Hashtags are to social media like the TV guide was to television: They help you find the content you’re looking for. As social platforms increasingly operate as search engines, connecting billions of users with people, places and products, that search directory becomes an increasingly valuable tool. If you want more of your audience to land on your brand’s pages, hashtags are your point of mutual connection.
So let’s talk about some effective social media campaign hashtags, why they work and how you can start using them in your social strategy.
What Is a Hashtag?
A hashtag is a word or small phrase that follows a pound sign (#) embedded within the written section of a social post. They burst onto the Twitter (now X) scene around 2007 as a way to group similar messages together before becoming popularized as an Instagram marketing strategy.
Users can filter through relevant posts and discover new content by typing hashtags into a platform’s search bar (similar to Google) or clicking directly on the hashtag. Businesses and influencers, on the other hand, incorporate hashtags in their posts to increase visibility, making products and services more discoverable.
So, let’s say you run an online pottery business. Hashtags like #Pottery and #Ceramics can help your products reach people searching for pottery inspiration or products.
Jumping to the opposite end of the spectrum, a hashtag like #jklgnrkej will likely create zero impact since no one is searching for #jklgnrkej.
(I actually moved to Instagram to validate that claim. You never know what’s seeding in social media trends.)
Under the hashtag banner, you’ll find different categories to leverage in your social media hashtag campaign. These include:
- Branded hashtags: Accelerate brand recognition with your slogan or a social movement in a hashtag. Nike’s #JustDoIt campaign is a good example of this.
- Trending hashtags: Become part of the story with events or viral topics hitting the world now, whether it’s #Inktober or the #FridaysForFuture movement.
- Niche hashtags: Connect directly with your audience, no matter how niche. If you offer sweet #VeganTreats or you’re an exclusive #CatWeddingOfficiant, a niche hashtag gets all sorts of everyday heroes found.
How Hashtags Work Across Platforms
While hashtags have the same look in different places, their functionality changes slightly across platforms. Here’s a glance at how they work:
X (Formerly Twitter)
Join the conversation by engaging with real-time news, events and community discussions. Hashtags in X make it easier to immerse your brand in trending topics — and be heard. You can use as many hashtags as you like, but it’s recommended to keep it to 1-2 per post.
On Instagram’s platform, users have the option to follow hashtags, ramping your brand’s exposure to a non-following audience. Use up to 10 hashtags in your stories and a maximum of 30 in your posts and reels, but try to avoid overkill. A crowded hashtag strategy will likely confuse the algorithm.
Place a couple of hashtags in your pin descriptions to make your content more searchable. Users can click on hashtags to open a new world of relevant content, so throwing in a few non-spammy but semantically relevant hashtags can muscle out your strategy.
Alongside X, LinkedIn is one of the platforms where hashtags are used more scarcely. Tag your posts with terms and phrases that reflect the networking or industry-related value your content offers for best results.
Because Facebook likes to link family and friends above all, hashtags have a more restricted role in content discovery than Instagram or Pinterest, for example. That said, they can still be a great way to categorize your content.
YouTube
Place hashtags in your video descriptions and titles to help users discover your videos on the topics they’re searching for. You can place up to 15 on your video content, so keep them relevant and precise.
TikTok
TikTok hashtags connect you with specific audiences and trends, attracting new followers and increasing your viral potential. On the flip side, they also create a pathway for users seeking content like yours to engage with your brand.
Why Use Hashtags for Social Media Marketing?
For businesses, a hashtag strategy is key to tapping into the matrix, attracting new followers and generating greater impact with content. Hashtags create value for users by connecting them with more of the content they love. These little marketing tools work like search-powered railway tracks, leading your audience’s train of thought directly to your brand. But, how?
First, brand awareness. A branded hashtag can direct users to your posts in a single search or click. What’s more, #YourBrand will become visible to wider audiences that follow the other popular hashtags in your posts. For example, a trending hashtag — often emerging from viral fads or popular news stories — exposes your content to a whole new world of searchers following the fad.
Hashtags can be a great way to track the impact of different content types or topics in your social media campaign. This is useful if you’re A/B testing or analyzing your tagged content’s performance across various platforms. When you drive new audiences to your content, you’ll boost engagement metrics and build a community around your brand, since a hashtag connects users with one another and your business.
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Creating an Effective Hashtag Strategy
Sold on hashies? Here’s how to leverage the right hashtag in your social media strategy.
- Focus on a specific goal: Know what you want to achieve, whether attracting a new audience segment, ramping engagement, driving traffic to your site or otherwise. Be precise and ensure your goal is measurable.
- Choose the right platform: Who is your audience and which social media platform is the best to reach them on? Use a combination of data from your current social analytics dashboards and each platform’s user database stats to narrow your options.
- Research trending hashtags: Have a play on your platform of choice to search topics related to your brand and note down which are getting the most hits now. Can you find any viral trends to participate in or build new content for?
- Create a branded hashtag: Your branded hashtag could (but doesn’t have to) be your #BrandName. Alternatively, take a page out of Domino’s Pizza with a simple, clear and relevant phrase like #letsdolunch.
- Leverage influencer marketing: We all know that influencers are the voice of the people — in the social media world, at least. Research popular influencers your audience follows and steal keyword trends from them.
- Encourage user-generated content: Leverage user-generated content to enhance engagement and ramp visibility. Put a clear call to action in your posts to encourage followers to create their own content with your branded hashtag — that way, you can attract people from their social networks, too.
- Run some tests: Whether you’re testing the same hashtag across different platforms, various hashtag categories or alternatives within one hashtag type, run some A/B tests to see what resonates.
- Track your success: Go back to your goal and measure your hashtag campaign’s performance over time. You can check the reach, engagement, audience demographic or sentiment and a number of other useful indicators. As you refine your strategy, always go back to the numbers!
5 Successful Social Media Campaign Hashtags
For a shot of inspiration to start your campaign on the right foot, check out these epic hashtag histories that certainly left their impression on brands, audiences and social media alike.
#ShareACoke by Coca-Cola
The #ShareACoke hashtag campaign worked well because it personalized their product at an impressively broad level. Rolling out in 2014, many consumers across the world could purchase a bottle of Coke with their name on it and share their experience on social media.
#ShotOniPhone by Apple
As one of the longest social media campaign hashtags to still run today, #ShotOniPhone encourages people to snap creative shots with their iPhones and share them on the socials. Selected photos were showcased by the brand, boosting users’ visibility and showcasing the product to potential buyers.
#JustDoIt by Nike
Nike’s #JustDoIt campaign carries a positive message, which roused a community and bolstered the brand’s positive social perception. Rather than selling the same old t-shirts and sneakers, Nike inspired healthy lifestyles and positive action for its audience by encouraging them to get out there and, well, do it.
#Grimace by McDonalds
McDonald’s initiated the #Grimace campaign in 2023, with a limited-time purple milkshake to celebrate the birthday of their fuzzy purple mascot. The campaign went viral as users posted videos of them enjoying the milkshake before exploding in a mysterious chaos of purple. McDonald’s global same-store sales shot up almost 12% during the April-June period that year.
Make Your Next Campaign a #Success
Whether you’re already sailing through social media seas or just starting to dabble, a few tiny but mighty hashtags can make a huge difference to your campaign. As with platforms, no two hashtags are the same. Start simple, be persistent and keep checking in with the numbers to create the most impact with your audience.
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