The #origin.
Hashtags are one of those things, that in the last 10 or so years have come out of nowhere to benefit the social media world in such a way that without them, we’d be lost! Whilst the overuse of hashtags can be apparent when they are used effectively they really are a very beneficial part of social media marketing.
On August 23, 2007 a man by the name of Chris Messina tweeted, “How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups. As in #barcamp [msg]?” This idea was not, in fact adopted by Twitter as an organization, however the practice was used extensively in tweets in relation to the 2007 San Diego forest fires. The use of the hashtag in this scenario makes it a lot easier for users to group topics and to be able navigate around social media following hot trends. After this, the hashtag was ‘created’ by twitter to allow users to categorise messages. Hashtags have come so far since 2007.
On Instagram now, you can follow hashtags like you can follow user accounts, making them even more powerful!
Whilst #Twitter was the ‘leader’ of the hashtag, many other social media platforms have taken to the trend, including Instagram.
What makes a hashtag so important?
Well, we’ve already established that they can be used as an important part of social media marketing, or even digital #marketing for that matter as it allows everyone to be able to follow and engage with trending topics, ultimately keeping everyone up to date with the latest trends! The beauty of a hashtag, is that all it is, is a symbol. This symbol can be replicated to turn any word, or combination of letters into a trending topic. For marketers, this is the key!
How come my #feed isn’t full of them then?
Good question! Because these little gems are so useful and powerful, social media platforms usually limit the amount of hashtags that can be posted in one post, to 30. Which is still a lot! It’s vital to use all of them though! Even if your post isn’t about what your hashtag is referring to, when someone filters the search to a specific hashtag, your photo will come up for them to see (as long as your Instagram account isn’t on private)!
Having said that, hashtags should always be somewhat related to your content, whether it’s more about the Instagram account/company, or about the subjects in the photo, they’re all discoverable!
Essentially, by having 30 hashtags, it gives you an option to dedicate an amount related to the content, but also others related to your company which may attract attention to your page, which in the world of social media, the more attention the better!
How do they benefit my company?
#Hashtags also are a way to isolate your niche market in a way that allows you to engage a wider range of people rather than the people who are following your account. Creating a larger engagement with more potential clients! Hashtags can seem somewhat tacky and unprofessional, however if the tool is used correctly, they are a very powerful feature which can bring in clients, or at the very least brand awareness and engagement!
Whether you realised it or not, throughout this blog I put some hashtags in, there wasn’t many but those hashtags have been used a total of 40,786,400 times on Instagram… The hashtag is a powerful tool believe it or not!
