Hashtags: what are they actually good for?

There’s probably no aspect of navigating social media platforms that’s more misunderstood, discussed, and misused than hashtags.

How someone uses hashtags identifies if they’re a digital native as opposed to being digital naïve.

Hashtags, which turn words and phrases into a searchable link, is a simple, free, and transparent way to label your social media posts.

By prefixing words with the hash symbol (#), you are calling out which words, or phrases, are relevant to your audience.

Click on the hashtag (#travel, #Toronto, #ClimateChange, #PaidSicksDays), and you’ll find posts centred around that topic.

A hashtag’s job is to draw attention, organize, and promote content. It has changed the way social media content is searched and how awareness is created, such as when the #MeToo raised awareness about sexual assault and harassment.

In approximately 12 years, hashtags went from being a useful tool only known in programmer culture to a mainstream device for online content. Today most social media platforms support the functionality of hashtags.

For those of you who are trivia buffs, Chris Messina (@chrismessina) unleashed the first Twitter hashtag on August 23, 2007, as a way of making it easier for people to find, follow, and contribute to a conversation.

The first Tweet with a hashtag was, “how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?”

The ease of use has made hashtag usage prevalent. You don’t need any special software, coding experience, or a college degree to create a hashtag. Just put the hash symbol directly in front of the word, or phrase, you want to call out and follow these simple rules:

• No spaces (#Canada, not # Canada)

• No punctuation (#SuperBowlLIV, not #SuperBowlLIV!)

• No special characters (#ForSale, not #ForSale$$$)

In case you are wondering, capitalization only matters for readability; #KnowWhatIMean?

The key to maximizing your hashtag usage is to understand your audience and/or the audience you want to reach; think like a marketer!

Used strategically hashtags can be instrumental in your post being read. Most people scroll social media sites by searching specific hashtags.

Using hashtags that may be of interest to those you’re trying to reach increases your chances of being found.

According to research from Buddy Media, for Twitter, tweets with hashtags receive twice as much engagement as those that do not.

Interestingly, there seems to be an upper limit. Tweets with more than two hashtags have a 17 per cent drop in engagement. This is likely because too many hashtags appear “spammy,” which is a turn-off.

Dan Zarella, Hubspot’s social media scientist, analyzed 1.2 million tweets. He found that tweets with one or more hashtags are 55 per cent more likely to be retweeted than those without them, which shows the clout hashtags have on engagement.

The following Tweet, “I live in a beautiful part of the world here in Scarborough. Ontario.” would receive few views and engagement as opposed to “I live in a beautiful part of the world here in #Scarborough,

#Ontario. #ScarbTO”

Personally, I find the best way to use hashtags is to find ones that currently exist, and if appropriate, trending. There are several tools to help you find relevant hashtags such as Hashtagify (my go-to), RiteTag and Trendsmap. You can also look at what hashtags social media influencers, who are speaking to your audience, are frequently using.

The value generated from the use of hashtags warrants you mastering its usage and making it a common practice to insert into your social media posts (not just Twitter).

When using a hashtag, keep the following top of mind:

• Since most social media platforms have character limits, your hashtags shouldn’t be long. (#Love, #fashion, #art)

• To provide better readability, use capital letters on each word. (#JamesBond, not #jamesbond)

•To maximize engagement and shares (i.e. retweets), use highly relevant hashtags. Spend a few minutes researching hashtags that’ll be pertinent to your post.

• Check hashtags that are trending. If appropriate, use them to significantly increase your post’s exposure.

• Don’t use more than 3 hashtags in a post.

• I repeat, think like a marketer!

When used correctly, hashtags are an effective way to grow your reach, encourage engagement, shares, and get discovered.

I hope #youenjoyed this #column.

Nick Kossovan is the Customer Service Professionals Network’s Director of Social Media (Executive Board Member). Submit your social media questions to nick. kossovan@gmail.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Follow @NKossovan on Instagram and Twitter.