How To Use Hashtags For Beginners
Do they matter? Where do you use them? How many hashtags should you use? Which ones are the best ones to use? How do you even find that out??
A hashtag is simply a way to group together conversations or content around a certain topic, making it easy for people to find the content that interests them. And yes, they certainly do matter, and can make all the difference with your social media marketing!
Hashtags can be used on most social media platforms, but they’re most seen and used on X (Twitter) and Instagram.
Some businesses have a whole strategies just for hashtags (imagine that!) so if you're not using them properly, then you could be being left behind.
A good beginner's strategy is to use a mix of popular, relevant and branded hashtags.
A branded hashtag should include your business name or message which is unique to you, so for me that would be #mcnealmethod. Anyone searching that hashtag will then see all of my posts. Ideally only you and your followers will be using this one, so there won't be hundreds of results in a search for it.
Popular hashtags can be more general things like #marketing or #photooftheday. Those hashtags usually have LOTS more search results, so can be a lot harder to be seen in results for, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't include a couple in the mix.
Relevant hashtags are the ones you need to focus on, which usually score in the middle and give you a greater chance of being shown in search results. These would be things like #marketingmatters #marketinginstagram etc
WHICH ONES TO USE
You'll need to do your research on these, find out what's trending, what's not, what your competitors and influencers are using. You also need to look at how many results there are for each one!
HOW TO USE THEM
X (Twitter) recommends using only 1 or 2 hashtags per post
Instagram and YouTube recommend 3 to 5 hashtags although some people use unto 30
Facebook recommends 2 to 3 hashtags per post
and LinkedIn says 3 to 5 hashtags.
You'll want a bank of hashtags to choose from so you're not using the same ones every time, and also make sure you have some to use for posts on specific subjects.
I hope that makes it a little clearer to start you off on your hashtags journey, but to make it even easier for you, I'm offering you a pack of 30 researched and relevant hashtags for you to use from for just £25. You don't have to do anything at all, apart from include them on your posts!
For £25 you will receive a full list of 30 researched hashtags, a guided how to use them and where. If you need help, and think this will make life easier for you, drop me a message or comment below!