 |
| Pagina principal |
|
| Noticias importantes |
We all know
Facebook has hashtags -- but should they be part of your Facebook marketing strategy?
I asked 13
experts for their opinions on this.
Before you
read their replies, let's look at results from a study by Social Bakers, which
examined how Facebook engagement correlates hashtag use.
(Takeaway:
too many hashtags lowers engagement -- and won't help you get more likes.)
Posts with 1
or 2 hashtags averaged 593 interactions
Posts with 3
to 5 hashtags averaged 416 interactions
Posts with 6
to 10 hashtags averaged 307 interactions
Posts with
more than 10 hashtags averaged 188 interactions
So going
from 2 to 3 hashtags caused a significant drop in engagement!
Does this
mean too many hashtags bad for business?
Let's see
what some experts had to say:
Tips
from 13 Experts on How to Use Hashtags on Facebook
I posed this
question to each influencer:
Should businesses use hashtags on Facebook?
1. Ian Cleary Razor Social
A business should use hashtags if they are used
correctly. It's completely pointless adding loads of hashtags for the sake of
it or adding hashtags that no one is going to monitor or care about.
Use hashtags (1 or
2 only) when they make sense and when you use something relevant that people
can filter on to find more relevant conversation. If I wanted to create
conversation around social media tools I would start including a hashtag
#socialmediatools and then I'd encourage conversation around this.
Facebook creates a
unique URL for the hashtags used so I can point people to the conversation to
encourage more people to use the hashtag and create more relevant conversation.
So please don't hashtag #everything (example of a pointless hashtag).
Use them wisely in
the way they were designed i.e. to help create and continue and conversation
around relevant topics.
2. Peg Fitzpatrick Canva
Embrace hashtags but don’t go crazy with
them.
Hashtags connect your content with other
people talking about the same thing or looking for information about something.
So, if you write an article about using Facebook for Business and use the
#FacebookTips hashtag, more people will find your content.
This can extend your Facebook content
past your own audience. That is one of the only ways to do this on Facebook
without paid media.
I recommend industry specific hashtags
and creating your own if they will be relevant to your audience. Three or four
relevant hashtags could make all the difference in busting through Facebook’s
EdgeRank and finding your ideal audience.
3. Mike Gingerich Tabsite
It's an ongoing question...."Do hashtags matter
on Facebook?" I've got 6 people who say it matters and a half dozen that
say they don't! It's a toss-up at this time really for immediate impact for
sure. If your audience is socially savvy, then hashtags can come into play and
be of value. If your audience is not steeped in the depths of social media use,
then a hashtag can be a foreign symbol to them that makes no difference
whatsoever.
One key, though, is
that you can't really go wrong by using them. If your audience isn't socially
savvy they just skip over them (unless you use too many!!), but by using them
someone who is deep into social may find your post as they search and scroll
through hashtags.
Do I use them on
Facebook? Sometimes. I likely should more often but in the speed to post I
overlook them at times. I don't overlook them on Twitter or Google+ as they are
more central to those networks. Bottom line: if used appropriately it should
only help.
4. John haydon Inbound Zombie
If you are currently using hashtags in a campaign on
Twitter or Instagram, start including those hashtags in your Facebook content.
This makes it
easier to integrate all your social channels as one.
The hashtag is supposed to be a win-win-win situation,
marketers have the opportunity to expand their reach to an interested prospect,
users can discover content, products, offers, and the platform generates more
advertising opportunities.
For some reason,
Facebook hashtags have no significant impact so far, at least for marketers,
and this has been backed up by data in a study conducted by
EdgeRank Checker.
Should businesses
use hashtags? I think they can be useful in very specific cases like an event
or a promotion, with the proper support of other media, but I’m not sure it’s
moving the needle when it comes to regular content.
6. Zsuszsa Kecsmar Antavo
Hashtags can help your posts be more searchable on
Facebook. I always like how Kim Garst uses hashtags in her posts.
She uses the hashtag #BizTips for her short business tips, but she also participates in Internet traditions like “Throwback Thursday” or “Fanpage Friday”.
She uses the hashtag #BizTips for her short business tips, but she also participates in Internet traditions like “Throwback Thursday” or “Fanpage Friday”.
So on Fridays she
encourages other page owners to promote their own page by posting it to the
comments. These posts are popular, as you can see from the numbers.
I don’t believe the general public has
grasped the use of #hashtags on Facebook in the same way they have on
Instagram, Twitter and other platforms. But with the integration of Instagram,
hashtags are brought over to Facebook much more than before and I believe their
use is growing.
Should
businesses be using hashtags on Facebook? Why not? What if you had one person
specifically searching for what your business offers and you gained an extra
fan, lead or sale from that? It would be worth that extra step, wouldn’t it?
A few
quick tips for using #hashtags on Facebook:
1. Use
relevant keywords to your business and the audience you are trying to target.
(If you are a local business, use the name of your city too).
2. Use
tools like Hashtagify.me to find other trending hashtags related to your
specific tag.
3.
Don’t put your #hashtag in the middle of the #sentence. That makes #reading the
sentence #annoying. See? Instead, write out your whole post. At the bottom of
the post, add the hashtags. Sample below:
(This
example is from Mari Smith)
Check
your insights, folks. Do you think link clicks help your reach, too?
#FacebookTips #FacebookMarketing
8. Collin Cottrell Maxima Media
I think you SHOULD use hashtags on your business
Facebook page, but let me explain why and how.
As it mentions on
the "How do I use
hashtags?" help page on Facebook, the hashtag feature isn't
fully available to everyone right now. I believe this is going to change and
that the hashtag system will be as powerful as Twitter or Instagram's when it
is fully ready and available.
But, even though
hashtags are not the same on Facebook right now, I do think there is still a
good way to use them. As a business, cross social platform branding is
important. Since users might follow your brand on several social networks, I
think it's good to use your "branding style hashtags" on each to keep
them familiar.
Here's an example:
if you're doing a promotion that uses a hashtag on Twitter & Instagram, you
will "brand" that hashtag to the users better if they see it being
used on Facebook as well. This will encourage them to use it no matter what
social network they are engaging on and will convert to more success on Twitter
& Instagram.
You don't want to go overboard using hashtags on Facebook, like you see on Twitter & Instagram. But, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the day Facebook does make their feature more similar to Twitter & Instagram.
You don't want to go overboard using hashtags on Facebook, like you see on Twitter & Instagram. But, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the day Facebook does make their feature more similar to Twitter & Instagram.
9. Jenny Brennan Virtual Office Worx
The biggest thing I LOVE about hashtags is the
curation side, which I think many people miss. If you really want to make an
impact with your social media marketing, sharing other people's great content
is the way to do it.
By using the # you
can identify what people are sharing, what they are saying about the subject
and even make new connections that you might not have made before!
10. Ravi Shukle Ravi Shukle
I feel page owners should still use hashtags in their posts. Although we associate hashtags primarily with Twitter and even Instagram, they can still be used on Facebook to help increase visibility of your posts.
I would avoid linking
the same posts for both Twitter and Facebook as the language being used on both
will be very different and would not have the same effect or results.
If you are thinking
about using hashtags for your content, one of the best ways to find out if the
hashtag has any traction is to simply do a hashtag search using Facebook graph
search. Type the desired hashtag into your Facebook search bar to reveal all
the posts associated with the word.
Along with using
hashtags with your content, it can also be a great way to cross promote
webinars or live events across your other social networks. This makes it easier
for page admins to monitor the conversations on Facebook as well as other
social channels under one key term.
If you haven’t used
hashtags before as part of your content marketing or even promotional strategy,
they're definitely worth testing out. #FacebookTips
11. Rosh Khan Social Rank
YES... and NO. If you're not going to use them
correctly, then please stay away! But if you are, well... bring 'em on!
Here's
why:
1.
Hashtags have seeped into the way we communicate. It's a fun way to communicate
without writing complete sentences!
2. If
your brand piggybacks on popular hashtags, you could increase your visibility
and reach.
3.
Hashtags are GREAT for social monitoring. If you have a hashtag specific to
your brand or event, you can quickly check what others are saying when they use
the hashtag. This could help you measure positive, neutral, and/or negative
sentiment.
But
of course, there is a WRONG way to use hashtags too and that would simply be...
overuse! Like many other things, use hashtags in moderation. The last thing you
want is for your brand to be perceived as a hashtag spammer.
So
what's the bottomline?
Use 'em
strategically -- for fun communication, for increased reach, and for social
monitoring
But with all
studies and general recommendations, you should do your own testing. Try an
experiment where you put one or two relevant hashtags into your posts during a
week. Then have the same number and type of posts the next week and compare
your reach and interaction.
Also, make sure you
check the hashtags to see what the current conversation is around that hashtag
on Facebook.
The bottom line is
they aren't as effective on Facebook as other social sites, but you should test
to see what results you get in your niche with your audience.
I haven't fully tested the effectiveness
of hashtags on Facebook yet, but I have witnessed posts that seem to be using
them for the sake of using them. Every strategy you test and measure in your
business needs to have a specific objective or you may find it backfires.
So as with anything, start with the end
in mind. If you're going to use hashtags, answer this important question first:
What's my objective?
Is it to make my brand more searchable?
Is it to launch a product or service? Is it to monitor my brand presence? Is it
to cross promote over other sites? Is it to get involved in or to incite
conversation?
Knowing precisely what you want to
achieve will help determine how you use hashtags, will ensure there is
consistency in your brand message and won't confuse your audience. Whatever you
do, don't just slap up a few hashtags that you think are keywords people might
search for.
This could end up hurting your brand
rather than helping it.
Key
Takeaways
Great
advice, everyone -- although some of you seem like you may be more confused
than ever about how to use hashtags on Facebook. ;)
As you
decide whether Facebook hashtags are right for your business, here are some
nuggets of wisdom from each of these pros -- stuff that really stuck out to
me:
Use hashtags
(1 or 2 only) when they make sense and when you use something relevant that people
can filter on to find more relevant conversation -- Ian Cleary
I
recommend industry specific hashtags and creating your own
if they will be relevant to your audience -- Peg Fitzpatrick
You can't
really go wrong by using them -- Mike Gingerich
If you are
currently using hashtags in a campaign on Twitter or Instagram,
start including those hashtags in your Facebook content -- John Haydon
For some
reason, Facebook hashtags have no significant impact so far, at least for
marketers -- Francisco Rosales
Hashtags can
help your posts be more searchable on Facebook -- Zsuzsa Kecsmar
Use
tools like Hashtagify.me to find other trending hashtags related to your
specific tag -- Janet Johnson
As a
business, cross social platform branding is important -- Collin Cottrell
If you
really want to make an impact with your social media marketing, sharing other
people's great content is the way to do it -- Jenny Brennan
One of the
best ways to find out if a hashtag has any traction is to simply do a hashtag
search using Facebook graph search -- Ravi Shukle
If you're
not going to use them correctly, then please stay away -- Rosh Khan
Hashtags on
Facebook have not caught on like they have on other social sites -- Andrea Vahl
Knowing
precisely what you want to achieve will help determine how you use hashtags --
Jo Barnes
There you
go!
No comments:
Post a Comment