On social media, every brand wants over-the-top results from their marketing campaigns. After all, it is closely tied with sales, and the better any marketing campaign would do, the better the sales.
Apart from sales, there could be other objectives of campaigns as well. These could include engagement, awareness, or gaining the attention of the target audience. In this article, we explore what is branded hashtags, which platforms they work best on, and 5 powerful ways to nail your next marketing campaign using branded hashtags.
Branded hashtags work best on the following platforms is a question from the Hootsuite Social Marketing Certification Exam which we will try to uncover for you.
What are Branded Hashtags?
You must be aware that any word without a gap, followed by the “#” sign is referred to as a hashtag. A branded hashtag is any hashtag that is particular to a brand, its product, or business.
Brands can use a custom hashtag to promote a new product, engage their audience for the launch, and create hype around their brand among other reasons.
Which Platforms are Best for Branded Hashtags?
Now if you are wondering the answer to the question, “branded hashtags work best on which of the following platforms”, then you must know that they are meant to provide the most benefit on Twitter and Instagram.
However, branded hashtags can also be used on TikTok. It will depend on the goals of your branded hashtag campaign, and the demographics of the audience you are trying to target.
The reason that branded hashtags work best on Twitter and Instagram is that these platforms have been the first to use hashtags to help brands enhance their organic reach.
What are the Benefits of Branded Hashtags?
Now that you understand what are branded hashtags and which platforms they work best on, let’s understand how can branded hashtags benefit your brand. For starters, hashtags help organize and categorize your content, helping to make it more discoverable.
Hashtags alone won’t do the job of increasing your reach but good content is essential. Branded hashtags can also be used in paid campaigns. Moreover, branded hashtags can help you create buzz around your brand, you can use them to run contests, build brand identity and awareness, start conversations on social media and encourage user-generated content.
Another benefit of branded hashtags is that they can help you find your tribe on social platforms. They can help you launch your brand in front of a larger audience that consists of more people other than just those who follow you.
How to Nail Your Marketing Campaigns using Branded Hashtags
Branded hashtags if used with well-thought-out campaigns can really help nail your marketing campaigns and take them to the next level. Here are 5 powerful ways to do that:
1. Set Goals and Expectations
Without having clear goals and expectations, your branded hashtag marketing campaigns can fall flat on social media. For a business, it is important to know their values and goals and those should drive the strategy for branded hashtags marketing campaigns.
Every business can have unique goals and expectations. It could be to raise awareness, increase brand visibility, encourage brand mentions, sell a product or influence the community to participate and share their content.
Once you know the goals for your campaign only then you can measure your effort against them.
2. Brainstorm Branded Hashtags
While it seems easy to just use your brand or product name with a hashtag, in reality, to get the desired results, you will have to make some effort to brainstorm good branded hashtags.
To do this go through social media pages and posts of competitors to see what hashtags they have used on their campaigns and the context in which those were used. Pay close attention to the style variations and word arrangements to understand how best you can form your own branded hashtags to drive results.
3. Pair them with Niche Hashtags
The hashtag game isn’t an easy one to play and you may have to be patient to see the results. However, one good strategy is to pair your branded hashtag with niche hashtags that are relevant to your brand. This will help you become more discoverable.
To find out niche hashtags, go to platforms where you will run your campaign and research hashtags that will help boost visibility. Look for hashtags that are less competitive but relevant and trending.
4. Include Your Brand Hashtag Every Time
The whole reason for branded hashtags is to make yourself discoverable to new people and raise brand awareness and create a buzz around your brand.
Every time you create social media content, make sure to include your branded hashtags. This will help categorize all your posts under that hashtag which can be easier to find later on.
5. Start Using Branded Hashtags for Promotion
There are several ways that branded hashtags help you explode your marketing campaigns. It is one of the most popular and common ways to promote your brand name. You can also encourage users to use your brand hashtag to share their own stories related to your brand.
Here is an example of how Cocacola is using their branded hashtag: #MyCocaCola to promote its Instagram posts and ads:
You can also create a branded hashtag around your slogan or tagline, which will help promote your brand and increase brand recall.
Brands also use branded hashtags to create contests and give out freebies to increase brand engagement. Followers are often encouraged to participate in such contests by tagging the brand and using the specific hashtag to win a prize. You can do the same for marking brand milestones.
To make your brand stand apart, come up with unique branded hashtags that will also be easy to remember and recall. Simple hashtags do well instead of complicated ones. If there is a particular hashtag you want to follow for posts, use a tool like Notifier to get instant updates. Notifier allows you to track posts across all popular social platforms to help you make insightful and informed business decisions.