In 2007, Twitter popularized so-called hashtags, a basic communication feature on this microblogging platform . Now, it's hard to imagine our virtual life without the pound sign. In all social networks it is a widely used tool to tag topics. As a result, the marketing hashtag developed very soon . With it, companies create hashtags to increase the reach and interactions of their posts . We explain how exactly this form of marketing and how you can create hashtags from marketing effective in your social networks..
The hashtag marketing is based, as its name suggests, in hashtags. The hashtags are keywords marked with a pound sign (in English, hash ). Topic mapping with hashtags allows users to search for specific posts or topics on websites. Therefore, using the right hashtags can increase the reach of your posts.
The hashtag marketing has also been used as part of guerrilla marketing, as hashtags offer the possibility of spreading virally content. Observing trends in hashtags allows companies to identify hot topics and develop content strategies according to them..
Implementing a successful hashtag marketing strategy requires a detailed study of the right keywords . Depending on the type and objective of the campaign, both existing and new hashtags can be used . Many times, the combination of different hashtags is the basis of a successful marketing strategy , which leads to greater visibility and more interactions by users. The hashtags can be classified as follows :
The marketing hashtag It is part of most of the marketing strategies in social networks ; It is not only used on Twitter, but on all platforms, from Facebook to LinkedIn.
A common marketing tool that goes well with hashtag marketing is the sending of individual newsletters . With the IONOS email marketing tool you can organize contacts, create emails and automate the sending of newsletters.
Not all hashtags are the same: depending on the type of hashtag, companies can achieve different goals . Some keywords primarily increase the reach of posts. Others increase the visibility of the brand. We introduce you to three popular types of marketing hashtags , and we explain how companies successfully integrate them into their posts.
Some large companies establish their own hashtag of marketing. It is usually short, easy to remember, and contains the name of the company or brand. Sometimes it is the clients themselves who develop a very suitable brand hashtag , which the company later adopts in its publications. In this way, the company increases interactions and motivates its followers to continue using it. This quickly increases the diffusion of the publications and the visibility of the brand ..
Over time, Instagram has become an essential communication medium for businesses. As one of the most important social networks today, Instagram offers companies good advertising opportunities and wide dissemination. On this platform, each post can be tagged with up to 30 hashtags . The hashtags brand are almost always used .
Example : The clothing brand Stay Cold Apparel has around 250,000 followers on Instagram. The company created various branded hashtags , including #staycoldapparel, #staycold, and #staycoldfit. The brand itself has published some 3,700 posts, yet there are already more than 48,000 posts with the hashtag #staycold. This shows that the community has also started to use the hashtag , thus increasing the visibility of the brand.
Having a Facebook page is essential for companies. However, unlike on Instagram, hashtags are used infrequently on Facebook due to their lower effectiveness. The reason is that Facebook users rarely use hashtags to find posts of interest to them. Therefore, the hashtags are used very specifically Facebook .
Example: An example of good use of the marketing hashtag on Facebook is #thisisqueensland. The tourism organization? Tourism and Events Queensland? from Australia regularly shares the most beautiful photos of the region on his page. The organization also encourages tourists to tag their vacation photos , thereby increasing brand awareness.
On Twitter each tweet is limited to a length of 280 characters . Instagram, on the other hand, has a capacity of 2,200 characters per post. Therefore, companies use the hashtags of marketing on Twitter with much more restraint and efficiency.
Example : The Samsung Electronics company often creates hashtags from the names of its products . In this way they incorporate keywords into the publication. For the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S7 in 2016, for example, the company created the hashtag #TheNextGalaxy. With this hashtag marketing campaign , Samsung increased user interaction, communication about the new product, and brand visibility.
LinkedIn first integrated hashtags in 2013, but removed them again in the same year. Since 2016 , the tagging function is available again (initially only from the mobile version, and since 2017 also from the computer). As with Twitter, only one or two hashtags are typically used per post .
Example : The Nike company often uses the "Just Do It" campaign, created 30 years ago, as a hashtag. Since the advent of social media and the beginning of the use of hashtags , many users have published their own posts on various platforms with the hashtag #justdoit .
The hashtags event, unlike hashtags brand, are used for a limited time. From their name, it is easy to imagine what they are about. The keywords used refer to an event, whether it is one-off or repeating. Businesses often start using hashtags before the event to promote it. At the event itself, they are often used by attendees to report live on the event. It can be very effective for companies to use event hashtags , even when they are hosted by third parties.
The organizers of the US technology conference Collision Conference created the hashtag #collisionconf . The abbreviation of the event name made it easier to remember. A comparable example is the hashtag #LIBfestival , short for Lightning In A Bottle Festival.
The ? Academy Award Merit ? It is the most important event in the film industry. On their official Facebook page,? The Academy ?, the organizers use a very appropriate hashtag for the event, which corresponds to the most common title of the event: #Oscars .
The Dreamforce tech event is also an example of hashtag marketing where the abbreviation of the event title is used as a hashtag . Salesforce, your organizer, uses the abbreviation? Df? next to the year of the meeting. This way, posts are always assigned to the correct year. Salesforce always adds the hashtag to your posts naturally, taking full advantage of the character limitation.
In 2019 the Female Future Force Day took place for the second time. To tag the event, LinkedIn users decided to use a very easy to remember hashtag , # FFFDay2019 , with which they could easily capture the attention of the public.
The community hashtags (or hashtags community) are similar to those hashtags brand, and are mainly used by large companies and well - known brands. With this type of hashtag , companies encourage their community to publish their own content and tag the brand . This strengthens customer loyalty and increases the popularity of the brand. This type of hashtag marketing is especially used as an instrument in recommendation marketing. Some companies also share user-generated content on the official company page. This is an additional incentive for users to use the hashtag.
The clothing brand Forever21 encourages online shoppers to share their own photos of their clothing with the hashtag # F21xMe . Forever21 announces it in their Instagram bio . The company shares some of the posts on its profile and thus motivates users to use the hashtag . With this strategy, Forever21 has already reached 800,000 # F21xMe posts in 2020.
Canadian sportswear store Lululemon Athletica has a large following on Facebook; exceeds two million. The company created the community hashtag #thesweatlife . With it, Lululemon managed to create a feeling of unity among the members of his community while promoting his online sports courses.
Brand Charmin toilet paper created a distinctive hashtag of marketing on Twitter and achieved a strong presence among the community of their social networks . With the hashtag #TweetFromTheSeat , users could publicly and humorously announce that they had taken their mobile device to the toilet.
The world-renowned Starbucks franchise strengthens the union of its partners and employees with hashtags such as #tobeapartner or #tobeintern. In this way it appeals to its current and future employees.
The community hashtags are a very effective tool to create or strengthen relationships with customers. LinkedIn created its own directory to measure the success of social selling.
The campaign? Share a Coca-Cola with? ( Share a Coke in English) was one of the most successful of the company. The soda company printed 250 common names on Coca-Cola bottle labels . Afterward, he encouraged his customers to look up the names of family and friends on them and share the drink with them. The customization and creating a sense of community contributed significantly to the success of the campaign.
Coca-Cola starred in one of the most successful hashtag marketing campaigns in history. Customers started using the #shareacoke hashtag in multiple languages, alongside photos on various social media . In the first year alone, more than 500,000 photos were shared with the hashtag. So far, more than 650,000 Instagram posts have been tagged with that phrase. On Facebook, Coca-Cola has amassed around 25 million followers and today, users continue to use the hashtag even after the campaign is over.
The strategic use of hashtags is a basic part of social media marketing. The hashtag marketing can greatly increase the dissemination of publications, especially in Instagram and Twitter. We have put together some tips on how hashtag marketing can be used successfully.
The hashtag marketing requires study thoroughly what are hashtags appropriate . You have to take into account, for example, how many posts have been made with the hashtag and how often it is used. This analysis must be repeated continuously. In this way, companies ensure that they stay abreast of current trends and issues.
The hashtags are also subject to changes in trends ; some are topical for very short periods of time. The hashtags fashion offer a high chance of spreading and a rapid increase in the number of followers.
A detailed investigation of the hashtag also includes an analysis of the competition . What hashtags do companies with similar target groups use? The interaction of users with the publications of the competition also allows to analyze if the strategy is successful.
There is no instruction manual that guarantees the success of a hashtag marketing strategy . In many cases, a combination of different hashtags can help. This is why most companies combine general and popular hashtags with keywords relevant to the industry and company.
Influencer marketing especially allows young companies to increase their presence in a short time. To successfully use hashtag marketing in collaboration with influencers , it is recommended to jointly create a communication strategy, a campaign and use brand hashtags .
Defining objectives allows you to measure the success of a campaign and adjust the strategy if necessary. Typical goals of a hashtag marketing strategy are to increase visibility and the number of connections or the number of visitors to the website. To assess success, measurements must be made before and after the campaign . However, hashtag marketing is subject to constant change. Therefore, a permanent adaptation of the strategy according to the interests of the users is essential in this type of marketing .
The analysis tool Instagram Insights provides useful information on the success of your campaigns. We present its functions and its most notable alternatives in the article Instagram Statistics: The best tools.
