Hashtags may be considered a social media staple just like your most favourite thing but did you know they serve a different purpose on different platforms?
You might also discover that hashtags are not only meant to gain posts more likes even though that is one of its functions, they mean so much more!
Yes, that is right, hashtags do work on Facebook. However there is only one thing to note, only public posts can populate under hashtag hubs.
Facebook Hashtag Best Practices
Popular hashtags can be effective. Sometimes, the most popular hashtag are the ones that make it easiest to reach fan. For example, you may feel tempted to differentiate a topic or promote the topic like: #NBAFinalsOnABC but fans may be using the simpler version of the hashtag, #NBAFinals
Keep it simple: Several different hashtags for a single topic can sometimes be confusing for fans. Keep it simple and use one or a few hashtags that fans can understand and remember
Avoid punctuation: Hashtags will not pick up any punctuation on any platform. For example #Let’sGoHeat should be written #LetsGoHeat so the entire hashtag is clickable
Avoid spaces: Hashtags will not pick up any spaces on any platform. For example #Lets Go Heat will not make the entire phrase clickable
Use hashtags to identify a topic of conversation: For example, “The Heat are playing great! #NBAFinals”
Incorporate hashtags into your sentences: For example, “Who gets your vote for #NBAFinals MVP?”
Connect other platforms to your Facebook Pages: Any hashtags that you use on other platforms that are connected to your Facebook Page will be automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook.
Twitter hashtags are clickable, searchable and you can also use them in your biography to show up under search results. The search results will only show public accounts tweets such as Facebook and will first be ranked depending on their popularity.
Also, Twitter has a limited number of characters that one is not supposed to exceed, 280 characters per tweet hence consider using hashtags sparingly. Too many hashtags also on a tweet can make one look desperate and spammy hence choose them wisely.
Just like in Facebook and Twitter, hashtags on Instagram are also clickable and searchable. They are used to group together similar content or tie together recurring events. Anytime one uses the hashtag feature, a surge of engagement on older posts normally happens which will consequently extend the life of the past grams.
Also, public accounts in Instagram get to appear under hashtag hubs thus if your account is private you cannot access this feature. Using too many hashtags in your post also makes you look desperate.
Additionally, on Instagram, you can do a lot of hashtags, even up to 30 in a post since the character limit is great, though use them wisely.
We suggest about 15- 30 relevant hashtags per post.
Read more here if you want more information about Instagram Hashtags
I bet you never thought that there could be so many factors to consider when it comes to using hashtags across the different social platforms. The truth is, each platform is unique! When used well, hashtags can be very powerful tools to gaining new followers to your posts, raise brand awareness, and connect current interactions and so much more!
