Hashtags have long been the lifeblood of most social networks, and provide a upside for everyone involved.

Users get to expand the reach of their content, discover new people to follow and keep up with trending topics. Marketers can easily measure engagement with a campaign and quickly get involved with related conversations not directed at the brand.

Until now, hashtags have largely remained the domain of the more niche social players – limiting their value to marketers. In June this year, Facebook begun the rollout of hashtags and the feature is now available to all users.

Here are my three reasons to implement hashtags on Facebook today.

Expand Your Reach

By including a hashtag in your Facebook post you have the opportunity to gain exposure to users who may not have otherwise seen your content. This is particularly true for niche and trending topics.

For example, if you offer media training services you might use a popular hashtag being used to discuss a political gaff. Make sure you watch your Reach and Engagement numbers to see if your hashtags are making a difference.

Build Your Brand

Creating a hashtag unique to your brand or a particular product can definitely help it catch on. Tag all related posts with your hashtag.

So if you run an eco-conscious design company you might start using the tag #SustainableStyle. You can then encourage your fans to use it as an easy way to share content around that theme.

Cross The Platform Divide

If you use a single platform for the management of multiple social profiles, the introduction of hashtags on Facebook allows you to push a single update to multiple networks and not result in dead content.

On the whole, I’m interested to see how Facebook’s business and personal users embrace the hashtag. Experiment with them and see what works for your business and your target audience.

Just don’t forget to do your homework and ensure your new hashtag isn’t already being used!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Hibberd has over 15 years digital marketing experience and is currently Co-founder & CEO of Tiger Pistol. Steve has a passion for Social Marketing, and works closely with key industry stakeholders in both Australia and the U.S. on developing product to make success on social easier to achieve for small business owners and marketers across the world.

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