Making Twitter and Facebook Hashtags Work for Your Business

If you're not clear about using hashtags in Twitter accounts, here’s a brief description. A hashtag is denoted by a hash (number sign - #) and is joined to a phrase or word to perform certain functions. Hashtags were attached by Twitter users to tweets to serve as categorizing tools, search mechanisms, and marketing tactics. Now they have arrived on Facebook as well.

If you’re using a Twitter account or a Facebook fan page for your small business, make sure you invest in hashtags as a component of your social media strategy. Sending out tweets or posts without making use of marked phrases and keywords indicates that you're ignoring a very important aspect.

Small businesses can follow these tips to improve their brand's hashtag strategy:

Look for business related conversations

Go to hashtags like #smallbiz or #SMB for resources, advice, and news relevant to small businesses. Though such broad hashtags are likely to generate a large number of tweets each day, tuning in often for quick updates is great for inspirations regarding future blog posts or marketing tactics.

Select hashtags by topic for more specific conversations. The #marketing and #sales hashtags contain loads of content related to small businesses. You could also peek into the #entrepreneurs or #startups hashtags for interesting profiles in your arena. For tips on connecting with like-minded business men, you could use the #networking hashtag.

Keep things consistent and simple

When you’re creating your own hashtags, try to keep them simple and direct. If you’re tweeting or posting regarding a blog explaining how your company uses finance apps, don't craft a complex hashtag. You could pair your post with hashtags like #SmallBiz and #apps instead of #SmallBusinessToolsandApps. Complicated hashtags are not search-friendly or commonly used, and your post might remain unnoticed.

Avoid using excessive hashtags because they might appear as a desperate marketing attempt. Using 1 to 2 hashtags in a tweet is quite enough.

Craft your own hashtags
 

This is a cool way to create interest in a marketing campaign. Using Twitter or Facebook for launching a contest is a great marketing strategy for your brand. Ask people who submit ideas, photos, or jokes to tweet with specific hashtags. This gives you all submissions in a single place at the end of the entry period.

You can use events as opportunities for the creation of conversations around hashtags. Assign a unique hashtag before the event, and you'll have discussion and content related to the event even before it begins.

Organize social dashboards

A convenient way to stay updated with relevant hashtags is by the designation of columns easily accessible in your social dashboard. You could add a hashtag column with a business theme to check when you can spare a moment. Keep adding columns as required, for example, when a hashtag contest or marketing campaign is launched.

Make use of Follow Friday. 

Through a January 2009 announcement on Twitter, Micah Baldwin suggested that people follow every week. This Follow Friday trend took off with the #FollowFriday hashtag which is now shortened to #FF.

You can also create a #FF of your tweet. List the people you wish to follow and try squeezing as many Twitter handles as possible into a single tweet with the #FF hashtag. Ensure your list is themed – for example, Political analysts, Comedians or Activists. Indicate the category of people suggested in the tweet. You could also support only 1 or 2 people such as executives, journalists, or prospective business partners in a #FF tweet for complimenting or communicating with them.