Thursday, October 3, 2013

Dos and Don'ts of Hashtags

With hashtags becoming popular ways for users to search for trending topics, it is important for companies to understand how to use them in their marketing strategies.






What is a hashtag? 

Hashtags are used in social media to link certain keywords with trending topics of discussion. By adding the symbol "#" anywhere in a social media post, it connects your post with those related to that hashtag. For example, if I tweeted something with the hashtag #socialmedia and #hashtags, anyone who searches for either of those may come across my post. For this reason, hashtags can be a valuable tool for marketers - when used properly.

Take a look at some of the dos and don'ts of hashtags (as laid out by Bigcommerce):

Dos

  • Engage your viewers - Ask questions and share interesting facts and tips. Instead of focusing mainly on your products, share something that is valuable to your readers and you'll be surprised how much they interact. 
  • Watch your competition - Pay attention to what your competitors do right and what they do wrong. 
  • Follow your industry - Pay attention to the hashtags relevant to your business that are already being used and look for conversations that you can contribute to. 
Don'ts
  • Don't Spam - Limit your hashtags to no more than 2 or 3 per post
  • Don't use long hashtags - Keep your hashtags short and to the point to make sure you don't lose your readers. 
  • Try to incorporate #hashtags into the meat of your post 

Check out the original post at: http://www.bigcommerce.com/ecommerce-blog/dos-donts-hashtags-ecommerce-marketing/





by Samantha Warner
Marketing Extraordinaire