Methods of Using Hashtag Effectively on Twitter

by Onyia Ifeluwa | Aug 21, 2017 | Social Media Marketing

Methods of Using Hashtag Effectively on Twitter

I am aware many people can use hashtag, in fact I got to know that almost 75% of people use it on social media but it is shocking that only a few can use hashtag on the social media platforms correctly. Perhaps, you are among the latter, well nothing to worry about any longer since this post is to orientate you on the proper use of hashtag: I am excited sharing this valuable knowledge, I believe you are as well.

How best can I trace the existence of hashtag? Well, the first use of a hashtag in social media can be traced back to one man. Chris Messina is a former Google employee who worked in developer relations and as a designer on Google+.

He’s been officially credited as the first person who tweeted using a hashtag. This famous tweet happened back in 2007, so it took a while for the practice to catch on.

I believe we can also match on as well with this friendly discussion on the use of hashtag. Using a hashtag on a social post is really as simple as adding the # sign before a single word or phrase, without spaces or punctuation. You can also include numbers in your hashtags as well. Typing out a hashtag is simple enough, but there are some subtle nuances you should learn to get the most out of them.

Here are a few quick rules for how to use hashtags:

• If you’re using hashtags for their intended purpose (categorization and discovery), don’t string too many words together with a single hashtag.
• On most networks, if you use a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag can find your post.
• Don’t #spam #with #hashtags. Avoid over-tagging a single post or adding them to every word.
• Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic. Trying to get attention by using a mismatch between the content of your Tweet and hashtag use won’t do you any favors if people are annoyed.

Don’t underestimate the understanding of how to use hashtags to join  conversations, such as:

• Events and conferences (#WorldSummit)
• Holidays or celebrations( #ChildrensDay)
• Popular culture topics (#GameofThrones)
• Popular hashtags for days of the week (#TBT)
• General interest topics (#blogging)

While jumping in on trending conversations is recommended, be careful to tread lightly—especially when using a brand account to respond to a disaster. People have mixed feelings in terms of how a company should show their support for disaster victims. As a general rule, whatever you do, don’t use these types of conversations as a blatant sales opportunity.

Be wise while joining a community of hashtag users whenever there is an important discussion on Twitter. I have seen some brands and individuals use a trending topic of war, disaster and conflict to discuss their products and services. Annoying? I find it so, not do I and you find it so, and a lot of people do. I am not saying you can’t take advantage of these topics to introduce yourself if you have a solution or intelligent way. But the truth is it is not advisable in most case because many people like me do not find such promotion attractive at that given time, so of what purpose I may ask you if it is not popular with the social media community. Wisdom is vital! I trust you agree.

What are your thoughts concerning the effective use of hashtag on Twitter?