If you talk social media then you are not that far off from mentioning, hashtags. Those short links clearly marked by a pound sign (#) have “FOUND” their way into our world for the very same reason we use them. The problem is not the lack of its presence. But in overusing them. Unfortunately, some have taken things to such extreme and #hashtag #everything #they #can #think #off. 

Once you put that hash sign on any word or group of words, they become a searchable link. Allowing you to organise content, track points to discuss all based on those very keywords. And all of it as it happens! Be it Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr, Pinterest… and the list is long, these humble links help in adding context, save words and make it fun! 

It’s established that hashtag is an important ally in your content generation. But for some, there seems to be a dilemma about when & what to hashtag. With brands now having set up social media accounts, it’s important to harness the power of hashtag rightly for promoting specific events or campaigns. 

Here are a few GURU TIPS to remember while developing content:  At the outset, hashtags are not case sensitive. The best practice to use uppercase or lowercase is to differentiate between words. Use UPPERCASE to #GetThis.      Using space on words are #fail. While numbers are supported, all special characters and punctuation marks are not. Do not hashtag the same word twice. It’s redundant. 

Relevance: So if you are promoting great deals on travel, you will want to use hastags like #TravelDeals and #FlightDeals. If you are an established entity then feed in your #BrandName confidently. It helps users find you easily. These hashtags are very valuable as they are organic in nature with users continuing to search for them. 

Trends: Piggyback ride on hashtags that are trending and make use of them (if they are relevant to your business). Using a popular hashtag just for the sake of using, will slot you as a spammer and hurts your credibility. 

After listing key ORGANIC keywords search for TRENDING hashtags to align your content accordingly.

Generated: This is the height of ownership. It can be for an event or a campaign. Select one that hasn't been used before and remind everyone to use it. Add it on all your promotional collaterals. As an added incentive create a contest, raffle or promotion to get people talking about your brand. The chances of your hashtag being promoted increases manifold. 

With the above understanding, here’s an illustrative hashtag strategy used for #selfpromotion of our digital outfit, #DigitalGuru (Twitter icon: Follow Us @DigitalGuruBuzz, Facebook icon: Like Us FB.com/DigitalGuruPage):

Organic hashtags/Demographic and weight-age:

#Mumbai #Delhi #Bangalore #Hyderabad #India

Trending hashtags/India uses in the domain:

#DigitalMarketing

#OnlineMarketing

#SocialMedia

#DigitalIndia

#digital

#social

#online

#sm

* Some hashtags can be personalized by adding "India" for any India-specific news.  The mind-space MUST BE always Digital/Technology = India. 

So in a nutshell, the key things to remember are: Be Specific, Simple and Always Give Context. Happy hashtaging! :)