How to Use Hashtags

Effectively

The 3-Step Process

How to Use Hashtags EffectivelyHashtags—the little waffle-shaped symbol that changed how people use social media

forever.

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How to Use Hashtags EffectivelyOnce known as a “pound sign,” hashtags today ignite, unite, track and organize social media

conversations around the world. Whether you use them or not, you’ve certainly seen

hashtags before on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, on TV and in the news, or even in

the dictionary. But have you used them to boost the results of your social media marketing

yet?

Learning how to use hashtags effectively can be done in as little as three steps. In this post,

we’ll walk you through the three-step process for sourcing and leveraging effective hashtags

that will help you extend the reach of your brand on social media and build relationships

with potential customers.

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How to Use Hashtags Effectively: The 3-

Step Process

Step 1: Understand how people use hashtagsThere are many ways you can use hashtags in and to amplify your marketing. Reasons

marketers use hashtags include branding purposes, improving brand awareness, marketing

events and engaging followers on a specific topic.

Regardless of how you want to use hashtags in your marketing, it’s important to first

understand how they’re already being used across platforms to help you maximize your

efforts. We’ll break down best practices on three of the most popular social media

networks where hashtags currently exist: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Twitter: Twitter is where the hashtag became what it is today, and thus it’s largely

acceptable to use them when posting to this platform. Studies show that tweets that

include hashtags receive twice the engagement as those that don’t, but best practices

indicate that including up to two hashtags per post is the smartest move.

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Step 1: Understand how people use hashtagsFacebook: Hashtags have only been used on Facebook since 2013, but have become a

commonly seen feature on the site. Stick to using two hashtags per post max as, like with

Twitter, best practices state that including more than that can lead to a drop in follower

engagement.

Instagram: Unlike with Twitter and Facebook, on Instagram, the more hashtags the better.

Buffer shares that interactions are highest on Instagram posts with 11 or more hashtags, so

feel free to get creative.

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Step 2: Perform hashtag researchEffective hashtag usage begins with a little research, just like with the keywords you’re

targeting in your content marketing and SEO efforts. There are a variety of free and paid

tools you can use that will scour social media to determine the best hashtags to use to

engage your specific audience. Some of the most popular include:

org: Want to jump in on a conversation that’s already begun? This site offers users the

ability to see hashtags that are popular or currently trending.

RiteTag: Once you’ve entered a tweet with hashtags, this tool helps you assess which

hashtags you used give your tweet the highest chance of being discovered by highlighting

them in red, blue or green.

me: This tool explores Twitter hashtags and their relationships, showing you hashtags

related to a specific keyword.

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Step 3: Create compelling posts using your hashtagsOnce you’ve figured out the hashtags you want to leverage across social media, you’ll need

to develop content to promote them. Do some research to better understand what kind of

content engages the followers on the platform you want to use your hashtags across—be it

Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Then, get to crafting your content. Follow these tips for

creating compelling social media content:

Add visuals. On Instagram, this is a given, but to drive follower engagement across Twitter

and Facebook as well, you’ll want to include a high quality image or piece of visual content

along with your post.

Tag influencers in your post. To get your post on the radar of social media influencers—who

can then extend the reach of your content across their own vast networks—tag them in

your posts. Make sure the hashtags you’re using are relevant to their industry or brand first.

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