Using Hash Tags to Grow Your Following
By: Phillip Archer
A little history for you … back in 2007 a Twitter user named Chris Messina came up with the octothorp, the original name of the meta data tag. Octothorp was too “nerdy” so they eventually came up with “Hash Tag” and that is how we commonly refer to the “pound sign” or #. The original concept was to be able to search for and access information on a topic of conversation. Let’s say you were looking for a good article on raw dog food. You might search for #RawDogFood.
If content creators are smart and use Hash Tags, you will get a list of topical content based on the Hash Tag. The content is listed based on how often the Hast Tag is used and how recently it was posted. That means that you need to be thoughtful and deliberate when using Hash Tags. First, you want to use Hash Tags that are commonly popular topics related to your business … #Travel #Cruise #Italy #Spain #France #Expedition #Tour #BucketList. When you are posting content be mindful of what Hash Tags you can use to give your post more visibility. When you are adding your hash tag the moment you enter # and the first letter after it, you will get a list of the most common hash tags that are spelled that way – so always aim for the top of the list – just like you will see when you type #Travel into Google.
The higher the Hash Tag is on the list, the more commonly used it is. When you add more hash tags your post will show up in more searches and your content will be associated more closely with that top when people search the internet for information. Adding Hash Tags literally helps you get the attention of the right people and create a conversation with them. Once you start adding Hash Tags to your posts, you will find that the most common tags for your subject matter will be easy to remember – but you should always keep an eye on them as their popularity changes with use. Hash Tags can be very dynamic and what was number one last week may change – so just always pay attention when you are typing them.
Now for the fun subject of “how many Hash Tags should I use”. While a lot of people will say that Hash Tags are not as popular and relevant as they once were – and that is accurate – for savvy social media users – this is a bonus because you are promoting to your services to someone who is actually actively seeking information as opposed to just randomly seeing your ad or post. You still have to be creative in your content to get someone to actually LIKE or FOLLOW your page or account, so try to post engaging content that evokes emotion and encourages a dialogue. We will take more about that in another post, but for now just try to ask yourself when creating content, “is this going to encourage someone to ask a question or make a comment?” You should practice using 3-5 Hash Tags at the end of your post. This seems to be the best range for getting viewers’ attention. That being said, Instagram allows you to use up to 30 Hash Tags per post, so you really are not limited.
Your first assignment is to take a few moments and just login to your favorite browser and start typing hash tags that are relevant to your business (#Travel). Make a list of the top 10 hash tags that you can think of that may be relevant to your most common posts. These are the ones you want to start with. Pause for a moment and make yourself a list.
Next, you need to figure out what YOUR personal Hash Tag is going to be. If you are a well branded individual or company you may want to start with that. It was a bit of a no brainer for Roaming Richly Travel to use #RoamingRichly. Do you have a word or phrase that describes yourself or your organization? If so, make a Hash Tag out of it and start using it whenever you post. The more you use it, the more of your content will show up in searches and it will become a great way for people to find you online. This is what you get when you search for #RoamingRichly.
Finally, when you are using Hash Tags it is also a great idea to mention the vendor your post is associated with, i.e. #Norwegian #CelebrityCruises #AmaWaterways #VirginVoyages #TravelImpressions. This will accomplish two things. First, it associates your brand with theirs giving you some credibility. It also boosts your posts by allowing it to be found by people searching for information on that vendor. A sample of a good post using Hash Tags is below:
You want to remember to login to your BranchUp account regularly and edit your posts to include your Hash Tags. I do this every Monday morning. On your home Dashboard you will see your account or accounts if you are using BranchUp for both Facebook and LinkedIn. Each account will have a button that allows you to access and edit your upcoming posts. Select POSTS.
When you select POSTS, you will see this screen which defaults to Upcoming Posts:
On the actual post you will see three dots on the top right, click those dots to edit your post.
Once you click EDIT you will be able to add your Hash Tags.
If you are managing more than one Facebook page in your account (I manage two pages from my main account), don’t forget to click the box that says APPLY TO ALL POST PAGES – this is a HUGE time saver!
Remember to put an event in your calendar once a week to update your post feed in BranchUp. I doubt it will take you 15 minutes once you get the hang of it and it will get you noticed and build your following for sure.
Next month we will delve a little deeper into using video to expand your following.