Best Practices For Using Hashtags [Infographic]

In the social media age, the hashtag represents an important social media strategy for small business owners and marketers. But are you still unfamiliar with the pound tag which was made popular by 140 characters-limited micro blogging network. Scroll down to learn the basics of hashtag, how to use it and some best practices.

Best practices for using hashtags

Don't spam with hashtags

Don't over-tag single tweet. Twitter officially recommends no more than two #hashtags per tweet. Using too many hashtags devalues the strength of post and makes each additional one more meaningless than the last. It could lose you followers and permanently cheapen your brand's social media reputation.

How to develop your brand under a single hashtag?

Choose wisely just one hashtag to speak for your brand and strengthen consumer awareness.

E.g: catchfire.org, a service that matches, pro bono professionals with charitable organizations in need of their help, uses the hashtag #catachafireCSR. By adding the acronym for corporate social responsibility to the end of their company name, they concisely describe both their brand and their business area.

What is Twitter chats?

Live Question and answer sessions, also called Twitter chats are discussions that can be organized around a hashtag. These sessions can be organized either on the fly or at a pre-arranged time.

For example: Diamond Candles, a small business that sells high quality candles with rings inside, regularly hosts Twitter chats with the hashtag #Candlechat.

Hashtags in the wild

Even though hashtags were born online, they can generate giant amounts of buzz outside of the internet as well. Placing a hashtag in a well trafficked public location or somewhere that will be seen on TV or in pictures can drive hashtag use.

While not every small business has an advertising budget for primetime TV, the strategy and execution could be similar, albeit on a smaller scale. Think posters, sidewalk chalk, or #hashtagged stickers.

Be obvious

Choose a hashtag that is both easy to remember and crystal-clear. Even though acronyms or multi-word phrases might be more specific and make it easier to weed out false positives, complicated hashtags often don't work as intended.

Producers for the American version of X-factor wanted to differentiate their show from the British version by promoting the hashtag #XFUSA. Despite being offical hashtag, almost no one used it. Fans used the easier-to-remeber #xfactor five times more than #XFUSA.

While the X-factor is far from a small business, this example offers a valuable lesson for small business owners - sometimes simplest, shortest, and sweetest is best.

infographic by: huffingtonpost