By Taylor Pinson, Social Media Specialist
Who knew a small # had so much power? It all started around 2009 when hashtags started to pick up popularity within Twitter. Essentially, a hashtag allows you to cover “more ground” with your post. A post with no hashtags is only available to your followers, but a post with hashtags is available to all who click into the hashtag. Similarly, users can follow pages and hashtags – or click on them to see all the posts that include that hashtag.
With the help of AspenCore’s content and examples, consider these 6 “Dos and Don’ts” to using hashtags effectively:
1) Combine Multiple Words in the Same Hashtag
Do: #AdvancedAutomotiveTechForum
Don’t: #Advanced #Automotive #Tech #Forum
Using #AdvancedAutomotiveTechForum allows the audience to narrow in on posts that are just about the EE Times Advanced Automotive Tech Forum. When hashtags are separated, the hashtag becomes broad – and individually about all kinds of forums, all things tech, etc.
2) Hashtag Your Brand
Do: At the end of each post, hashtag your brand in a single hashtag.
The amount of times a hashtag is used increases its popularity. 7 out of 10 hashtags on Instagram are branded hashtags; make sure your brand is represented! It also gives your audience, or those who have an interest in your brand, easy accessibility to your content.
Don’t: Do not hashtag a multi-word brand name in separate hashtags; #Electronic #Engineering #Times or #Power #Electronics #News will not register as the full brand.
If you’re trying to restate your brand, keep it to one hashtag.
3) Hashtags Should Summarize the Main Points of Your Article
Hashtagging the most relevant key words will serve you best in your social strategy. List a range of both broad and narrow terms to make sure your post covers all bases. Using more hashtags on Twitter and Instagram is helpful, but in general, 3-5 hashtags is a great place to start on all channels.
Do: “The mathematics of decarbonization should yield the Decarbonization Act of 2022.
➡️ Read the fill article: link
#EETimes #Decarbonization #ClimateChange
This post includes 3 hashtags: the brand and relevant topics. To make this post even better, we could include 2 more relevant topics from the article such as #SolarEnergy or #GreenEnergy.
4) Hashtags Can Be Included in the Beginning of Captions
Don’t include the same hashtag twice (in the caption and after the caption). If useful, hashtag relevant words inside your caption.
Do: The mathematics of #decarbonization should yield
the Decarbonization Act of 2022.
➡️ Read the full article: link
#EETimes #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #SolarEnergy
Don’t: The mathematics of #decarbonization should yield
the Decarbonization Act of 2022.
➡️ Read the full article: link
#decarbonization #EETimes #ClimateChange #GreenEnergy #SolarEnergy
5) Capital or Lowercase Letters?
If you’re using a hashtag with multiple (2-4) words, it might be best to use a capital letter to separate words. Capital letters don’t hinder the popularity of the hashtag, but they do make it easier to read.
Do: #PowerElectronicsNews
Don’t: #powerelectronicsnews
6) Short Hashtags are Best
As stated, it is best to use the most relevant/relatable words, not the most relevant sentences/phrases. Find a balance between a hashtag that’s not too long, relevant, and easy to remember.
Do: #EETimes #ResolveClimateChange #ClimateChange
Don’t: #NewEETimesResolvingClimateChangeArticle
In conclusion, hashtags are a small addition that can make all the difference for your post’s engagement; tweets with hashtags receive 2X more engagement than those without hashtags. Remember, it’s important to pair hashtags with a strong caption; posting an article with only hashtags as the caption does not optimize your post’s content. Add hashtags to supplement the article. Better your brand by using hashtags correctly and put these tips to use!
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