Every good digital and social media strategy should include one strong hashtag. The hashtag is what represents your brand, promotes your brand, and something that your consumers and potential consumers should be able to easily understand and remember. Read on to discover why brand hashtags are so important and what it takes to create a strong and usable brand hashtag.
WHAT'S THE POINT OF A HASHTAG?
Think of a hashtag similar to a keyword on google. When you are searching for a new place to get your haircut in your neighborhood, you would typically google something along the lines of “mens haircut Denver.” Hashtags work the exact same way! Take that hashtag to social media, if you’re a barber shop trying to promote yourself, you’d want to use the hashtag #menshaircutdenver. More and more people are utilizing social media just like a browser, but with social media they get a deeper and more personable look into your business rather than just googling you. Hashtags are collected and aggregated into the same place, so every public post with the hashtag #menshaircutdenver will appear if you search that on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc. This is a great way for social media users to find you and explore your business digitally. The ultimate hashtag goal from a brand standpoint is to get others to post with your brand hashtag, once you do that you are creating free marketers!
WHAT'S IN A HASHTAG?
When creating your brand hashtag it’s important to focus on three key points:
AN UNAMBIGUOUS HASHTAG IS KEY
Before you solidify your brand hashtag, do some research to ensure the same hashtag is not already used. A few posts here and there are okay, but if another brand uses the same hashtag, stay clear...you need to stand out! To stand out, come up with something that is unlike any other hashtag. It’s also wise to only stick to one hashtag, if you promote more than one brand hashtag it can get confusing to your fans who you’re encouraging to use in their own posts. Not to mention, for the sake of brand identity, you want to keep with one hashtag to simply keep all of your social content in one place, rather than spread out among multiple locations (hashtags).
BRAND CONSISTENCY
Don’t drift too far from your brand identity when creating your hashtag. It’s best to create a hashtag that will easily be recognized as a part of your brand and it’s purpose. This will make it easier for others to remember and understand. If social media users don’t understand the relevancy right off the bat, chances are they aren’t going to put much more thought into trying to understand it.
SHORT AND EASY
To echo the point above, keep it simple! Your brand hashtag needs to be easy to understand right away. If it’s too long, it won’t be clear what it says, what it means or what it’s for. Get creative. Bring out your creativity and make your hashtag fun and playful. As long as you’re also following the guidelines of keeping your hashtag unambiguous, brand consistent, and easy to remember...let the creativity flow.
Keep your brand hashtag unique
Ensure your hashtag is on-brand and relevant with who you are
Remember the three S’s: -short, simple and sweet