History and Power of #Hashtags2015

# HASHTAGS Where it all Began

1988 2007 2009 2010

mIRC

Back in the good old days of the IRC or Internet Relay Chat, circa

1988, hashtags were already used to categorize items like images,

messages, video and other content into groups. Hashtags made it possible for IRC users to easily search for relevant and other

associated content.

The same principle holds true with the use of hashtags in social

media, and their use grew in popularity when it was first

introduced on Twitter by Chris Messina

The term hashtags however, officially originated from Stow

Boyds blog post

July 2009, Twitter formally adopted the use of hashtags into code, automatically hyperlinking terms appended with the #sign

The term trending and rending topics became highly

associated with Social media when Twitter began highlighting hashtags on his homepage based

on their popularity

Social Media Networks that Support Hashtags(#WHOUSESHASHTAGS)

Twitter of course is where hashtags became first used and where it is still very prevalent. They provide a remarkable tool for delivering highly targeted brand messages for brands and

businesses using Twitter for social media marketing.

You on your targeted audiences can join in on trending conversations which you can view on your Twitter page sidebars. Or you can check them out at Hashtags.org and see which ones

would be interesting or relevant to your targeted audiences.

It took a while for Facebook to catch on the hashtag craze, even after they incorporated its use back in June 2013. Just like with Twitter, Facebook provides a unique URL for each hashtag you and your

targeted audiences can click on and get connected with.

Search for particular tags by typing in

facebook.com/hashtag/uniquehashtag in your browser bar or #uniquehashtag directly on Facebooks search bar. These will

directly send you to your targeted tags feed.

Pinterest is a fast growing social network that has already joined the hashtag bandwagon

What it can do is make your content tagged with a #uniquehashtagvisible to Pinterest users searching for a particular topic when they

click on the hashtag on your profile or from another user.

When they click on the hashtag, they are redirected to

pinterest.com/search/?q=uniquehashtag where targeted audiences can find your content.

Hashtags make your Instagram photos discoverable by targeted audiences, otherwise your photos will just remain

private. One tip on how you can maximize the use of hashtags is to use a unique set per photo.

Use of hashtags in photos provide businesses with an effective tool for influencing and creating brand followers

Even Google + is jumping into the hashtag bandwagon, providing a way of your Google+ posts to get better results in

search engine results pages.

When users click on a Google+ hashtag, the results will return not only the original hashtag post but other posts

tagged with the same hashtag as well.

Power of Hashtags(#THEPOWER)

In this social media age, the #hashtag is one of the most

powerful tools aroundInstantly linking a social media post to a group of others about

the same topic

and updating a group of likeminded users on that topic in

real time

How will Hashtags Benefit your Business(#BENEFITSFORBUSINESS)

Hashtags can help increase your brand awareness

The power of social media marketing relies on how well you can create engagement and conversations between your business and your targeted audiences through your content.

This in turn will create greater brand awareness that will eventually boost sales and profitability. Hashtags can help facilitate the greater engagement as what the following campaigns have experienced.

The hashtag brought online users who clicked on the link to the companys unique TV commercial, depicting vampires

being destroyed with the LED highlights extreme brightness. What this campaign brought Audi is greater interaction

between the company and their potential customers.

#solongvampires

to promote their new and brighter LED headlight

RedBull made use of the #givesyouwings hashtag that became very popular with consumers and their targeted

customers on social networks. These and other examples like these showcase how powerful hashtags can be in generating

brand awareness.

Hashtags help build relationships(#BUILDRELATIONSHIPS)

Hashtags can provide your business insights on what your targeted customers are interested in as well as what they are talking about. You can do so by simply clicking on a hashtag that you think is related to your business and your brand can get connected and be able to connect with targeted

audiences.

The use of hashtags connects your brand with topics that people are interested in and interact with them

through these topics. This in turn increases your visibility and helps build relationships that will eventually help turn audiences into customers.

#

##

Hashtags Increases Brand Loyalty

Hashtags can also provide your targeted audiences with greater insights about your brand or businesses, let them know more about your history, which in turn

increases brand loyalty. One example is the campaign conducted by People Magazine to promote their 40th anniversary through an Instagram video.

=

Best Practices of Using Hashtags(#BESTPRACTICES)

#Dont #spam #with #hashtags1. Dont over-tag a single Tweet. Twitter officially recommends no more than

two #hashtags per tweet.

2. Using too many hashtags devalues the strength of the hashtag and makes each additional one more meaningless than the last. It could lose you

followers and permanently cheapen your brands social media reputation

Develop Your Brand Under A Single #Hashtag1. Choose just one #hashtag to speak for your brand and strengthen consumer awareness.

2. Most of the brands use a single hashtag for their campaigns and for their brand messaging to drive greater conversation and loyalty among their target audience and loyal fans on

social. With the use of single hashtag they are able to develop higher brand recall and preference for their brands.

Final ThoughtsAs your business grow more competitive through digital marketing, boost

effectiveness of your efforts by making use of new and more effective ways of generating interaction and engagement with targeted audiences. Hashtags proved

to be a new and exciting way to do just this particularly in boosting your new or existing social media marketing campaign. When used properly, hashtags can be a

very powerful tool for connecting with potentially thousands or even millions of targeted audiences worldwide.

For more conversations

Follow me at:

www.twitter.com/nitinkarkara

www.linkedin.com/in/nitinkarkara