The hashtag symbol is one of the most visible pieces of a social media post. Some might call them obnoxious, but they are vital to growth on a social media platform. Instagram, for example, is one of many social media platforms that supports a search function to find them. Using this tool can help grow your channel, and help you to better engage with your followers. Here’s why they’re so important:
The Hashtag is Familiar
Instagram isn’t the only platform that uses such a function. Several other social media platforms such as Twitter, and Linkedin support them. The use of the symbol has become synonymous with social media content in general. Using it in your posts will promote more fluid engagements with followers, and help to build an authentic audience from those that search for the product you promote. It’s extremely easy to learn how to use them. It’s often a bare minimum requirement to add into your posts when attempting to build on a platform.
Several of Them Can Be Connected
Many platforms don’t limit you to a single use of the symbol. In fact, you might sometimes see a few lines of text that are all hashtag phrases. Some people might think that this negatively impacts the post, but the results end up being quite the opposite. Twitter estimated that tweets with the symbol generate double the usual amount of engagement as ones without. While that relates to Twitter, the same train of thought can easily be applied to Instagram. If you’re uncertain, there are always analytic tools available to measure how hashtagging impacts your promotion. Speaking of analytics…
Helps When Using Analytics to Track Growth
Analytics are a valuable asset in growing your personal channel. Many analytical tools allow you to track on a post by post basis, but using them to track your hashtagging efforts may be a more efficient use of your time. This can allow you to directly see the impact including the familiar symbol on your posts has on channel development. Even minor gains on a post by post basis means faster development of your channel.
Brand Promotion and Cross Branding
Use of this familiar character helps to put you into the search engine function that many digital marketing platforms use to guide their user base to content. However, this also helps to connect similar content creators. As influencers and marketers know, cross-promotion and building connections with similar brands can be essential to promoting yourself on a digital marketing platform. Linkedin especially can help drive these connections into opportunity. The use of the symbol in this method creates another viable option to create growth for your channel.
Bringing People Together for a Cause
Even if you aren’t a content-creator in the strictest sense of the phrase, the symbol can be useful for helping build awareness for causes you’re passionate about. Bots and other predatory elements can be overshadowed by the authentic audience generated through use of the symbol on a platform. The symbol drives engagement, awareness and ultimately action as a sort of “call to arms” in regards to causes.
