One of the most baffling aspects of social media, hashtags are a feature that may be challenging to both comprehend and apply. However, once you have mastered them, the results will begin to stream in like water.

The use of hashtags is simply a means to bring together discussions or information that is centered around a certain topic. This makes it easier for individuals to locate content that is relevant to their interests.

Although hashtags may be used on virtually any social media site, Twitter and Instagram are where users are most likely to make use of them.

Hashtags are a useful tool for marketers that utilize social media to spread the word about their products. Your brand’s social media reach and engagement may both be increased with the use of hashtags.

However, creating photos on Instagram using the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday is only one aspect of efficiently using hashtags.

A solid plan for social media should incorporate a variety of hashtags, including those that generator hashtags and are trending, pertinent, and branded.

This tutorial will walk you through the fundamentals of generating hashtags efficiently on social media and will explain why you should use them.

What is a hashtag?

The “pound” sign on your keyboard, also known as an octothorpe, was originally employed for the purpose of denoting numerical values.

Chris Messina was the first person to use the term “hashtag” in public, doing so in the summer of 2007. When this happened, the digital marketing expert with an idea strolled into Twitter’s offices and presented it to them. Due to the shortness of the platform, he advised that the firm begin utilizing the pound sign to bring together Tweets that are relevant to one another.

This was the very first time that the hashtag was used:

Since then, the use of hashtags as well as their reach and efficiency have continued to expand significantly.

The use of hashtags is a method for connecting the content of a social media platform to a particular subject, event, theme, or discussion.

They’re no longer limited to use on Twitter alone, either. Hashtags are useful not only on Twitter but also on other social media sites. (Further information about how to utilize hashtags for each platform may be found below.)

Hashtag basics

• They always begin with #, but if you use any spaces, punctuation, or symbols in the address, they will not operate.
• Make sure that everyone can see your accounts. If you don’t include hashtags in your posts, the material you create won’t be visible to anybody who isn’t already following you.
• Avoid stringing too many words together in one sentence. The finest hashtags are typically condensed into a few words and are simple to keep in mind.
• Make use of hashtags that are both relevant and specific. If it is too obscure, it will be difficult to locate, and other people who use social media are unlikely to utilize it because of this.
• Try to keep the number of hashtags you use under control. It’s not always true that more is better. In all honesty, it appears to be spam.

Why use hashtags?

Hashtags are a fantastic way to connect with other individuals who share similar interests, and they can be used on virtually any topic.

For instance, if you are the proprietor of a small business, you may utilize hashtags to market your goods or services.

You might also make use of hashtags in order to bring attention to a certain cause or to launch a discourse.

Additionally, hashtags are a wonderful tool for keeping up with the latest trends and breaking news.

Here are some other arguments in favour of including hashtags into your social media marketing strategy:

Increase engagement with your followers

If you use hashtags in your postings, it shows that you are participating in a discourse that is going place on that particular social media site. And maybe most crucially, it makes your contributions to that dialogue apparent to the other participants.

This may result in a higher level of interaction, which in turn may increase the number of likes, shares, comments, and new followers your company receives on social media.

Build brand awareness with branded hashtags

Developing a branded hashtag for use in social media posts may be an efficient method to advertise your company and stimulate conversation.

Creating a branded hashtag is as easy as adding your company’s name or a phrase to the end of a hashtag.

For instance, JIF Peanut Butter created history on TikTok in 2021 with its sponsored hashtag #JIFRapChallenge, which showed rapper Ludacris rapping with a mouth full of peanut butter while participating in the challenge.

This hashtag issued a challenge to users, asking them to create their own video in the style of Ludacris’ “Duet with Luda” using a little JIF in their mouths.

As a result of this challenge, more than 200,000 impressions were garnered, and 600 distinct films were produced.

Another illustration of this would be the hashtag #PlayInside, which was popularised by Nike Los Angeles during the epidemic when people were confined to their homes.

The hashtag “PlayInside” is currently used in more than 68,000 postings, and its popularity is only increasing. 

Show support for social issues

Getting people to rally around a significant cause or issue may be accomplished by using a hashtag that is tied to a topic that goes beyond your brand.

For instance, the tweet with the most retweets in 2021 came from the Korean pop group BTS. They sent a statement on Twitter with the hashtags #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.

Add context to a social media post

There isn’t a lot of room for you to write a caption while you’re using Twitter. To be precise, just 280 characters are allowed.

Longer captions aren’t necessarily the most effective ones to use on Instagram. The same goes for Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and any other platform you can think of. Sometimes less is more.

If you want to give more meaning to what you’re talking about without taking up valuable characters or writing repetitious descriptions, utilising a hashtag may be an easy and effective method to do so.

For instance, the British transport police department in Lancashire, which is located in Lancashire, United Kingdom, got creative with the word restriction that Twitter gave them in order to encourage citizens to keep off the railway lines.

This inventive Tweet is given context by the use of hashtags, which make it very obvious that BTP Lancashire is participating in the debate around World Emoji Day while simultaneously conveying a vital PSA.

Help your target audience find you

Users on LinkedIn and Instagram both have the ability to follow other users as well as hashtags. One further strategy for assisting new consumers in discovering your company is to make use of a number of prevalent hashtags.

If you include the hashtag #travel in any of your Instagram posts, for instance, everyone who follows that hashtag will have your most recent post displayed in their feed. It is perhaps possible that you will obtain some new followers using this method.

Disclose sponsored partnerships

This area is for companies that collaborate with influencers as well as influencers themselves.

When partnering with companies, influencers have a responsibility to inform their followers about any sponsored material that they distribute. In 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued extensive advertising disclosure requirements for online influencers. Compliance with these recommendations is required by law. In the event that compliance is not met, both the influencer and the company may be subject to hefty fines.

Therefore, it is imperative that influencers always include hashtags in sponsored postings that unequivocally indicate a sponsorship.

When evaluating and approving material from influencers, companies should make it a point to search for hashtags like these.

The most popular hashtags in 2022

It’s not always the case that the most widely used hashtags are also the most effective ones.

On Instagram, for instance, the hashtag “followme” now has more than 575 million posts associated with it. Hashtags that ask users to like their posts will not engage your audience and will not provide your social media post any more importance.

They also give the impression of being quite spammy. And it is not what you desire.

However, you shouldn’t disregard trending hashtags either. For instance, using the hashtags #throwbackthursday or #flashbackfriday or any other daily hashtags may be a fun way for your company to join a larger conversation taking place on social media.