Familiarizing yourself with how to use Twitter hashtags like a social media marketing pro will enable you to receive more followers and engagement online. The trend was originally started on Twitter to segment current trends on their main page or feed and has been catching on with other major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Although using hashtags might sound intuitive to the average Twitter user, there are still strategies and etiquettes to maximize your Tweet’s exposure and reach. First, you must understand its origins and functions to fully grasp its use. Kelley Sloyer from snapretail.com explains it well by stating “When you create a hashtag, you are categorizing your tweet and making it show more easily in Twitter searches. When it is clicked on, your followers will see all the other tweets marked with the same tag.” Hashtags are used to sift through all the posts and Tweets and find relevant topics across the board. This is another reason why Tweets with certain tags are more likely to be re-Tweeted and receive favorites from other Twitter users. According to Buffer, “Tweets with a hashtag receive two times more engagement than tweets without one.”

A strategy we like to use is to find trending hashtags first using the search box on the Twitter or simply performing a search on Google. This allows you to work backwards and ride the wave for trending phrases about the topic instead of creating your own hashtags. Food for thought: always remember that these trends allow you to rank higher on Google’s search algorithm. The better your hashtag phrase, the higher you will rank for more visibility. However, it is important to show proper etiquette when using certain phrases. Much like your Tweets, use caution when using phrases that are biased in any way. Use no more than two or three hashtag phrases per Tweet. The majority of your Tweet should comprise of the actual message with no overbearing # signs throughout. Remember that these tags are used to categorize the topic. Only use hashtags that are relevant to the topic you are Tweeting about. The beauty about being familiar with hashtags is its usage across the social media board. For more Twitter tips and how-to’s, follow us @ARTEMIA_Comm and Tweet us #ARTEMIACommunications.