The very best reason for using a Hashtag…

January 16, 2024

Using a hashtag as part of your social media strategy - Fuzion Communications

An article on Social Media Today by Andrew Hutchinson about the use of hashtags on LinkedIn caught my attention.

The question posed in the article was “Do you need to use hashtags on LinkedIn” and in the article Andrew gave his opinion as well as sharing some information that the LinkedIn folk shared with him about the topic.

The whole thread was about the use of hashtags with posts whereby you might like to “flag” the subject matter of the post and in so doing possibly improve the chances of it getting picked up by the algorithm. LinkedIn are now suggesting that the subject matter will get picked up anyway by the actual content in the post so the importance of hashtags has diminished.

For example if the post was about sustainability then you might quite simply use the hashtag #sustainability at the end of the post.

While LinkedIn are saying there is less need than there was before I would still recommend using a relevant hashtag it for a couple of reasons:

It is still a “flag” about the subject matter enabling the reader to easily see when they are scrolling their feed
On LinkedIn you can actually follow a hashtag and if that can help bring your post into their feed, then use it as long as the post is relevant

Hashtags to Drive Your Key Messages

However, the article and nearly all advice you will read about using hashtags on any platform misses the very best reason for hashtags!!

When you use a hashtag it “pops” in a different colour and it automatically creates a link that allows the reader to see all of the posts where that content can be read.

So, armed with that information, how about using this useful device in a much more powerful an effective way and use it to drive an important message about you and your brand/company/organisation.

For example our core philosophy in Fuzion is to create a positive atmosphere for our team, clients and suppliers whereby we can “Win Happy“. It also happens to be the name of my podcast.

When we create content that works with that specific content I will use the hashtag #WinHappy because I want the reader to wonder what is that about and hopefully read the words (it pops in a different colour so it should stand out). If they click the link they will see all of those related posts. In doing so they will learn something important about us and if we use that frequently and consistently then over time it can become synonymous with Fuzion.

So, my challenge to you is….what hashtag can you use that isn’t about search and beating the algorithms BUT it is an important and meaningful message about your business that you would love to be synonymous for?

When we work with clients to create their social media strategies this is one of the key activities that we do with them and the resulting hashtag can in effect become a digital tagline for their brand.