6 trends you must know before you smash with hashtag virality
Hello! Hashtaggers
The hashtag story started back in August 2007 with a tweet by a techie and former Google developer Christopher Reaves Messina. He happens to be the inventor of the Hashtag but till date didn’t patent it and this is what he had to say “I had no interest in making money (directly) off hashtags. They are born of the Internet, and should be owned by no one. The value and satisfaction I derive from seeing my funny little hack used as widely as it is today are valuable enough for me to be relieved that I had the foresight not to try to lock down this stupidly simple but effective idea.” That was his selfless contribution to digital media.
Know the nicknaming game
Since then hashtags have been given names like “eavesdroppers”, “wormholes”, time-machines”, and “veins” of the internet. Isn’t it interesting to know? Using just words but the right strategic ones can help you increase your reach and engagement on social media platforms. How hashtags work on social media is quite similar to how keywords work on Google. Let’s read how:
The omni-present clickables
Hashtags were introduced on facebook in 2015 and much earlier on Instagram, in 2011 but were invented of course on twitter. Hashtags are seen as clickable links and have their own unique URL on all platforms. Unlike on Instagram, Hashtags are not very popularly used on Facebook which leaves people guessing whether they actually work on facebook or not. So, clarifying the doubt, I would say they do. You’ll notice the majority of the facebook populace don’t use hashtags on while they do on Instagram. Whatever the reason may be, it’s not wise though. Brands and people who do use hashtags know the difference. Your reach and engagement steps up with #Hashtags like it does on Instagram. It helps you be more visible and hence accessible even on Facebook. Though there are always certain things that could be kept in mind.
- Hashtags build brand recall when used consistently
Primarily, while brands create new hashtags to increase the radar of their campaign or an upcoming event, what’s important and need to be kept in mind is consistency with the hashtag. Associate that particular hashtag with your brand as much as possible to leverage upon the big idea.
- Don’t overstuff your social posts with multiple hashtags
Then remember, less is more. While playing with words, do not overdo it. You don’t have to unnecessarily load up your post with hashtags which might not even work for your brand marketing. Using less but the right hashtags are the key. There are tools that help you find relatable, appropriate and trending hashtags. A popular one is Hashtagify.
- Trendify what’s already trending in life!
For people who believe hashtags work, they search for what interests them through the relevant keyword along with a # behind it. This leads to a search result that is restricted to their circle of interest and they get only what they want. This is how they even save on time. If we see it from the perspective of the brand, now those who miss on using hashtags won’t appear on the search result and this is where the connections that could have happened never happen. Let’s cherry it up by talking about trends. They are never consistent and change every day and are different for all platforms.
- #Love is eternal, use it when nothing works!
Love seems to trend on Instagram as well as on Facebook. The Instagrammers and Facebook audience like to frame their photo galleries with #love. Lovely to hear. Isn’t it? The most trending hashtag used on Instagram is #Love with about 1.5 billion hashtags. That’s huge! Well, we really need that every minute of our life so it’s great to keep brimming of it. Other’s being #me, #PhotoOfTheDay, #Fashion, #Beautiful, #TBT, so on and so forth.
- Twitter: The fastest finger first!
Twitter, on the other hand, keeps itself very updated with its top hashtags being upgraded every hour. 20 million was the number for the most trending hashtag used on Twitter and that was #Vegan. There was a lot of discussion over Veganism on twitter in the end of 2018 and the start of 2019.
- Keep it ‘Original’, Keep it ‘Simple’!
We all want to trend and to keep trending don’t forget your originality. Use Hashtags that describe you, your brand the best. It’s all about what you want to deliver and that is what people hold onto. So keep hashtagging while keeping it original.
Happy Hashtagging!
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About the Author: Sahil Chopra
Sahil Chopra is the CEO and Founder of iCubesWire, a leading Digital Marketing Solution and concept provider in India, providing a 360-degree environment to leading brands for their digital marketing needs. He is a highly motivated and adaptive digital marketing professional and internet evangelist with an expertise in Internet Strategy development and execution. Sahil has over 11 years of experience in digital marketing across multiple traditional and emerging channels. Sahil completed his engineering from PTU and pursued an MBA from Symbiosis Thereafter he started his career with NIIT – Global E-learning Services where he was exposed to the concept of digital marketing.
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