Our pet hate for 2019 is too many hashtags or hashtags used incorrectly. In our opinion, too many hashtags on a post is like too much cologne - very off putting and counter-productive. You could be losing more followers than you attract by incorrect or overuse.
At Profiler PR, we use the hashtag #PRDIFFERENTLY as our tagline. But in researching this blog, we have found we need to use it sparingly and on the right platforms.
How to use hashtags on each social media platform:
On Twitter, hashtagging is about engaging in a conversation with the same topic and people engage with one another even if they are not following each other. i.e. #METOO which is a global campaign to help victims of sexual abuse gain confidence to speak out. Hashtagging on twitter can have a major positiveimpact when it comes to your follower count and allows you to find like-minded people globally. To engage with outside followers, hashtagging general and non-specific hashtags like #innovative or for current events like #TDU (Tour Down Under) will allow you to reach beyond current followers.
Similar to Twitter, hashtags help you to engage with, and reach outside followers on Instagram. Hashtags on Instagram are a way to organically grow your content through the topics and forums that interest you and your target audiences. Hashtags help other Instagram users discover your profile, which can increase the likelihood of obtaining more followers to engage with your content and ultimately buy your product or service.
LinkedIn has updated its functionality and you can now have clickable hashtags. Our advice is to keep them to a few and relevant and it will attract like minded people into your network. Also if you search hashtags that interest you on LinkedIn, it will allow you to find other like minded people to engage with.
Hashtags on Facebook were introduced back in 2013. Since then research has found, including hashtags in your Facebook posts does not pose any substantial benefit but instead can have a negative effect the more you hashtag as they irritate users and Facebook users are not using hashtags when they search.
How many is too many?
Too many hashtags on Facebook lowers engagement and will not get you more likes. A study from social metrics providers Social Bakers® which examined how Facebook engagement correlates with hashtag use found that posts with one or two hashtags averaged 593 interactions, posts with three to five hashtags averaged 416 interactions, posts with six to 10 hashtags averaged 307 interactions, and posts with more than 10 hashtags averaged 188 interactions. Therefore, two or more hashtags can cause a significant drop in engagement on your Facebook posts.
How should hashtags be used on Facebook?
A business should use hashtags, but it is important they are used correctly. One or two hashtags should be used on Facebook, they should make sense and be relevant to what you are talking about in your post. For example, if we wanted to create a post about social media tools, I would use #socialmediatools to encourage a conversation in the comments.
As you can see, less is more when it comes to hashtags.