The Four Types of #Hashtags Every Marketer Needs To Know

How to use hashtags Social Media
IMAGE: Blueclaw

As someone who grew up with more than my fair share of jokes at my name, I found reading the #GrowingUpWithMyName trending hashtag last week fairly amusing – I even contributed. It was just a bit of fun, us uniquely named souls finally getting a chance to voice the frustration and boredom with our first world problems. I had a joke about it the next day at work with some of the gals from the office, then I forgot about it.

That is, up until my lunchtime read Buzzfeed pulled up their article cashing in on the trend; 21 Faces Everyone With A Unique Name Will Immediately Recognise. The next day (late, as usual), The Daily Mail shared their own version. A quick scour of the web found that plenty of places had joined in – The Radio Times, MIC, even Youtubers were getting in on the action. It’s a great example of a trending hashtag gone ‘viral’, so I thought I’d use the momentum to talk about the what, why and how of hashtags. I mean, most people know how to use hashtags, but not everyone knows how to use them properly.

What are hashtags?

Hashtags are the word you use after # ; e.g, #GrowingUpWithMyName. It’s a simple way for users to join conversations, add their thoughts or browse through topics on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. As a user, it’s a simple case of hashtag whatever you want. As a brand, it’s a little more tricky – there are four types of hashtags brands and businesses need to get their head around;

  • Brand hashtag

Brand hashtags are the hashtag used for a company name or tagline, such as KitKat’s #HaveABreak. Brand hashtags are used consistently, regardless of campaigns or promotions going on. They’re a great way of creating a community and enabling your brand to get involved and engage with customers, as well as monitor what people are saying about your brand.

  • Campaign hashtag

Campaign hashtags are similar to brand hashtags, but are used to promote a brands latest campaign rather than just the brand. A current example of this is Michael Kors #WatchHungerStop hashtag on both Twitter and Instagram. Michael Kors, journos, publications and consumers are utilising this hashtag to share images, thoughts and information on the campaign. Not only is it a great way of keeping track of the campaigns social reach, it actively spreads the word as users get involved.

  • Trending hashtag

Trending hashtags, like #GrowingUpWithMyName, are hashtags that have quickly gained popularity on social media and as such, are the most used hashtag at that moment. They can come and go within minutes as they are based on real time. Using trending hashtags is a great way of getting your content out to a huge audience, and it can be a really effective way of doing so. There are rules though – don’t get involved in trends that are irrelevant to your business or if the topic doesn’t suit your brands tone of voice, and don’t use hashtags that are irrelevant to your tweet, just for the sake of exposure. Be clever or funny, and be fast – if the hashtag is no longer trending, don’t bother.

  • Content hashtag

Content hashtags are non-branded hashtags which are related to your post content, rather than your company. They can be used to add context or humour to your post, or simply to help the post be found by more people. Content hashtags include product, lifestyle, location and event but essentially, if it’s not promotional it’s content. The key to content hashtags is using them sparingly – noone wants to see a tweet with six hashtags. Find out what hashtags your audience are using and capitilise on these to connect with them.

 

That’s pretty much the ins and outs of hashtagging on social media. The main message to take away is that hashtags connect people, and should therefore be used by brands as a way of engaging and creating a brand community rather than full on promotion. Utilising hashtags gets your content out to an audience, but as with everything social media you can’t just shout at people – you need to build engagement by making your hashtags fun and enjoyable for your audience to use, and then respond to them when they do.