What is a hashtag?
Hashtags are a way to connect social media content to a specific topic, event, theme, or conversation.
Hashtags are a great way to connect with like-minded people, and they can be used for just about anything.
Including hashtags in your posts means taking part in a conversation happening on that social media platform. And most importantly, it makes your posts visible in that conversation.
This can lead to greater engagement, boosting your brand’s social media engagement through likes, shares, comments, and new followers.
Why cant I post to my LinkedIn channel through LinkedIn?
If there is a double ## symbol in your social media post, LinkedIn will reject your post from being delivered. Check you hashtags are written correctly. Also check if there are any spaces between the hashtag symbol and your first letter.
Using Hashtags on Social Media
Hashtags can actually broaden your reach online and help increase the chance of people finding you. Bear in mind the more popular the hashtag, the harder it will be to gain visibility though so, sometimes a niche approach is better. Let’s look at how to make the most of hashtags for your social media activity:
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Research – Look at what your audience is interested in, as well as the trending topics, and the hashtags your competitors or key influencers in your industry are using in their posts. On Twitter, you can see what is trending under ‘Trends for you’ on the left of your Twitter feed. You can also use tools like Hashtagify.me or Brand Mentions hashtag tracker to find and analyse the popularity of hashtags on Twitter and Instagram, plus related terms.
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Create your own – Hashtags are created by users. You can create a hashtag for your brand or for the advisory niche you specialise in. When you use this regularly, it can help people find other content written by you e.g. #BomaMarketingTips
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Let others tell your story – user-generated content campaigns is when your customers and fans share their images and content with your hashtag. It helps build the story and your community. For example, hashtags are a great way for attendees at an event to share images and commentary e.g. #xerocon
Follow some basic rules:
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Don’t overdo it – Results in a study by Agorapulse showed that Instagram posts with hashtags receive 70% more likes. But you don’t need to add hundreds to each post. Start with a couple and follow the tips below.
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Do some research – It’s worthwhile spending a minute or two to find out the popularity of your hashtag and check that the existing use relates to your topic and not something totally different.
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Keep it readable – Short and easy to read will have more impact and be more memorable. For longer hashtags, you can make the first letter of each word a capital letter in order to #MakeItMoreReadable
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Make sure they are relevant to the topic – Loading your tweet or post up with random irrelevant hashtags looks like spam. Keep to the topic to add value.
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Strike a balance between broad and specific – Go for hashtags that are specific to your industry and you will have a higher chance of being seen by a more relevant audience.
Hashtag examples
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#Covfefe – It started with a typo in a tweet by President Trump but within 24 hours the hashtag #covfefe had been used 1.4 million times
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#gameofthrones – for fans of the show, this hashtag brings together everything from fancy dress, images of actors or news on the show.
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Hashtags can relate to almost anything such as #eatinggreen, #melbournecup #doglife or a celebrity figure.
Hashtag Examples for the Accounting Industry
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#accounting
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#bookkeeping
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#tax
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#compliance
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#digitalmarketing
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#businessadvisory
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#cpa
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#finance
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#accountingfirms
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#accountants
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#financialplanning
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#budgeting
Further reading: