Good morning! Do you have one minute to read and one hour to do? If so, you can improve your small business’ marketing in a big way. Each week, we will provide new ideas. Grab your morning beverage and let’s get started.
This Week: Are Hashtags Worth the Time?
Have you ever asked yourself if hashtags are worth the time it takes to use them?
I know I have. The answer is yes. By using them, you expose your platform to new viewers found in other places on Instagram. Without them, you will find new viewers, but at a much slower pace.
So let’s look at the latest thinking on using hashtags properly.
STEP ONE
Be authentic
In social media, this advice comes up every time you turn around. It is equally true with hashtags. For them to work, they must make sense within the overall context of your post. So if you are an air conditioning company posting about National Eliminate Allergy Day, it will be worth it to find the appropriate hashtags that go with your topic and photo or video.
(Just using your same old group of hashtags you always use to reach “homeowners in your area that need repairs” will only have limited impact.)
STEP TWO
Size
Even the best hashtag is going to have muted results if it is too big or too small. The sweet spot for size is between 15,000 and 100,000 for your post to get noticed.
STEP THREE
Variety
Even the best group of hashtags need refreshing. Don’t post the same group every time. To make this easier, create a spreadsheet to keep track of the good hashtags you have found and group them.
(Our Social Media Marketing Toolchest: www.smallbizbrands.com/toolchest has a tool to do this for you.)
STEP FOUR
Placement
Consider using a couple of hashtags at the end of your description and including the rest as your first comment to your post. This move will keep your post looking clean and streamlined and help your message to stand out.
Placement best practices can differ from one platform to the next. As a rule of thumb, on Instagram, you often see a larger group of hashtags. On Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, the number is usually 0-3. Recently, we have been hearing that the number of hashtags commonly used on Facebook is increasing. Keep your eye on this shift.
Takeaway: When used properly, hashtags can be one of the best tactics a small business can use to get their social platform in front of new eyeballs. Set a goal that for each post this month you will take the time to add at least two specialized hashtags of the right size. At the end of the month, look back and see if your platform results have improved.
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