Given the effectiveness and simplicity of the concept of the hashtag, it is not difficult to understand why today, almost every social media platform has adopted it as a search tool for content. It has also become a marketing tool of great utility for businesses seeing to make their posts more visible on Instagram and other social media. Such has been the success of hashtags that Instagram has gone on to launch a feature that allows users to follow hashtags instead of just the earlier practice of being able to click on them or using it as a search term. Despite the humor, as well as caustic comments on the overuse of hashtags, they have become fundamental to effective marketing when used properly. The hashtag is quite versatile; you can not only use hashtags to look for content but also create your own to promote your posts and follow them to keep yourself updated on a particular subject. Some of the main benefits of hashtags for marketers explained:
To Boost Brand Visibility
Good visibility is the foundation of brand awareness and sales conversions. The use of hashtags on Instagram is most useful for driving visibility and brand awareness on Instagram. New businesses can use hashtags to increase the reach and awareness of their brands. It works in two ways; users searching for the brand will see the hashtags being used, and users searching for content using specific hashtags used by you will see your posts in the search results. The net effect of this is that the business can gain new followers who have the potential of becoming customers. Regardless of whether you are a new business or an established one, you can create your unique hashtag for associating with a product, service, or even an event you may be promoting. By creating your own hashtag, or usurping a rarely used hashtag, you can use your brand to dominate it. By popularizing it with your followers and customers, you can help to increase the visibility of the brand and over time, users begin to recognize the association of your brand with the hashtag, helping further to establish the brand in their consciousness. The secret of proper hashtag marketing is to ensure that they are used with posts with authentic content and relevant subjects, according to forbes.
To Promote Your Campaign
Among the main reason why marketers love hashtags is that they allow the creation of targeted marketing campaigns. According to experts, hashtags are the nearest thing you can get to word-of-mouth marketing on social media. When you publish a post about a promotion you are running with a hashtag, it follows that when your followers share it, they will use the same hashtag, and the sequence continues indefinitely, creating widespread publicity for your product, service, or event. Businesses that can do this end up sometimes creating viral hashtags that catch the fancy of users and result in a large volume of posts using the hashtag you are promoting. However, even otherwise, hashtags are a great device for driving campaign visibility with free Instagram likes. By using the relevant hashtags, you know that are popular with your target audience, you can reach out effectively to potential customers. When a hashtag is used to promote an event, not only does it connect you with your followers, but also it enables followers to connect with each other. Used wisely, a hashtag can be very effective to promote an event. You can also use hashtags to conduct a contest. For example, you can ask your users to post photos on a particular subject using a specific hashtag and award the winners, attractive prizes they will love.
To Conduct Research on the Competition
For your businesses to be successful, you must have an effective marketing strategy in place. However, to give it shape, you need to know what market scenario, including the competitive environment, is. You need to find out who your main competitors are, what they are offering, how they are advertising or communicating to their customers so that you can take a hard look at how you are conducting your business. Then you can do whatever it takes to make your business a better choice for your target audience. Instagram hashtags can prove very handy for researching competitor accounts, figure out which of the posts are performing well and why they are resonating more with their users, as well as discovering which hashtags are working for them the best.
For example, if you are a freelance home décor consultant looking to grow your business, you can use the search bar of your Instagram account to discover who your competitors are and examine their posts to find out which hashtags they are using to attract traffic. You will be able to see that under the “Top” category, a list of all the accounts, users, hashtags, as well as places. If you want to look specifically for interior décor hashtags, you need to view the list by clicking on the “Tags” category. By accessing this information, you will be able to figure out what is working the best for your competitor’s posts so that you can refine your content strategy. Since hashtags keep on changing constantly depending on the trends followed by users, keeping tabs on the competition also keeps you updated on the changes so that you do not lose out on the opportunities. By using the new hashtags, you can represent your brand as a contemporary one in line with current customer expectations.
Conclusion
Hashtags have also been used very successfully for cause-related marketing that works in pretty much the same way as event promotions. It is quite common for activists to try to seek support by posting on Instagram using powerful hashtags that compel users to take action. Businesses may wish to align themselves with causes they believe in like energy conservation, saving trees, food for the hungry, etc. Businesses can also use geographical hashtags to market themselves to local audiences in a specific area. With the judicious use of hashtags, businesses and other organizations can raise their brand awareness and make their voices heard on Instagram.
Author’s Bio:
Walter Moore is a writer and a notable management consultant and digital marketing expert. He is an experienced digital marketer who has helped e-commerce businesses in all niches gain free Instagram likes with his effective marketing strategies and guidance.