Get Your Hashtag On!
This is getting your hashtag on, and you all need to do that. We’re going to talk about specifically using hashtags on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. So what is a hashtag? A hashtag is the pound sign that is put in front of a word or a phrase to make it searchable. And that is true on all three of these platforms. I search a keyword, and I pull up the stream of conversation with that hashtag. This is a great way to grow your networks with people that you know have a similar interest.
Now in Instagram it’s not just about the photo, and choosing the perfect filter. It’s about what you’re writing in that photo, with the right hashtags. Now when you search in Instagram with the hashtag every picture that has ever been uploaded with that hashtag is curated in one spot. Also, when you double tap on Instagram, you get a little heart. It means you’ve liked the pictures. I’ve recently put together a hashtag strategy that on every Tuesday, I have what’s called Double Tap Tuesday. So again, you can double tap, the heart shows up, and people engage and like the post. And this has really helped grow my network on Instagram, and also my followers in other areas.
Something else I really want to share with you today is this new platform that works along with Instagram that you can hook on your website called Statigram. This gives you the statistics of what’s going on in Instagram. So for those of you that were asking about numbers and metrics, this is just a really good place to go and see what kind of results that you’re getting on your Instagram posts. If you’ve seen something on someone else’s Instagram feed that you like, and you go to the website, you can re-post that image. You know how you can retweet a tweet? Well now, you can re-post an image on Instagram. That’s giving someone a shout-out from their feed to your feed that you are endorsing their image or what they’re doing. So I think this is really cool, and it’s a great new way to promote other people’s businesses.
Hashtags are another way to follow people you met on another platform and grow your network. When you grow your network, you grow your community and you eventually get more business because they’re going to recommend you. Social media is about building these great relationships online and off.
Using hyper-focused relevant hashtags for what you guys are trying to do to grow your business. For me, I have a location-based business. On Cape Cod, these are relevant hashtags for where I’m located. The town in Cape Cod is called Mashapee. My store is in the Popponesset marketplace and it’s in New Seabury. It’s in these four locations on the Cape so those hashtags are relevant to me when I’m tagging things on Instagram and tweeting.