In case you have always wondered what a hashtag is but never had the courage to ask, we have found a clear and concise explanation of everything you need to know about this Internet phenomenon.
Let's start at the beginning: a hashtag is a keyword or phrase preceded by thehash symbol (#=Hash).
Unlike many of the Internet's most seminal moments, the birth of the hashtag was recorded when developer Chris Messina, then a product designer at Google, tweeted the idea of attaching a hash mark (# or "hash" in English) in front of a word on August 23, 2007.
A decade later, Twitter users alone generate 125 million hashtags a day, not counting those used on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and other social media sites.
It seems excessive to say it but a viral hashtag can sometimes literally change lives; an example is #IceBucketChallenge (you remember it right).
From this we can see how the hashtag is one of the greatest developments of the modern Internet.
As TV ownership declined, the importance of social media as a connector during live events increased monumentally. Where once a television set was our main gateway to events unfolding in the world, the ability to follow live events more or less in real time via social media feeds has downgraded the need for a TV in the home.
Let us now discuss the characteristics of hashtags for different social channels.
The optimal amount is two hashtags per tweet. In fact, it has been noted that with a number beyond that, tweets have a significant drop in engagement.
It is important to make sure that people retweet the hashtags you create, and again a great place to start is Hashtagify, which allows you to check popularity and see if your hashtag is relevant. It can be used at the end of a Tweet or embedded as part of a sentence.
The maximum number of hashtags per post is 30 (preferably use 10 with small catchment area, 10 medium and 10 large).
How to find them? Go to the search box and check what your audience, competitors and industry leaders are already using.
To keep everything organized and neat, it is best to put them at the end of the caption, preferably separated by periods or asterisks.
Believe it or not, hashtags are not important on Facebook, which is why we recommend that you keep their number to a minimum. In fact, concise captions tend to work best on this platform.
Linkedin
As with Facebook, hashtags can be added, but they have no effect on your post.
Pinterest recommends adding no more than 20 and in this case they only work within pin descriptions.
As in all things, one should not go overboard in inventing unreasonable names. We have taken the liberty of giving you some advice on what to do and what to avoid.
First and foremost, always try to use brand-specific hashtags, because sometimes, the problem with using generic or popular tags, that your posts might be lost in the noise of hundreds of posts or tweets using the same hashtags. So, it is always a good idea to create your own brand-specific hashtags, promotions, events, contests or other marketing campaigns. The key to creating a specific hashtag is in ensuring that no one else uses the same one. It must be unique and memorable. When creating specific names for marketing campaigns, be sure to offer users a compelling incentive to use them.
For example, you could have users post a hashtag specific to the campaign you are running for a chance to get discounts or win prizes. In return, your brand will benefit from the increased publicity through viral marketing and a trail of contacts who could become possible customers.
The other rule is to use short words. Nothing turns people away from overly long hashtags such as #WhatYouWroteNothing.
Don't go overboard in number and form: avoid writing the entire caption with one hashtag per word #because #is #not #funny #to #read #so #no?
The last and perhaps most useful advice we want to give you is simply to experiment, monitor, change, adapt, and analyze.
