This is the second and final blog of the ‘Why hashtags are essential in social media marketing’ blog series. The first blog entitled ‘Why hashtags are essential in social media marketing: Part 1’ began to look at the reasons why hashtags are a vital part of social media marketing. This blog will continue to add to the list of reasons why hashtags are critical in social media marketing that was started in the first blog.
Over the years, hashtags have become increasingly more popular with people using them to create awareness around activism but also around brands and products.
Here are some more reasons why you NEED to use hashtags in your social media marketing:
Join trending topics
We all know that as soon as a story or topic becomes a talking point, a hashtag for it is made. It can be extremely beneficial for brands to get on board with relevant trending topics as these trending hashtags garner a huge amount of engagement. You can also join trending hashtags that don’t have anything to do with your brand if they are important to your followers or related to activism which your company supports. For example, many brands have joined the recent #BlackLivesMatter movement, which was sparked as a result of police brutality in the USA, particularly against people of colour. Many brands have joined this trending topic as it is a movement their brand supports. This is also a way of showing your followers that your brand does have causes which it will stand for which shows that the company is not just a faceless brand, it has a personality, and it has a system of beliefs.
Social media marketing is the process of reaching prospects and customers, and acquiring traffic and visibility through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many others. By utilizing the social aspect of the web, social media marketing is able to connect and interact on a much more personalized and dynamic level than through traditional marketing.
Increase engagement
When you post content with a specific hashtag, it will be more prominent than posts without any hashtags. Therefore because more people are able to find your posts, more people will engage with your brand by either linking, commenting or sharing the content. However, hashtags alone are not enough to get the engagement you want and need. Your brand needs to ensure that its content is unique and interesting as well to encourage those viewing your post to engage with it.
Promote products or contests
We all know that as soon as a brand announces a contest, we all get involved whether or not we are the type of person who usually engages with brands on social media. Giveaways and contests are a massive driver for engagement. However, it is better to do several small giveaways rather than one big one, as it can help your brand build momentum on your social pages. For both contests and giveaways, it is essential to create a hashtag specifically for that promotion. This will help to drive new customers to your pages while spreading brand awareness.
