarily have to include all 30, but we recommend using at least 15 to really help your content spread and help your profile gain new followers.

EXAMPLE

BEST PRACTICES FOR INSTAGRAM HASHTAGS

  • Do not use more than 30 hashtags, but try to use at least 15
  • Research which hashtags are best related to your content and which hashtags have strong followings. Those are the ones you will want to use
  • Include one or two hashtags naturally in your caption and place the others far below. This will help your content spread while still providing a caption that is easy-to-read for users.
  • Incorporate trending topics as needed
  • Separate your content from your hashtags using three or more bullets (• • •)
  • Make sure your hashtags are relevant to you or the photo in which they are captioning

LinkedIn Hashtags

LinkedIn is the latest social platform to start incorporating hashtags into its updates. Hashtags on LinkedIn help other people and businesses discover you and your content. LinkedIn suggests using two to three hashtags per each update and will even provide suggested hashtags for you to choose from. There are no limits for how many hashtags you can use on LinkedIn, but you want to make sure that your content is still being delivered in a clean and easy-to-read fashion. Just like the other platforms, you want to stick with hashtags that are relevant to your content so they spread to people who will are interested in what you have to say.

EXAMPLE

BEST PRACTICES FOR LINKEDINHASHTAGS

  • Stick to two to three hashtags per update
  • Focus on hashtags that create a distinctive association with a brand or industry that your content is related to
  • Use hashtags yourself to discover relevant and relatable content. You can follow hashtags on LinkedIn by selecting the hashtag and clicking “Follow”
  • Keep your content clean and easy-to-read

The rules of social media are always evolving, which is why it’s nice to have social media experts like Strunk Media Group to help your business stay on top of the social media game. If you want to talk more about social media management and what our team can provide for you, schedule a consultation with one of our experts now!

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