Writer RajuBhai
Hashtag is a term associated with topics or discussions that want to be indexed in social networks, inserting the hash symbol (#) before the word, phrase or expression. When the combination is published, it becomes a hyperlink that leads to a page with other publications related to the same topic.
If you want to fully understand where they came from, their impact and more tips than those in this post, don't miss the following video, you just have to press play!Gone are the days when # represented the numeral on telephone and computer keyboards.
After Twitter, the symbol became a worldwide sensation and gained a new meaning: hashtag. But, what is a hashtag and what are the words that people use at the end of posts on social networks for ?
What are hashtags?
The Oxford dictionary — the most important dictionary in the English language and which included the term in 2014 — defines hashtag as "a word or phrase preceded by a hash symbol (#), used on social networks and in applications, especially Twitter, to identify messages on a specific topic.
If we go further, it can be said that hashtags are terms associated with topics or discussions to link them on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. When the combination is published, it becomes a link that leads to a page with other posts related to the same topic.
So if Instagram users, for example, post photos with the hashtag #dog, everyone on the social network can find related content — other dog images, in general — by clicking on the word.
Do you want a compilation with the most used hashtags on Instagram ? Download The 140 most popular hashtags on Instagram in 2020.
How to use hashtags: good and bad practices
The instructions on how to use a hashtag are apparently obvious, mainly for the youngest, but such a simple resource also has its good implementation practices.
When used judiciously, hashtags help people find your business page more easily and engage your business page with your audience.
Therefore, we leave some suggestions, the majority on things that you should not do:
Don't use too many words together
#When you write this way, you make it difficult for your followers to read. Spaces exist in writing to encourage reading, facilitating understanding. When deleted, words get mixed up — especially those beginning and ending with vowels — and it takes time for the reader to understand what was written.
Keep your hashtags short, and if they really need more than one word, start each one with a capital letter, like #RDStation .
Do not use a hashtag for each word in the sentence
Contrary effect to the previous one, #using #a #hashtag #at the #beginning #of #each #word helps to separate the terms, but it also harms the reading because it places many pauses. Also, there is no point in indexing articles like "to", or prepositions, for example "in", which say nothing about your publication.
Separate the hashtags from your text, putting them at the end, after expressing your main idea. In some cases, if the word you want to use as a hashtag is in the middle of the sentence, as in "See 5 tips from #RDStation on Email Marketing ", the reading is not greatly affected. But use this practice sparingly and in terms that really make sense.
Use hashtags related to the post
Do not exaggerate in the number of hashtags! As we have said, the resource serves as an indexer, facilitating the searches of other users and, therefore, it should not be used to describe or highlight everything that appears in a text or image.
Excessive use of the resource makes the content difficult to read and can also drive customers away, apparently an opportunistic desire to appear on all indexing pages.
Likewise, they must be related to the post. Using hashtags that are not related to the post can irritate users.
Be careful with the spelling!
Hashtags are a resource that should be informal and fun, but this doesn't mean we should forget their spelling. A hashtag written incorrectly, in addition to questioning your credibility, will not index your post to the desired page, so it will be useless.
Imagine your post on RD Station's Instagram with the hashtag #RDStaiton. In addition to having the wrong spelling, the link would not lead to the intended page. No one is talking about #RDStaiton, but if there are any users, it will only be a few who made the same mistake.
How to use hashtags in your Digital Marketing strategy?
Now that you have an idea of the do's and don'ts of using hashtags, let's talk about how to promote your product or service using hashtags.
Since your social media profiles are public, using hashtags makes your posts visible to everyone with the same interests. So posts are not limited to just your followers. Therefore, choosing the right hashtag can increase the reach of your posts on social networks.
In principle, your company must be present in the social networks that accept this resource. The friendliest are Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as we already mentioned. After this, you can apply the following tips:
Create hashtags for your company or event
Using a specific hashtag for a marketing action of your company, such as promotions or raffles, or for an event, can be a good way to engage your followers.
During Digital Marketing events promoted by RD Station — RD Summit — we always encourage participants to use the hashtags we have created, in this case #RDSummit. The idea is to accompany the photos and opinions about the meetings, in addition to creating a feeling of participation and integration.
Search and define the appropriate hashtags for each social network for each social network
We have discussed that hashtags are used for various social networks. However, this does not mean that you should replicate on Instagram or Twitter the terms you use on Facebook, for example.
Every social network is unique and it's important to find out which hashtags people are using on each site to get a better idea of what to post. Although, in some cases, the differences are subtle, using the correct language can improve your results.
On Twitter, for example, the idea is to keep hashtags short, since the character limit per post is 280.
On Instagram, in turn, the space for text allows you to use more hashtags. Also, the social network is oriented towards images and many people search for photos by hashtags, in search of inspiration. This creates a space to explore more general themes.
Look for hashtags with high volume of posts
We know it's not a good idea to use a popular hashtag, like #tbt or #nopainnogain, just to get featured on a page with a lot of hits.
But , among the topics that you can explore, why not search for the most common terms?
Except for cases where the idea is to promote something very specific, like #RDSummit2020 , it is not worth starting a hashtag from scratch if there are already others with a high volume of publications.
Include generic hashtags about your segment to expand the reach of posts
On Instagram, in addition to users, you can also follow hashtags. To follow a hashtag, the process is the same as following a person or company.
Start by searching for a topic of interest or by clicking a hashtag in any post. You will then go to a page dedicated to this hashtag. Then just click the follow button.
When you follow a hashtag, you'll start seeing posts with this tag in both your feed and stories. The hashtags you follow can also be seen in a tab, next to the people you follow and along with suggested topics to follow.
What are Hashtags for companies that are on Instagram?
Using the right hashtags is already a way to expand your company's reach not only on Instagram but also on other social networks, as it helps make your posts known beyond your followers.
This Instagram functionality expands that reach, allowing you to reach even the timeline of people who don't follow your business.
To be found, try to include more generic hashtags in your posts, but that have some relation to your area of expertise or to the image or video you are going to post.
For RD Station, for example, using the hashtag #MarketingDigital would help bring the company to those interested in the topic who are not already aware of it.
Also, when creating hashtags specific to your company, like the ones we do here at RD Station during RD Summit and RD on the Road time, invite your Instagram followers to not only contribute posts, but also follow the hashtag.
If you want to know more about how to take advantage of one of the fastest growing social networks, download our eBook: Instagram for Business.
Hashtag generator, search engine and tracking
After learning more about what it is, what it is for, how to use it, and the good and bad practices about hashtags, now we help you solve the question about how to search for, create, and track hashtags?
That is why we have selected these 4 tools, which will undoubtedly be of great help.
You can use it for free and it allows you to find hashtags related to your
search word to apply them to your posts on social networks.
Top – Hashtags
This free web platform allows you to not only convert your keywords into hashtags, but also keeps the list of the top 100 hashtags worldwide updated on Instagram and Tik Tok.
#TagDef
Not only does it allow you to view and create hashtags, it also gives you the ability to see the meaning. For example, do you know what #wtw means, which is one of the most popular? Well, with the help of this tool, it allows us to know what it means: What's the world? Ó in Spanish What is happening?
Hachtagify
It is aimed solely at hashtags on Twitter, its free version helps us a lot to analyze the hashtag, see the most influential users who have used that # and information in terms of language, country and varieties of related words.
Conclusion
If they are used moderately, hashtags are good allies of your Digital Marketing strategy, since they help to improve the reach of the posts, to interact with your followers and to publicize your company.
And if, beyond that resource, you want to define a strategy for your company and learn how to generate more results, I invite you to visit our epic Digital Marketing page . Here you can find good practices to improve the results of your Marketing efforts.
Do you want to take advantage of a tool that helps you get the most out of your entire social media strategy and optimize your generation of real opportunities? Fill out the form below and start your free trial of RD Station Marketing now.
Bonus: The most used hashtags on Instagram
Here we leave you the top 10 with the most used hashtags on Instagram (according to the latest study by We are Social and Hootsuite):
1. #love
2. #instagood
3. #fashion
4. #photooftheday
5. #art
6. #photography
7. #instagram
8. #beautiful
9. #nature
10. #picoftheday
Frequent questions
What are Hashtags for companies that are on Instagram?
Using the right hashtags is already a way to expand your company's reach not only on Instagram but also on other social networks, as it helps make your posts known beyond your followers.
How to create a hashtag for a brand?
It's super simple! You just have to put the symbol (#) in front of the word or words that you want to include in your publication as a tag. And ready! The term will be highlighted and you will have already created your label or hashtag.
Good results!
