How to Use Hashtags for Your Business

Author: Kaitlyn Partington Category: Marketing, Social Media & Digital Date: November 19, 2020

Picture this: You and your team are regularly posting to your company’s social media platforms, but you are finding that each month, your impressions remaining stagnant. Your strategic partners and family members are engaging with your posts, but you are starting to wonder if social media is even worth your time and effort.

Before you let your frustrations consume you, make this minor tweak to your social media strategy: incorporate hashtags into your posts. You’re likely wondering, “how do I use hashtags to promote my business?” Here are a few tips and tricks for how to use hashtags for your business.

How to Use Hashtags for Your Business

Before we discuss how to use hashtags for your business, think about the goal you want to achieve. Going back to our scenario, if you are receiving minimal impressions and engagement on your posts, you need to increase your reach to get your posts in front of your intended target audience. Hashtags can help increase that reach.

Now, let’s talk about how to use hashtags for your business. I want you to think of hashtags as a scrapbook of relevant business and user generated content. You want to consider using hashtags that promote your brand, pertain to your services, and connect with your target audience.

When using hashtags for your business, make sure that you are paying attention to the conversations around the hashtags that you are using and stay informed about the keywords that your target audience is interested in. Join in on relevant conversations – in order to get engagement on your posts, you need to like and comment, too.

How to Find the Right Hashtags for Your Business

As you start to figure out how to use hashtags for your business, you’re likely wondering, “how do you use hashtags effectively?” You must take time to research. Figure out what your target audience is interested in, what they are engaging with, and what will grab their attention. Take a look at your clients and prospects’ posts and start a list of hashtags they are using and hashtags that are included in posts they are engaging with.

Then, do the same exercise with your competitors, centers of influence, and local businesses. Now you should have an extensive list. Go back through and highlight what keywords make sense for you to use.

After you’ve crafted this list, research the volume and frequency of posts that use those hashtags. If you search a hashtag on any platform, you will be able to see the number of posts using those hashtags. Take special note of those with a high volume.

As you determine how to use hashtags for your business effectively and start to implement them, check your results. Look at your analytics reports and monitor your top performing posts. What hashtags did you use in those posts? Put a star next to those keywords on your hashtag list. You should also take time to regularly revisit your hashtag list for each platform (business Instagram tags, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter hashtags) and refresh it as needed based on new trends and keywords.

If you are looking for more guidance on how to use hashtags for your business appropriately or are looking for advice on developing your overall social media strategy, reach out to us for a complimentary consultation.