What are #hashtags and how do you use them? An update
Hashtags are without doubt one of the things that The Perthshire Media Co gets asked about most often, and it’s something we’ve therefore written about before. But nothing stays the same in the world of social media, so we thought it was time to write an update.
Firstly, what is a hashtag, and how is it different from a tag?
Social media hashtags are the symbol ‘#’ followed by a word or several words with no spaces or punctuation. They work on social media as a kind of keyword search function, helping locate the content that interests individuals among the huge sea of irrelevant content available. For example, adding #Perthshire to your social media post is much more likely to reach people in Perthshire than a post that doesn’t use it.
A hashtag is different from a tag, although it’s easy to see what the terms get confused! When we use the word tag, or refer to tagging someone, we’re talking about the act of mentioning a specific person or page. To create a tag you start with the @ symbol, then start typing the user name / handle of the account you want to mention. Doing this will mean that the tagged person or account will receive a notification that you’ve mentioned them in your post, but unless they choose to share it with their own audience, using a tag won’t automatically increase the reach of your post by more than just that account. A small digression here — it’s best not to tag the same accounts in every post, tag irrelevant accounts, or tag lots of different accounts. This behaviour can be very annoying for those on the receiving end, and may get your account flagged for spam.
So, now we understand what hashtags are, and how they differ from a tag, how do we get the most out of using them? Well, the answer varies depending where you’re using them. Here’s a quick run through of best practices for some of the main social media platforms:
We’ll start with Instagram, as this is the platform where you’ll use hashtags the most. Between 8 and 15 is your optimum number for this platform we find, and you’ll want to use both niche and generic. For example, if, as we often do, you were sharing a photo taken from the Hermitage walk, you may use the generic hashtag of #Scotland, the slightly less so one #Perthshire, and the fairly niche one of #Dunkeld.
This is because lots of people are using the more generic hashtags, so by using a mix of very popular and more niche hashtags, you maximise your chance of your post being seen. Just one or two of the more generic ones is best, followed by the rest being much more specific. As you start typing a hashtag, Instagram will often come up with suggestions for you, as well as the numbers of people who’ve previously used it. You can use this tool to ensure you’re getting a good mix.
Using hashtags on Twitter is much simpler. Use two or three, and the more popular the better! Take a look at what’s trending on the ‘Discover’ page before you tweet, and see if you can work any of them into your content. They can be something as simple as #FridayFeeling. In fact, you’ll find there’s at least one and usually more that can be used for each day of the week.
Do some research on some hashtags that are specific to your business type too (for example, if you’re a creative you could use #CraftScotland), and join in Hashtag Holidays—for example, #BagpipeAppreciationDay is happening on July the 27th! By the way, you’ll notice in the previous example that it’s usual on Twitter to use capital letters for each word of a hashtag. This is good practice in general as it’s easier for anyone using a screen reader to follow, but is done less on Instagram than other platforms.
This is one of the major changes since we last wrote about this topic — hashtags on Facebook. Previously, we advised using one or two popular ones, but since then Facebook has been really encouraging automatic cross-posting from Instagram, so it’s now not at all unusual to see all the hashtags that have been used on an Instagram post also copied over to Facebook. We personally have noticed a huge difference between Facebook posts with these hashtags and posts without, but as a general rule, if a platform is encouraging something it’s good to go with it, as you’ll likely find it works with the current algorithm.
TikTok
On TikTok it’s usual to use 3 to 5 hashtags in the caption of your video, and it pays to use the popular ones! In fact, according to Hootsuite, some of the best TikTok hashtags to sue in 2023 are simply #tiktok or #tiktokviral. You’ll also see a lot of #fyp and variations thereof — this is referring to the ‘For You Page’ which is essentially the feed you want to get on if lots of people are going to see your videos.
TikTokkers also build communities around hashtags, so it’s not unusual to see different hobbies or interests followed by the word ‘Tok’ as hashtags. For example, there is #booktok and #scotlandtok. See if you can find one for your business type and you may just be sorted!
LinkedIn is another platform where you’ll just want to use a couple of hashtags, up to 3 is the suggested number, although you can technically use more. However, over 5 can make your post look like spam, or at least less professional. On LinkedIn the hashtags tend to be a lot more basic than other platforms, with users sticking to more general and less specific. For example, if you were sharing something you personally use to increase your productivity on Instagram, you’d probably want to use #productivitytip and #productivityhack, but on LinkedIn it would simply be #Productivity, again with the capital letters like Twitter.
We hope you found this guide helpful! If you’d like more help, we can provide you with personalised content plans, tailored hashtag guides or social media management services. Just get in touch.