Hashtags strategies to increase your followers on social media

May 24, 2018
Editorial
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Hashtags strategies

Hashtag use has gone from being something almost exclusive of Twitter and Instagram, to be an almost mandatory practice in all social media. That is why today it’s essential that any brand has an appropriate hashtag strategy.

A hashtag, or tag, is a term preceded by the symbol # and used in some social media to group the contents of a specific topic.

Hashtags strategies

Before starting to design a hashtag strategy it is necessary to know some of the essential characteristics of a good hashtag:

  1. It is memorable. It should be easily remembered.
  2. You should not only focus on your brand. In fact, hashtags that include too obvious the name of a brand tend to work worse.
  3. It must make sense.
  4. must be brief and simple.
  5. It is usually the result of research on what users like.
  6. Relevant.
  7. It can be used in any of the social media.
  8. It is consistent.

Hashtags strategies

Should one create a hashtag for each product? Is it important to keep in mind the trending topics? How to take advantage of the most viral terms? An adequate hashtag strategy must respond to these and other issues. To help you, we show you 5 keys for increasing your community of followers with an effective hashtags strategy:

1.- Create your own hashtags

Hashtags strategies

The most common hashtags strategy is to make your own hashtags. It is interesting that you create them with your own content to be able to distinguish yourself. So, the main advantage of creating your own hashtags is that you give to your communication in social media an authenticity that it wouldn’t have otherwise.

Unique hashtags, those that the brand has created, will respond to a specific moment, action and idea. However, remember that other users or brands can appropriate this hashtag to give it a different meaning.

On the other hand, if you keep the frequency and are constant in the use of this hashtag, it is difficult for others to be able to appropriate it in a simple way. And since a good hashtag offers you great visibility, do not hesitate to improve your positioning with the creation of your own interesting hashtags.

The problem of creating your own hashtags comes from the fact that it is difficult to achieve the scope you need. You depend exclusively on the virality of the message and the hashtag itself to associate relevant content. If that hashtag doesn’t generate movement, conversation or debate, your hashtag will not help you attract new customers.

Clients are moved by what other users comment. Or by the list of current trending topics. If your hashtag doesn’t manage to get in between the publications or other users or the trending topics, only the use of advertising will remain to reach users who we want to end up becoming customers.

2.- Use the most used hashtags

Hashtags strategies

While it is true that the right strategy is to create your own hashtags, another strategy of hashtags may be using those that already have the best results. The work, in this case, is to exploit the potential of some hashtags to attract new followers. A strategy that guarantees you reach users who probably didn’t know your brand beforehand.

Para comenzar a crecer es interesante tener controlados algunos hashtags que han reportado buen resultado a otros usuarios y que, por tanto, podrían ayudar a tu marca. To start growing, it is interesting to keep an eye on some hashtags that have reported good results to other users and that, therefore, could help your brand. For example, according to Webstagram, these are the most used hashtags on Instagram:

  1. #love
  2. #instagood
  3. #me
  4. #follow
  5. #tbt
  6. #cute
  7. #like
  8. #photooftheday
  9. #followme
  10. #tagsforlikes
  11. #happy
  12. #beautiful
  13. #girl
  14. #picoftheday
  15. #instadaily
  16. #fun
  17. #smile
  18. #igers
  19. #selfie
  20. #friends

As you can see, the most used words do not use a specific theme. They are hashtags with very general words. And all of them are terms in English, which is logical given that it is the language that dominates the main social media.

Bet on the use of generic hashtags

By trusting in these hashtags, you are betting on very generic words. In spite of not having a concrete message, those hashtags are very used. These are hashtags that are not only widely used by users in their daily updates but are part of the main searches.

The important thing, in this case, is that you associate with hashtags that are widely used. As they are very general hashtags, and as they give access to a huge audience, its effectiveness is proven. However, you must be especially careful because you are associating your brand with a series of concepts that may turn against you.

With this hashtags strategy, you don’t want your communication on Instagram, or other social media, to become special. You simply seek to position yourself in social media spaces where you don’t usually are. And, of course, to attract new followers. The strategy of attraction does not always have to happen by becoming something special but it can come from simply being in the right place and at the right time.

3.- Get in the car and use the trending hashtags

Hashtags strategies

Taking advantage of the potential of hashtags that are being used at that precise moment is basic to increase followers. It is a strategy that transcends creating your own labels or using generic labels. By using these hashtags you take advantage of the potential of widely used concepts at that precise moment.

On Twitter, you have the list of the most used concepts during that day, the trending topics. This list is evolving. Likewise, you can narrow your search by geographic space so that you know what is being talked about in your environment and not only what is taking part of the conversations worldwide.

Being able to take advantage of the potential of a topic discussed at the moment is a gold mine. You will get positioned by a topic that is generating movement, which many people are talking about. And your message will reach a lot more people.

The basis of the hashtag strategy that recommends using trendy concepts is to multiply the reach of your messages and extend it beyond your limits.

This strategy forces the company to be up to date with what is said. But not only that, since it will not be enough to know which topics move the interest of the users of social media the most. In addition, one must have the ability to use the idea, that is, the concept, in another way to be able to launch your own message.

4.- Controversy can be a good ally

Hashtags strategies

“If when you speak, nobody gets upset, then you hadn’t said anything”.  This phrase from the well-known publicist, writer and television presenter Risto Mejide sums up a trend in the world of communication: it is necessary to generate debate and provoke so that your message amplify. And even more in social media.

We live in a moment where the politically correct reigns in traditional communication. But messages on social media are another thing. Although most companies opt for strategies where they avoid at all costs controversy or debate, the truth is that the provocation and conflict, always well understood, actually works. And much more in hashtags.

Your message must generate something for the users who receive it. If you don’t move anything inside them, if it doesn’t provoke any feeling, the message will have been in vain. It is not necessary to enter into controversies just to bother. But it is neither a matter of avoiding any kind of reaction that could compromise the brand.

Hashtags looking to stir things up

A conflict, a controversy, generated with a message of your own may be a more than adequate reason to position yourself in the channels of your potential clients. Your message can become viral if it generates attraction, outrage, stupor or laughter. It is not about hurting sensibilities, but touching the appropriate keys that help users react.

It is understandable that companies opt for strategies that harm their followers as little as possible. But maybe you have to choose a certain type of followers who value a message that is not exclusively limited to the politically correct but can stand out for something else.

A clear example is Potorro, a canned brand that sells products through the Internet. Their use of social media has made them viral, but because they have dared to play with concepts that could be annoying for certain users. On the other hand, for those who have chosen to follow them, they read as messages in a humorous tone, totally valid.

5.- Create hashtags with popular trends

Hashtags strategies

Using the most used hashtags of the moment is fine, but you can also create them using another idea. Just as you can generate new hashtags from your products or ideas, it is also possible to change the approach and not merely focus it on your brand but on something more general.

How many brands have climbed the Pokemon Go fever cart to create messages on different social media? Even the Spanish National Police has taken advantage of the fever awakened by this game to launch messages on Twitter. What objective is pursued with this? To give more voice and visibility to your brand campaign by taking advantage of the potential of a current issue.

The aforementioned example of the National Police is one of the most remarkable since it manages to summarize very well the spirit of this strategy of hashtags. For a long time, the use of social media by the Spanish National Police is an example of good management.

With this particular tweet, they transmit a fresh image of the organization. They also manage to keep up to date with what people are talking about and what people want to do. And they connect with younger people when the content of their own account shouldn’t be of interest to a young audience.

In this way, you are on the one hand able to take advantage of the existing interest to give voice and relevance to your message. And, on the other, it allows you to open a door to the possible acquisition of new customers.

The potential of a good hashtag deserves a previous planning job. These are only 5 of the hashtags strategies that you can use to get more followers. The usual thing is to use several of them at the same time. And be vigilant to know what strategies are working right now to adapt to them.

The goal of expanding your community in social media is well worth the effort. And if you do it through professionals who guide you in your strategy to gain visibility for your brand, much better. Register with Coobis, the content marketing platform of the Antevenio group and start increasing your brand engagement!

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