How to Use #Hashtags in Business Marketing

Hashtags and Online Marketing

As the importance of social media grows in advertising and marketing, it is important to stay up-to-date in the technology to gain an edge in a competitive market. Companies that used to allocate marketing funds almost exclusively to television and radio are now expanding their budgets to include social media. A brand-driving feature of social media is the #Hashtag, which can enable your product or brand to be reached by millions.

Today, the trusted San Diego online marketing company, Saba, Inc., is going to share some general information about using hashtags to help reach targeted customers, increase brand visibility, and drive sales.

How Hashtags Work

The functionality of hashtags can vary from platform to platform. Twitter, considered by many to be the “inventor” of hashtags, gives users the ability to have their tweets placed into groups of posts organized by, you guessed it, hashtags. Clicking on any #hashtag link will bring real-time posts from anyone who tweets with the same keyword preceded by a hashtag symbol. Other social media sites (Instagram, Google+ and Facebook, to name a few) function similarly to Twitter, although they might have slightly different rules about the use of hashtags.

Implementing the Right Hashtag

The success of a hashtag campaign depends on the method of employment. Simply creating a hashtag like “#AcmeCandyIsDelicious” probably won’t gain much attention. However, when coupled with traditional media it can be a valuable tool for creating two-way communication with the consumer.

For example — if the fictitious company Acme were to announce in a television commercial that one lucky winner will receive a year’s supply of candy for Tweeting a picture of themselves to #AcmeCandyIsDelicious, the results can be outstanding. The marketing industry is learning that consumers want to be engaged with the products they buy.

The Power of a Hashtag in Marketing

In a real-life scenario, Travelocity quadrupled their Twitter engagement with their #IWannaGo contest. A staggering 95% of all followers continued engagement by scrolling below the ‘loading’ level to view more posts. San Diego social media managers have always said that product engagement drives consumer purchasing, and with numbers like this, Travelocity reaped excellent benefits.

What Not to Do

Of course, hashtagging can have negative impacts. Long hashtags #LikeThisTerriblyLongAndAnnoyingHashtag can turn off your audience. Also, irrelevant hashtagging can make your brand appear to be desperate. Yes people chew gum at work, at the gym, and at school. But hashtagging your post with #ChewingGumAtWork, #ChewingGumAtTheGym and #ChewingGumAtSchool may be a bit too much. By keeping it simple, relevant, and most importantly fun, your hashtag campaign can drive the targeted traffic you need into sales.

To learn how to make your company more visible in the online world, reach out to Saba, Inc. today and schedule a free website audit and consultation. We are a trusted online marketing company offering a range of services from social media and web design to PPC and SEO in San Diego, CA. Call us today at 858-277-1717!