By Tasha Cunningham
Have you ever considered the impact of a hashtag on your company’s brand? Most of us add a hashtag or two to the occasional Twitter post and don’t think twice about it. But if you’re a small business owner, it’s time to pay attention to how hashtags can help you create brand buzz.
Not too long ago, hashtags were mostly used on Twitter. But now they are everywhere and are so powerful that they literally drive the social media conversation.
The proof is in a survey conducted in March by RadiumOne, an online advertising firm. It found that 58 percent of respondents utilized hashtags on a regular basis. The survey found that a whopping 71 percent used hashtags when communicating from their mobile devices.
But are hashtags really useful to consumers? According to RadiumOne, 43 percent of respondents believe they are, with 34 percent of them using hashtags to search for and follow brands they are interested in.
Hashtags are easy to use; you simply put the number sign — # — in front of key words, subjects and brands in communication. This enables others on social media who are interested in those same subjects and brands to find all the communications about them.
Using them creatively to generate business for you company isn’t quite as simple. For that you’ll need a sound strategy to start and the ability to measure your hashtag marketing success. Here are seven strategies to boost awareness of your brand with a hashtag.
Define your goal. Good hashtag marketing begins with a clearly defined purpose. What are you trying to accomplish? Are you promoting an event, generating buzz or launching a new product? Your approach may be different depending on what goals you have. But before you can create a successful hashtag campaign, you need to clearly understand your goal.
For example, if you’re generating buzz, you may incorporate a strategy similar to that used by Wonderful Pistachios last year when they developed the #cracklinstyle hashtag. To get people talking about a commercial airing during last year’s Super Bowl, the company partnered with pop singer Psy. The nut company incorporated the #cracklinstyle hashtag in store displays, on flyers and other marketing materials. As a result, the Super Bowl commercial garnered attention both on social media and offline.
Do your research. Millions of hashtags are used. What can you do to make yours stand out? First, check out hashtag monitoring sites to find out how a particular hashtag is being used and how often people are using it. Sites like www.HashTracking.com and hastagify.me will help you kick start your research.
Next, search every word in your hashtag, not just the ones that you think are relevant.
Take a look what happened when the Syfy Channel wanted to promote one their TV shows in 2012. The show, Alphas, was about a group of exceptional people with amazing powers. The network created a campaign using the hashtag #IfIWereAnAlpha. Seems fine, but in reality an “Alpha” has a number of other meanings. In fact, it most often is associated with an MTV show called Teen Wolf where the lead character is an alpha werewolf. So the folks at Syfy worked really hard to help MTV promote its show instead of promoting the one on their own network.
Keep it short and sweet. Long, cumbersome hashtags don’t drive online engagement. Make sure your hashtag has five words or less to keep it top of mind with consumers.
Register your hashtag. A website called Twubs allows you to register your hashtag. While Twubs registration won’t stop someone from using your hashtag, it will get you a branded page dedicated to your hashtag.
Reward those who share. Customers are happy to share your hashtag when they get something in return. According to the RadiumOne survey, 51 percent of respondents said they would share hashtags based on products if they were rewarded with discounts or special offers.
Participate in #FF. Use Twitter’s popular Follow Friday event to give a shout out to your most loyal customers. Tag posts about people or brands you think others should follow with the hashtag #FF, short for Follow Friday.
Tasha Cunningham is a principal in the Cunningham Group, an award-winning communications firm with offices in Miami and Orlando. She writes about how small business owners can leverage social media and other online tools to grow their companies.