Hashtags play a vital role in social media marketing strategies in 2024. Understanding how to use hashtags effectively can enhance your content’s visibility in a sea of billions of daily posts. Whether you’re a small business owner, an influencer, or a brand, using hashtags strategically can help you connect with new audiences and grow your following.
In this article, we’ll explore the best practices for leveraging hashtags on each major social platform this year.
Hashtag Basics
A hashtag is any word or phrase preceded by the # symbol. When you include a hashtag in your social media posts, it becomes searchable and tappable. People can click on a hashtag to view other posts using the same tag.
Hashtags serve multiple purposes:
- Increase discoverability – Including relevant hashtags makes it easier for users to find your content when searching or browsing those tags.
- Join conversations – People use hashtags to take part in larger discussions. Using trending hashtags allows you to participate in viral conversations.
- Categorize content – Hashtags explain what your post is about and make it simple to group similar content.
- Build community – Regularly using the same hashtags helps you connect with others interested in that topic and grow your audience.
- Drive traffic – Clicking on a hashtag takes users to a feed of top posts for that tag, which could direct visitors to your profile.
Now let’s look at hashtag best practices for each major platform.
Hashtags on Instagram
Instagram is the best platform for leveraging hashtags to maximize reach. You can include up to 30 hashtags per post.
Follow these tips for incorporating hashtags in your Instagram marketing from this guide to Instagram for business:
- Use maximum allowable tags – Studies show using all 30 hashtag slots leads to the most engagement.
- Research relevant tags – Find hashtags used by top profiles in your niche. Tools like Display Purposes and RiteTag can help you find the best ones to use.
- Mix specific and general tags – Include niche community hashtags along with some broader popular ones.
- Place hashtags in comments – To keep your caption clean, put your hashtags in the first comment instead.
- Create branded tags – Encourage user-generated content by creating branded hashtags like #ShareYourStory.
- Use tags strategically – Only include tags that are truly relevant. Avoid spammy tactics like tagging huge hashtags.
- Track performance – Use Instagram Insights to see which hashtags drive the most traffic and engagement for your brand.
Hashtags on Twitter
Twitter also relies heavily on hashtags, though you have more flexibility with how you incorporate them.
- Reply to trending topics – Stay on top of news by using hashtags for viral events and jumping into real-time discussions.
- Tag conversations – Include a hashtag when engaging in Twitter chats related to your industry.
- Share visual content – Attach relevant hashtags when tweeting images, videos and other media.
- Tag key phrases – Hashtag important keywords and phrases throughout your tweets to optimize visibility.
- Limit tags per tweet – Don’t overdo it. Typically 1-2 well-chosen hashtags per tweet is sufficient.
- Create branded tags – Launch hashtag campaigns tied to product releases, events and other initiatives.
- Use analytics – Review hashtag performance in Twitter Analytics to refine your approach. Identify tags driving the most retweets, mentions and profile clicks.
Here are some tips to increasing Twitter engagement.
Hashtags on Facebook
Facebook hashtags work similarly to other platforms, but are used less frequently. Keep these tips in mind to increasing Facebook group engagement:
- Tag key details – Include hashtags for your location, industry or other important details you want to highlight.
- Drive event participation – Create an official event hashtag and encourage attendees to post with it.
- Utilize branded hashtags – Launch hashtag campaigns to develop unique branded content and let fans join the conversation.
- Limit tags – Avoid over-tagging your Facebook posts. One or two highly relevant hashtags are enough.
- Monitor tags – Check which hashtags gain traction among your audience using Facebook Insights.
Hashtags on LinkedIn
LinkedIn’s hashtag culture is still emerging. Follow these best practices as the platform continues evolving based on these LinkedIn marketing tips:
- Tag industry conversations – Join discussions using popular hashtags like #socialmediamarketing, #leadership and #smallbusiness.
- Highlight specializations – Include hashtags for your particular skills and niches to attract prospective clients.
- Share advice and tips – When posting advice, use a relevant hashtag like #productivitytips so your wisdom can be found.
- Tag company updates – Use branded hashtags when sharing news about your business like #CompanyNameNews.
- Spark engagement – Pose questions or calls-to-action using unique hashtags to prompt discussions.
Use these tips to step up your hashtag game on every major social media platform in 2024. Focus on using relevant, well-researched hashtags audiences are actually searching for and engaging with. Take advantage of platform-specific analytics to continually refine your approach and maximize the impact of your branded tags. With strategic hashtag marketing incorporated into your overall social media strategy, you’ll increase discoverability, gain followers and drive meaningful results.
