3 R’s to remember when writing hashtags

Practical tips to make every tweet count

It really isn’t rocket science. But putting a little extra thought behind the hashtags you use can make all the difference. Use them to show knowledge, expertise and help you build a wider social media presence on Twitter.

Ultimately that tweet could be a door opener into your business!

Here are 3 R’s to remember when using hashtag in your tweets:

Research – don’t just stick a hashtag in front of any word or phrase with no real thought behind it.

Carry out some free desk research;

• Think about what words or phrases people use as search terms on Twitter to find information. Put a hashtag in front of the word or phrase and type it into the Twitter search bar. You’ll see how many tweets come up and what sort of companies are using them.
• Look at what hashtags the big guns in your industry are using and where appropriate use them too.
• Use hashtagify.me and ritetag (both free) to see the popularity and suitability of a particular hashtag (not all hashtags are suitable for your business!).
  
  

Relate – the hashtags you use have got to make sense within the context of the tweet and your business. Remember that hashtags typically fall into 3 categories;

o Brand – if your brand isn’t well known, unless you completely whitewash everything you do with that hashtag, then it may be a wasted character. However, if you are working with a big name or product, hashtag that within your tweet to jump on their bandwagon.

o Trend – these are the most fun when used appropriately. A word of caution here - you shouldn’t use a popular hashtag for the sake of it. For instance, just sticking #olympicsRIO on the end of a tweet without any context is frowned upon and looks unprofessional. Whereas a personal tweet about cakes in the office on a Friday with a photo and #FridayFeeling or a link to a white paper with #Wednesdaywisdom is a clever use of these ultra-popular tags.

If you log into Twitter via a web browser you can see the daily popular hashtags in your account. If using the Twitter app on a smartphone or table, hit the magnifying glass and the trending tweets will come up.

o Content – this is when you tag according to the subject matter and target audience e.g. #contentmarketing #SMBs. This type of hashtag should be in line with your company’s keywords and are the most effective way of getting the right audience to your website.

And finally, Report

It is becoming easier to report on the benefits of using effective hashtags. You will be able to view analytics from your twitter profile within selected time periods, showing the most popular tweets, who retweeted and any increase in followers. You should be able to plot correlations to an upturn in traffic to your website. Platforms like Followerwonk give you access to a restricted number of free metrics.

 If you found this useful please follow me @emdrever and @mktg_Fusion and look out for our next blog with more practical tips on effective social media engagement.