Marketing using social media is tough. How do I get my Facebook or Instagram post viral? What’s the best marketing campaign to get organic followers? Here are 6 powerful hashtag strategies that you can use to increase your interaction with your following!
#HASHTAGS!
We’ve already learnt that hashtagging your posts are important in increasing brand awareness! If you want to know how to create a great hashtag for your campaign, I’ve wrote an article here to give you some tips!
Trending Hashtags
You might have seen hashtags like #ootd (OutfitOfTheDay), #tbt (ThrowbackThursday), #nofilter all around Instagram posts. Why are people using them?
To become viral of course! If something’s trending right now, you definitely have to be a part of it, be it the latest hype clothing apparel, or current trend topics, because you always want to stay relevant so that your audiences will stay with you. Who knows? Your product or service might also be related to the hashtag some way or another!
Personalised Brand Hashtags
Fashion apparel brands utilise these the best. Some examples from ZARA are such, #zarawoman #zarakids #zaraoutfit:
With different hashtags specific for their products, ZARA is able to market to specific audiences who are interested, be it men’s wear, kids, jewelry, wearables or more.
Similarly, you can make use of your company name in your hashtags, that way users have another way of identifying your business through these hashtags. #MarketingWithCraig
#HashtagDays
An example was mentioned earlier, #tbt, or #ThrowbackThursday. Hashtag days are important for creating brand awareness because you give your consumers something to look forward to every week, which builds up following for your brand. Here are some hashtags that you can use for #hashtagdays:
Monday
#MotivationMonday – Start the week right with motivational posts to connect with your audiences!
#MondayBlues – Show your followers that you’re feeling it with them, and give them something to cheer them up!
#MelodyMonday – For music lovers whose moods sway with tunes, or an audio that soothes their mind!
Tuesday
#TuesdayTrivia – Questions to interact with audiences!
#TuesdayThoughts – Something for them to ponder throughout the week!
#TuesdayTips – Tips and tricks your followers can learn!
Wednesday
#WednesdayWisdom – Quotes to engage with followers always do the trick!
#WednesdayNights – Great dinner meal post for restaurants.
#WednesdayWorkout – For your gym and workout followers, athlete brands.
Thursday
#ThrowbackThursday or #tbt – Sharing memories of your business!
#ThankfulThursday – Appreciation posts for your long term users!
#ThursdayThoughts – Something cool for them to nip towards the end of a tiring work week!
Friday
#TGIF – Literally, Thank God It’s Friday, we’ve been waiting for this since Monday!
#FashionFriday – Time to head out to town and get some retail therapy!
#FridayVibes – Chill out with cool vibes and tunes on a Friday night at a bar!
Saturday
#SocialSaturday – Time to hang out with your friends!
#SaturdaySale – Best time to enjoy the start of the weekend with sales!
#ShoutoutSaturday – Shoutout to an employee or product to bring back awareness!
Sunday
#SundayFunDay – Spending some good quality time on Family Day!
#SundayShopping – Better do that last shop before another 5 days of work!
#SundayMorning – Wake up posts to interest them!
Related Hashtags
Skittles uses their slogan of #TasteTheRainbow as their main hashtag for all their posts and people know in an instant, that TasteTheRainbow is Skittles, because we just know it! This considers them to be a #HashtagLeader for that specific hashtag!
Similarly, if you have a short slogan or phrase that people remember your brand for, it’s definitely the best winger for your campaigns, or simply, just create one that’s catchy!
Hashtag Events
Making use of events that are already existing such as #Christmas, #NewYear, or #NationalPopcornDay which falls on the 19th January in case you don’t know, are ways to market your business as well, because followers get to experience something new with you that’s not on a regular basis and can get them interested.
Americans look forward to #SuperBowl and #IndependenceDay yearly, Germans #Oktoberfest, or even the annual #BostonRun, which I covered an article on 2018’s run previously.
You could also do a yearly anniversary for your business to show your customers how much you’ve progressed through the start and take the opportunity to appreciate them for staying with you throughout! That would really keep them staying for more years to come!
Hashtag Incentives
Give your users something they will always remember. It could be an event, a quote, a reward.
People want to click on hashtags for a reason.
If I’m interested in learning about plants and nature, the #nature hashtag gives me a wide variety of photo shots that I can indulge in.
If I want to look up for a clothing brand, the username or hashtag would definitely be the first thing I search up on Facebook or Instagram.
But if you really want people to notice your brand deliberately, mini contests work the best, especially giveaways.
Give them the intention to use your hashtag. Make it viral.
Mini-giveaways have the intention to get you huge followings in the shortest period of time, because people want to win. Get them to like and follow your page, and tag you and your hashtag to have a chance to be selected for the prized reward. A short price to pay for a long term brand awareness I would say.
For more information of how to do hashtag mini contests, I’ll be sharing 5 Effective Hashtag Contests you should be using for your campaigns!
For any questions, feel free to drop me a message. Connect with me on LinkedIn to find out more of such contents!