Today, television commercials, sponsored posts and magazine ads on different social media networks are deploying hashtags as part of call to action. As an advertiser, Facebook #hashtags for example can help;

a. Expand the brand- through the use of hashtag in your Facebook business page you can help individuals interested in your niche topics to join the conversation and connect with others.

b. Amplify the brand- by branding your Facebook page using hashtags you will have provided a simple platform in which Facebook users will easily share the information about that product with others.

c. Across social platforms- since Facebook hashtags are more searchable, you can now post multiple advertisements. This ensures what is being advertised is able to reach different potential customers.

d. Capture new fan and potential leads- leveraging your Facebook page with hashtags will provide an opportunity to reach like-minded individuals and allow them to engage with your page. This will ultimately increase traffic to your website.

Due to the power of hashtag in social media marketing, here are three ways which advertisers can leverage hashtags to launch advertisement campaigns that aggregate, engage and repurpose social marketing and advertising so as to promote a business value.

1: Encourage social media users generate content

Unlike other forms of marketing, social media marketing has a potential to turn its users into content generators. Once the power of social media is harnessed, the users are able to effectively share and comment on photos and videos and this become an important marketing platform.

To create a social media momentum, it is important as an advertiser to use hashtags on advertisement and other marketing messages. Such hashtags alert social media users that they are being invited to participate. If the use of such hashtags is coupled with sweepstakes, contests or giveaways, a social media response will be encouraged.

2: Relate to consumers in real time

Most of the potential customers flock to different social media networks to interact. To increase your website traffic hashtag your product keywords that correspond to the demand and desires of the customers. Additionally, ensure you have tapped your hashtagged keywords into a popular social media conversation that is related to your products. This way you will generate more traffic since your products will go viral.

3: Teach your targeted audience how to utilize products hashtags

To increase your products awareness in social media marketing it is important to teach your potential followers how to use product hashtags. The best way to teach them is by using hashtags that are well related to your website content. This way your social media followers will know the sentiment behind the use of hashtags. Once they have learned, they will enumerate them and participate in the advisement through sharing of their ideas and images which are related to your posts.

Tips for using hashtags in social media networks

• Encourage social media users to share and make their posts public so as to increase the reach
• Don’t overdo hashtags in your page instead use them sparingly
• Before using hashtags do some thorough research so as to obtain relevant keywords that are related to your website content.
• Hashtags must all be one word meaning that no spaces between words.

Marcus Ho is a highly sought-after Social Media Strategist who specializes in revenue-driven campaigns on social media for businesses. Well known for his cutting-edge, fresh insights and proven strategies, Marcus has successfully helped over 200 corporations and SMEs to rake in hundreds of thousands within very short periods of time.

Some of his clients include:

Qatar Airways, 3M, PernodRicard, DassaultSystèmes, FreshKon, Home-Fix, Scanteak and Singapore Management University. Most recently, his campaigns have also won internationally acclaimed awards such as Smitty’sTravel+Leisure.