What the Heck Are Hashtags and How Do I Use Them?

{ April 14, 2019 } - Trish

If you’re new to social media, you’re probably wondering what the heck hashtags are and do I use them effectively. You’re in luck! In this blog post, I’m going to cover those questions and so much more!

What The Heck Are Hashtags?

Hashtags assign topics to your posts, status updates, and articles. Using the pound sign # {or hash} on a social network {think Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and even Facebook}, turns any word or group of words that directly follow it, into a searchable link, allowing you to organize content and track discussion topics based on those keywords. That means, if you wanted to post about your visit to NYC like I did above, you would include #NYC in your status update to join the conversation. Click on any hashtag to see all the posts that mention that topic/subject in real-time.

How to Format Your Hashtags

The first thing you should know is that you don’t want to use spaces – even if your hashtag contains multiple words. But you do want to differentiate those words by using upper and lower case. For example, Pen Island would look better, and make much more sense, as #PenIsland than as #penisland, don’t you agree? Uppercase letters won’t alter your search results so people searching for #abc will get the same results as people searching for #ABC.

Numbers are supported, so #EasyAs123 works. Sadly, punctuation marks are not supported. So commas, periods, exclamation points, question marks, and apostrophes are out. While you’re at it, skip asterisks, ampersands and any other special characters.

There Are No Presets

There isn’t a master list of hashtags, but you can search your social networks {and search engines} to see if there’s a hashtag already in use for a particular subject or topic. You can even check services like HashAtIt, Hashtagify, and Hashtags.org. Remember, every time you add a hashtag in front of a word or phrase, you’re creating a hashtag. Try it out!

How You Can Use Hashtags

Hashtags are supported on Twitter {where they started}, Instagram, Pinterest, and even Facebook, now. There are so many different ways you can use hashtags, the possibilities are almost endless. However, I wanted to give you a few ways you can use them, along with a few tips.

Don’t forget, hashtags turn words into searchable links
Always start with a # and leave out spaces
Use upper and lowercase to differentiate words
Use them during conferences and events
Use them in conversations around specific topics
Use them for Twitter Chats
Use them during television shows (#CNN, #GreysAnatomy, #JurassicWorld)
Hashtags can be used anywhere within your post or update
Use them to find like-minded individuals
Use them to find people discussing the topics you’re interested in
Use them to create a following for your brand/blog/business
Use them to complement photos you share on Instagram (This helps you discover new accounts and pick up followers)
Use them to show off your personality, brand voice or tone
Use them for fun!

Again, these are just a few ways you can use hashtags while you’re using social media. What would you add to this article to help people trying to understand hashtags? How are you using hashtags? Let me know in the comments below!

5 Tips for Etiquette Across Social Networks

{ August 31, 2015 } - Trish

Etiquette across social networks, like social networking itself, is not much different online than it is off. Good common sense can take you far. But social media etiquette is a bit subjective. Each of us has our own way of doing things and what feels like second nature to one person may feel incredibly awkward to someone else on the same social network. The beauty of this is that it is alright. We’re human and we aren’t always going to agree on every nuance when it comes to etiquette across our social networks.

However, there are some social media etiquette basics everyone should know (LIKE KEEP THE CAPS LOCK OFF).

Regardless of whether you’re on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ or a Blog, always use your common sense. If it isn’t something you would say to someone face to face, it is safe to say you should not be saying it from behind the computer screen. Be respectful of others and conduct yourself appropriately.

Bring value. Make sure you’re taking the time to share the things you find interesting. You don’t need to play to an audience, that isn’t natural. That new social sharing site, adorable photo, clever video and that article you loved – share the tidbits you come across with your friends and followers and you’ll probably attract like-minded individuals.

Create conversations, ask questions and dive in. It shouldn’t be all about self-promotion all the time. Use your status updates to invite conversation. Get to know the people in your stream or news feed. Find out what projects they’re working on and if you’re interested, how you might be able to participate. Take the time to promote others more than you promote yourself. That’s always good etiquette! One example of someone doing this right is Becky McCray. She does a Brag Basket on her blog “Small Business Survival” and it is a big hit.

Keep automation to a minimum. As a general rule, Auto DMs are frowned upon. Can you get away with them? You might be able to, but there’s a fine line. A good rule here is if you’re going to use them, they’d better be about the person following you and not about promoting your stuff. Also, if you plan to use Auto DMs you should also use Auto Follow and a platform to help you control it all. Psst… It’s a dead giveaway when someone tries to respond to your Auto DM and they can’t because you’re not following them back.

When is it OK to use automation? It’s OK to schedule posts some of the time but don’t make that the rule, keep it as the exception. For example, if you’re in the Atlantic time zone and you’ve already said good morning, it’s acceptable to schedule a few good morning tweets to catch people coming on and starting their day in other time zones. The key is to be ready to engage and follow-up once those automated posts go out and people begin to reply. No point in scheduling a discussion point to post at 3 AM if you aren’t going to be around to discuss it.

Review before you retweet. Heck, review before you tweet. This doesn’t just apply to twitter, this goes for all sharing. Make sure what you’re sharing is actually something you want to share. Take the time to click through and visit the link or read the article, etc. to determine if it is something you really want to share with your community.

Also, double check your status update before you hit send or share. Can it be taken out of context? If you aren’t sure, have someone else review it and give you their opinion. When it doubt, don’t send it out.

Keep a cool head. I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been guilty of breaking this etiquette tip when it comes to customer service. If you have an issue with a company, rather than attack them, reach out to them for resolution. Remember, there’s a person behind that logo. Nothing is going to get resolved if all you’re doing is venting. If you’re truly looking for resolution, take the time to reach out and explain the issue you are having. Then, be ready to take it to private messages or offline altogether if necessary. The same can and should be applied for discrepancies with individuals!

What do you think? Do you agree with these social media etiquette tips or do you take a different approach? What would you add to this article?

{My article originally appeared on the Radian6 / Salesforce Marketing website.}

Step 4: Build Community Relationships Through Content

{ July 21, 2015 } - Trish

In this final part of our four part series, we’re discussing how to build and maintain community relationships using your content. One of the best parts of creating and sharing great content is connecting with your community. You can learn a lot from your community if you take the time to listen. Though the members of your community can give you a good indication of whether or not they find your content valuable, through various social options, (sharing your posts, comments, tweets and quoting your content) it is always a good idea to get direct feedback.

Get Feedback from Your Community

You can collect feedback from your community in a number of ways. Consider periodic online surveys, feedback forms, attendee surveys at your next webinar or conference, or even building a questionnaire into your next email newsletter. If you plan on measuring and analyzing this information (and why wouldn’t you?) just be sure you are consistent and ask the same questions across your selected time period so you can measure any changes in awareness, sentiment, etc.

Categorizing your content to provide relevance to your community can be very helpful. For example, if you’ve categorized all of your content about your corporate events as “Events”, someone visiting your website or this information would only have to select that category to see all the content you’ve shared on the subject.

You can also help build a strong relationship with your community by providing them with informational and educational content. In other words, content that will help them be more successful, do their jobs better or make them that much wiser in their field.

How will you know what type of content your community will find valuable or educational? It all goes back to asking the right questions. Take the responses you have received from your feedback forms, surveys, etc. and spend some time evaluating them to see if there are areas for improvement. Are you covering the topics your community is looking to learn more about? Are they asking for information you can provide? If so, and you plan to put their suggestions to good use, be sure to let your community know that you will be incorporating their suggestions. One way to acknowledge your community’s contributions would be to thank them publicly on your site. Give them all the credit they deserve for helping you to continue to grow and improve. Keep an open line of communication between you and your community members. Let them know they are one of the most important, if not the most important, driving force behind your brand.

Both your content and relationships are blooming. It’s an exciting time and more opportunities await. We may be winding down, but we’re not done yet! Our last chapter wraps it up and throws in a few more nuggets.

Putting it all Together

There are always ways to enhance your content. So before we wrap up, let’s stretch this content-aboutcontent eBook a bit further with some final food for thought.

Put content at the center of your marketing strategy – The content you create will be a traffic-driver, conversation starter, information-enricher and an awareness-builder. It can even be a conversion-leader. What marketer wouldn’t want that as part of their approach? Marketing can even allocate dollars to your content and help promote your eBooks and webinars.

To make that happen, ensure the entire team is on-board with your content strategy and make sure it aligns with marketing’s goals as well. Communication and dialogue are key and it can only lead to great things for your brand.

Be in the know – We all know the social web is constantly changing and that means new ways to promote content and new content formats. Keep up on the latest news and information in this space to ensure you remain relevant. Attend conferences, follow content and social media experts on Twitter and read blog posts. You can even share your knowledge and be seen as an expert yourself!

It’s okay to reach out – Remember when you had to sell cookies in school and you asked your Mom to buy some? If you’re just starting out with your content, feel free to talk to close friends, colleagues, brand advocates (and why not Mom, especially if she’s in your industry!) about your new venture. Share it with them, get their feedback and ask if they know anyone who would also enjoy it. We all have networks and it’s a great way to get your feet off the ground.

In this 4 part series, we explored ways for your content to spread throughout social media, enabling you to build and enhance relationships and empower your community. We did this through the development of a successful content strategy, looking at the different types of content, how to share this great content with your community and how to build relationships as a result. We hope you will be able to take this information and begin to develop or refine your content strategy.

Are you feeling empowered to start your content strategy? Or if you have one in place, do you feel there are some updates that can be made to make it even stronger? Consider your community along with your brand goals and your content will go further than ever before.

If You’re Not Including Visual Content, You’re Missing Out

{ June 23, 2015 } - James Bartels

Jason Miller nailed it at SocialFresh 2014, he gave a great presentation discussing the importance of including SlideShare and Infographics as a part of your content. To put it simply, make your content more visually appealing.

“People want a thrill, people want a spectacle, and people love to be entertained” – KISS

Visual is the New Headline

“As content marketers our job is to inspire, educate inform and also entertain.” – Jason Miller

Why are SlideShare and Infographics so successful? They’re visual and, visuals are a staple, a must, in your marketing strategy. You only have seconds to grab someone’s attention. Grab it with a compelling image!

As content creators, we must learn to adapt. Here are five compelling reasons why visuals are a necessity:

Almost everyone is a visual thinker
Visual language aids in making decisions
Visuals makes a better impression than plain text
Visuals are more persuasive
Visuals help people connect emotionally

When you begin to include visual content, take a look at the following visual social content platforms: Instagram, Pintrest and Flickr. Though you may find that you like one better than the others, it’s important to figure out where your community is and focus on those platforms. You don’t have to be everywhere, and you don’t want to be. You just want to be where your community (or target demographic) is.

Let’s Talk SlideShare

What is SlideShare? SlideShare is a website where users can upload their presentations and content to the web. Think of it as web based PowerPoint. If you’re giving a presentation, consider using SlideShare to create it and then later upload it as content to your site. It’ll help your community get more information about you!

Why should you consider adding SlideShare to your blog?

It Automatically adds inter-connectivity
People don’t have to do a click to go anywhere, they can stay on your content
It has a built in lead form, which means your community can contact you and you can track it with a built in meter

There are a few hacks to using this platform. According to SlideShare, the optimal presentation has three features and hints to make it successful:

Keep the number of slides short and sweet (the avg. number of slides is 19 per presentation)
Be visual with your presentation, include pictures (the avg. number of pictures per presentation is 19)
Get to the point (the avg. number of words on a slide is 24)

You’re probably wondering why these three things? It’s interesting to note, there was no magic algorithm that determined this. People want simplicity, they want something helpful. If you’re presentation is simple and helpful it will be successful. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. For adding visual content check out Canva and also look at these 10 Canva tips to help you become a visual content master!

There’s a few advantages to creating your own content using SlideShare and Infographics. The most important is that you can tell your story, but how? Here are three ways you can you do this effectively.

Have a great content strategy
Make your own advertising
Create a targeted marketing strategy to drive awareness to your brand

Another advantage you have by creating your own content is that it’s no longer a numbers game. Today, big search engines have killed “content farms”. That means, you don’t need a team of 500 people creating content for you, and you don’t need more content – just relevant content.

Long Live Infographics

What is an Infographic? Basically, they’re graphic visual representations of data or knowledge to show information quickly and in a creative way. Think of it as a graph that incorporates a picture or graphic. Essentially, a dressed up pie chart!

Here are a few reasons to include infographics and their benefits as:

Infographics provide a snapshot for a bigger story, thus intriguing the community to consume your content
They break down complicated ideas and information
Easily shareable
Fuel for social and demand generation
Great SEO (search engine optimization) linkbacks
Enhances press releases
They are entertaining and fun

To wrap things up, it’s all about being visual today! Including visual content for your community, will help engage and retain their attention for your brand. Visual content is easily understood and shareable. It goes beyond plain text and makes your content interesting and engaging. People love to share great visuals and that means additional ways your content will be promoted. You own your media so write your own story!

Are you currently using photos and videos as a part of you content strategy? Let us know in the comments below.

Empower Your Community to Promote Your Business

{ June 17, 2015 } - James Bartels

One of the great things about social media is that it can be used to promote your business, not just by your company, but by your fans, too! What if I told you that you could promote your business using social media without working hard at it? Yes, your customers and fans can promote your business for you! In this article, we’ll explain a few ways in which your community can help promote your business and how you can help make it happen. Large corporations harness the power of their communities, and so can you. Being present on social media, and creating helpful content will help your community do this.

Let’s Talk About #Hashtags

Primarily used on Twitter, Instagram and Google+, but gaining popularity on Facebook, the hashtag is a powerful tool you can use to your advantage. Hashtags allow people using social media to create an automatic link to that specific hashtag. How? Hashtags assign topics to your posts, status updates and articles. Using the pound sign # {or hash} on a social network turns any word or group of words that directly follow it, into a searchable link, allowing you to organize content and track discussion topics based on those keywords. That means, if you wanted to post about your visit to NYC, you would include #NYC in your status update to join the conversation. Click on any hashtag to see all the posts that mention that topic/subject in real time.

For example, let’s say you have a small coffee shop named “Coffee Club”, you can have a “#CoffeeClubRocks” sign in your shop encouraging customers to tweet, take photos, and post on Facebook using your creative hashtag, #CoffeeClubRocks. As customers discuss your brand and business across their social media platforms using the hashtag #CoffeeClubRocks, it will link all the conversations around your brand together, promoting your business and your content. Thus, providing publicity to your business with minimal effort on your part!

Delta Airlines recently blew up on social media when it ordered hundreds of pizzas for frustrated, delayed passengers. People whipped out their phones, took photos, and used the hashtag #DeltaPizzaParty. Within minutes, the photos and positive public relations (PR) were everywhere. The pizza party gained so much attention that it was covered by local and national media. Hello! #FreePublicity! Delta didn’t even have to announce they did something nice for their customers, their customers took care of that!

“We don’t own our Social Media Channels, The fans do”- Dunkin’ Donuts Marketing”

Jessica Gioglio, head of Dunkin’ Donuts social media department said, “Instagram is one of [our] fastest growing channels with our community, especially with hashtag use around #DunkinDonuts” and “#MyDunkin”. The community’s social media use of Dunkin’ Donuts brand has allowed the company to expand their marketing and content creation.

Four Ways to Empower Your Community to Promote Your Business:

Celebrate Your Fans

People enjoy sharing photos, not just text. Therefore, share photos of your community enjoying your product or services! Consider creating a “fan of the week” post to encourage people to continue to share stories about your brand.

Loved talking to @joelmchale and he made some promises !!! #VisaCheckout #DunkinDonuts pic.twitter.com/5gEshtMQH0
— Jenny Hutt (@jennyhutt) June 17, 2015

Embrace Fans as Storytellers to Help Promote Your Business

Listen to how your fans are sharing your product or services. Did it impact them visually or intellectually? If so, listen to them! Consider sharing how they were impacted positively by you on social media. Rally your community in positivity! Your community can create content for you.

#Transformers need #Energon. #NewEnglanders need #DunkinDonuts. Fueling up for @afterbuzztv #TransformersRID! pic.twitter.com/j3qp9SMtO3
— Emma Fyffe (@EmmaFyffe) June 14, 2015

Seek Inspiration from Fans

Seek inspiration from fans for contests and promotions. Consider doing a small contest that you can share on your social media. It will generate content for you. Not everyone might want to participate and that’s ok, but people will enjoy seeing those who did participate.

Have Good Conversation Skills

Good conversation skills = good social media. What I mean is, listen, engage, don’t monopolize the conversation, be authentic, encourage other voices to be heard, have something to say, be funny and entertaining, but never inappropriate.

In conclusion, if you support your community, they’ll support you. They’ll help you get your brand out there and market and advertise for you. Just remember to celebrate and embrace your fans, put them in the spotlight, and encourage conversation. These factors will allow you to create a positive social media presence, while allowing your community to work for you and with you!

We’d love to hear how your using social media to help promote your business? Are you currently empowering the members of your community, and if so, what results have you seen?