Twitter is one of my favorite social media platforms. I think it can be one of the most introvert friendly as well, but that’s another post for another day.
In this post I’ll be talking about how (and why) to use hashtags on Twitter.
What is a hashtag?
A hashtag is just another term for a searchable word. On Twitter, when a word is preceded by a hashtag that word becomes searchable.
Let’s say you’re wondering what people are saying about entrepreneurship on Twitter. You simply plug in the word #entrepreneur into the search function.
Twitter will automatically show you the “Top” results for that hashtag – first it will suggest a news item about entrepreneur, two people to follow related to the subject, and then provide a list of the most popular posts that include “#entrepreneur.”
You don’t have to type a hashtag into Twitter’s search box in order to search for a hashtag. If you see a hashtag and are interested in seeing other tweets that use that hashtag, simply click on the hashtag! For instance, in the example above I could have clicked any other hashtag in that tweet, like #leadership, and Twitter would have automatically lead me to a search page with tweets that include #leadership.
The purpose of a hashtag
There are three reasons why you would use a hashtag.
1. It helps people find your tweet
2. It consolidates conversations
3. To highlight something funny
Hashtags help people find your tweet
In the example above someone tweeted a quote. The quote didn’t have the word “entrepreneur” in it, but by using the hashtag #entrepreneur, the tweet was labeled so it could be found among other tweets about entrepreneurship in the search function. In other words, hashtags are a way to label your tweet’s subjects so that it can be found more easily.
Why would you want your tweet to be found easily? To attract followers who are also interested in that subject matter. For example, to attract entrepreneurs. When using hashtags to attract the attention of your ideal client, it’s important to step into their shoes. For instance, say you have an online shoe store. Your ideal client may not be using the hashtag #shoes because that hashtag is used primarily by people who sell shoes. Instead your ideal client may be using and searching the hashtag #fridaynight.
Sometimes hashtags are also used for live event. If you’re at, say, San Diego Comic Con this year you could use the hashtag #SDCC16. That way people who attended the convention (or wish they attended the convention) can see your tweets and follow you because you have something in common. It’s also a great way to find people to network with when you’re about to attend a large professional event. Simply look at who is using the hashtag (assuming the event has picked a hashtag) and introduce yourself, you could even suggest going out for a cup of coffee if it seems like they would be a good person to network with.
It consolidates conversations
Sometimes hashtags are used in Twitter chats. Twitter chats are discussions between multiple people that happen at certain dates and times. For instance, some people may get together weekly to discuss education. #5thchat is the hashtag that’s used for a weekly Twitter chat for 5th Grade Teachers. If you’re a 5th grade teacher and have a product that 5th grade teachers may be interested, you could use that hashtag#5thchat to interact with your ideal client.
Hashtags can be used for humor
You may have seen the hashtag #justsaying. When someone uses a hashtag like this it isn’t so they can be found in the search function. Instead, it’s just used to differentiate the phrase from the other text in order to make a joke. It’s as if you’re whispering the punchline.
An added benefit to using a hashtag like this is that it’s a way to get around Twitter’s 140 character limit. So cramming multiple words into one long hashtag like #andthatiswhyIstayedhometonight means that there’s no spaces in between the words, which means a phrase can take up fewer of the 140 characters than normal.
Twitter hashtags dos and don’ts
- Typically, hashtags are used at the end of sentences. Sometimes people use a hashtag in the middle of their tweet, if the word is part of the sentance.
- While hashtags are very useful, how many you use is dependent on your brand. If you have a brand that is all about providing news, using numerous hashtags makes sense. If I see a tweet that uses over 5 hashtags I assume that they’re not on Twitter for networking and that their brand is more informational and less personal. If you have a brand that seems warm and friendly and focused on one-to-one relationships, you might not want to use very many hashtags as it takes away from the feeling that you’re talking just to the person who is reading the tweet.
- Hashtags are often not used while you’re talking to a person directly using the @. When you use the @ symbol in front of a username at the beginning of a tweet it’s called a “reply.” These types of tweets are designed to have a slight degree of privacy. Even if I’m talking to somebody about entrepreneurship, using a hashtag in a reply would feel weird because it seems as if I’m saying “hey let’s invite everyone on Twitter to join this discussion” instead of feeling like I’m having a one-to-one conversation with someone. This is obviously important for us introverts who prefer to talk one-to-one.
- Twitter provides you with a number of choices for viewing search results, there’s “Top,” which is effectively the most popular tweets with that hashtags, and there’s “Latest.” If you’re trying to find influencers on a certain subject, I would look under Top. If you’re trying to follow a live Twitter chat, for instance, I would use Latest.
Do you want to build your Twitter follower count and stop feeling ignored? Let’s hop on a no-cost/no pressure informal call and find out how I can help you stop wasting time on a marketing strategy that isn’t working for you.
