Without a solid hashtag strategy, all of the work you put into content production for social media could easily amount to nothing – so where do you start?
As any avid social media user knows, when we want to find specific information on social media, we search using hashtags. While the inner workings of a hashtag does vary on your platform of choice, how they fundamentally work is the same.
In simple terms, hashtags are how users sift through millions of posts in order to find exactly what they’re looking for. As such, if you’re a brand or business trying to use social media as a means to make your mark online, crafting an effective hashtag strategy is crucial if you want to be at the top of the results and get seen by the right people.
Unpacking The Concept Of A Hashtag Strategy
Many savvy marketers know that a content strategy or content calendar focuses on the planning, creation, delivery, and governance of content. Often used for social media, the content in question not only includes the words or captions on the page, but also the images and multimedia that are used.
However, without a hashtag strategy, all of this hard work could potentially go to waste. In the world of social media, world class content can be missed by the masses if it lacks the right types of hashtags – it’s a bit like expecting a Ferrari to win the Formula One without the machine having any petrol in the tank.
The thing about hashtags is that they should never be treated with a “one size fits all” approach. In fact, a recent study conducted by Social Baker indicated that using over ten hashtags on a social media post can reduce engagement by up to 68%, so aim to stick between the safe zone of three to five. Thankfully, all you need is a few key go-to’s stashed away in a vault, which is when using carefully crafted hashtag strategy can be invaluable – but how do you make one?
Do Your Research – Much like conducting keyword research for SEO, start digging around the internet for some hashtag inspiration. Pay attention to what other brands in your sector are doing, what’s trending and topical, and don’t be afraid to go for the long tail options. In addition, consider location based hashtags. As an example, #AccountingSydney may yield far better results than #Accounting if your firm is based in Balmain.
Create A Branded Hashtag – Depending on the nature of your business, sometimes the best way to use hashtags is to create a branded one – or a hashtag of your very own. In fact seven out of ten hashtags are brand identified, and can range anywhere between #Microsoft to #ThisIsQueensland. It’s also one of the easiest and free methods to build a legitimate following, or a legion of fans that will actually help you to visually market your business.
Make A Vault – Once you have a sizable selection of hashtags to use and rotate though, be sure to store them somewhere safe for future use. Some people simply store them in the notes section of their phone, while others prefer a cloud based document that is less at risk of accidentally being deleted. Depending on how many you accumulate, having a big pool to choose from can diversify the types of people your content connects with.
Add To A Content Calendar – Many people find the constant cycle of uploading on social media at certain times of the day to be a waste of their resources, and instead opt for social media scheduling tools. Once you have a solid hashtag strategy in place, this can be used in conjunction with your daily, weekly or monthly social media scheduler to ensure that you’re not “double handling” the content.
If the thought of regular content production and creating a hashtag strategy goes above your head, it’s worth noting that you’re not alone. Thousands of businesses outsource parts of their operation everyday, and enlisting the help of the professional can actually be worth it’s weight in gold if you’re able to partner with the right operator – but where do you find them?
The Key To Good Marketing Is Great Content
Producing quality, consistent and on brand content takes time, effort, experience and resources, but avoiding these responsibilities altogether may actually be doing your brand a disservice. Thankfully, investing in a solid content marketing strategy has actually never been easier.
Here at Content Hive, producing top quality digital content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services, and allocated credits next to each of these. This means that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as blog articles, social media posts, videos and even animated Instagram stories. By using this model, we believe that it enables us to produce high quality content with faster delivery times.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book in a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
