Small businesses can benefit by using hashtags on social media. One way that small businesses can use hashtags is to drive traffic back to their website. A good example of this strategy is when a business uses Instagram. This is because Instagram allows users to create posts, which include hashtags and up to 30 additional characters for the caption. TikTok has also been catching on to this trend and using hashtags to reach millions. They have even developed “hashtag challenges” where users participate to enhance discovery of their account.
In both platform cases, if a business is hosting a competition and it wants people to share their entries via Instagram, the company can ask users to post images with a specified hashtag. More often than not, this will significantly increase brand awareness for a company’s products or services.
Below, we are including top 3 ways small businesses can benefit from using hashtags on social media:
1) Driving traffic back to small businesses’ website
Driving traffic back to small businesses’ website. Small businesses can benefit by using hashtags on social media because it will drive traffic back to their website. When a user posts and shares the business’ hashtag, all of their friends and followers will see this post.
According to Amber Morland, founder and CEO of WinCope, hashtag challenges are a big deal on TikTok. Millions of users can see and participate in new challenges that appear on the Discover page. Your company can sponsor a hashtag challenge in exchange for a branded banner on the Discover page. Users who tap it are brought to films created by your team that explain and demonstrate the challenge while also advertising your business.
2) Reach a wider audience
Reaching a wider audience is another way small business can benefit from using hashtags on social media. Hashtags allow users to share content with certain groups of people, which they wouldn’t otherwise reach. By creating a hashtag for their business and using it in posts, people who are interested in the subject or topic will be able to find content related to their business.
In addition, hashtags help users discover new content from other users who have shared the same hashtag. This is another way small business can benefit from using hashtags on social media because they are able to reach and be seen by a completely new audience.
According to Tanya Zhang, Co-founder of Nimble Made, TikTok provides for a more casual style of engagement of a wider audience than video ads on other social media platforms such as Facebook; instead of exclusively focusing on pushing a particular product/service, businesses can utilize TikTok for goals other than PR. The possibilities are unlimited, from HR training seminars to how-to DVDs. Engagement doesn’t have to end at the viewer level; many businesses utilize TikTok to highlight collaborations with other businesses and entities, effectively boosting two brands at once while cultivating a mutually beneficial connection. While participation is tailored to a company’s specific circumstances and goals, TikTok offers a variety of marketing tactics that businesses can adopt.
3) Boosts brand awareness
Boosts brand awareness and may lead to increased conversions (sales). Another way small business can benefit from using hashtags on social media is because it will boost their brand awareness. If a user posts an image of the business’ product or service, all of their friends and followers will see it. This will boost brand awareness.
In addition, if a user tags his or her friends in the post, their friends and followers will be able to see it as well. According to Cristina Moraru, Digital Marketing Strategist at Media Training Ltd, if a user posts about a new product from a clothing store that they like, people who follow this person might check out the post and the company’s website.
4) Allows users to find information about certain topics
Hashtags allow users to find information about certain topics. If a user is interested in a specific topic, he or she can search for hashtags that are related to the topic they are searching for. If a user is looking for information about fitness, they can search for hashtags such as #workout or #fitness and discover new content that focuses on this topic.
According to Dusan Stanar, founder and CEO of VSS Monitoring, hashtags have to be relevant to the shot and make sense. Some businesses use arbitrary hashtags that have nothing to do with the visual image, which can be misleading to viewers and make the post appear spammy and inauthentic.
For example, let’s say a small business wants to promote their brand awareness without spending any money. If the business has an Instagram account related to fitness, they could attach #fitness to their posts. All of the user’s friends and followers that are interested in fitness will see this post, which may result in more conversions (sales) for the business.
If a small business is using hashtags on social media to increase brand awareness, they must ensure that everything they post includes #hashtags related to their business. If the post doesn’t include a relevant hashtag, it will be more difficult for people to discover and share the post with their friends and followers. This is especially important when promoting a new product or service because sharing posts that don’t include hashtags may result in fewer conversions (sales) for the business.