Social Media can be confusing. There are always new changes, and new tools and the algorithm change can mean your posts do great one week but flop the next. And what are hashtags?! I've decided to give you an insight into what Hashtags do on Social Media and how you can utilise it for your Business. Let's go!
What is a Hashtag?
They essentially help you be seen in a filter but also as a way to categorise your posts. A lot of people follow certain trends and hashtags so using them can help you reach the right audience. You then can gain more visibility and followers!
So how do you use them? Follow my process below ⬇️
First Step: do Research
First, you should research what hashtags would be good for you to use
For example, if you are a bakery, you would need to look up topics related to your trade and location such as #smallbusiness, #dorsetbakery, #colourfulcakes and #cakedecoration.
Another is to find other bakery businesses and look at what hashtags they are using, there's nothing wrong with copying the same hashtags!
Second Step: Start using them
Choose your top 10 favourites from your research and make sure they are varied! Now you need to start putting them in practice for each post you do - save them in a notes app so you can copy and paste them over.
Being consistent is always key as social media platforms will 'trust' you and help showcase you in their Discover or Recommended Accounts to other people.
Third Step: Begin to Experiment
You can't always use the same hashtags and expect the same result on social media due to how the algorithm changes. So change it up a bit each time to ensure you're finding what works better. You can check this through the Analytics tabs.
Also, the same hashtags you use for Instagram, may not necessarily work the same for Facebook so keep that in mind.
So what's the hashtag sweet spot?
You can't spam a post with a gazillion hashtags and it can actually prevent Social Media platforms from recommending your content to others through their Discover pages.
Each platform is different but for Instagram, they recommend using 2-6 per post and you need to have some small popularity (like 15 - 50K uses) and bigger popularity (100K+) to help you gain traction.
If you are ever unsure, the majority of Social Media platforms have help pages that include tips and updates about how they're changing things but if that's too awkward - chat to me!
This can take up a lot of time AND can still be confusing. So I have a new offer! ⬇️
I'm offering a one-off Hashtag Research Doc for £35 for the month of May, if you're interested - drop me an email!
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