5 Reasons why Public Relations is important for every business!
Ever wondered how hashtags came to be? All the credit goes to the social technology expert Chris Messina. He is person behind the very first hashtag on twitter #barcamp all the way back in August 2007. The initial response to his proposed use of the hashtag was negative, however the very same year during the devastating fire in San Diego, #sandiegofire became widely popular for updates regarding the fire. The use of hashtags spread like wild fire on twitter and was soon seen on all social media applications including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube among others.
Hashtags have now become an integral part of social media marketing and play a vital roles in increasing user reach.
Here are some of the ways in which hashtags have an impact on your social media engagement:
– Easier to find content
Hashtags help in making your content discoverable on Instagram. They make your content easier to find, users can discover relevant content on Instagram by searching for a hashtag, simply clicking on the hashtag given on a post or tapping through related posts for a particular hashtag.
– Better audience interaction
Using hashtags increases interaction with your audiences online. The posts including at least one hashtag has a relatively higher reach than those not using any hashtags at all. Followers like to engage with hashtags, whether it is to see what’s trending, finding a recipe, or just of inspiration for their Instagram, users can find all the relevant information with just one hashtag!
– Hashtag Campaigns
You may have noticed brands making their own hashtags that go viral as part of marketing campaigns, product launches, PR campaigns. Nowadays brands and influencers create their own hashtags to encourage user interaction by giving them a chance to be featured if they use the hashtag! Some of the best examples of hashtag campaigns introduced by brands that went viral are:
- ShareACoke by Coca-Cola – 650K posts!
- Icebucketchallenge by ASL – 693K posts!
- NationalFriedChickenDay by KFC – 34K posts!
- Mycalvins by Calvin Klein – 857K posts!
– Branded Hashtags
Having your own branded hashtag is one of the best strategies to promote your brand online. Many brands add their own personalized hashtag as part of their bio on Instagram. These hashtags also increase user generated content therefore branded hashtags have the power to reach a larger audience and create brand awareness. Brands also create hashtags for various campaigns to raise awareness for different causes for instance:
- NeverStopExploring by The North Face – 26.6 Million posts!
- TopshopStyle by Top Shop – 499K posts!
- hm by H&M – 11.4 Million posts!
Using hashtags on Instagram makes your posts and content more visible to your audience however it is necessary to keep in mind that only 30 hashtags can be used in every post as a limit set by Instagram. It is better to not overcrowd your posts with one too many hashtags. While creating a hashtag uniquely for your brand it is vital to make sure that the hashtag is relevant to what your brand represents. These are some of the strategies to keep in mind while attempting to increase engagement on social media with the help of hashtags.
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