The #Hashtag celebrates its 10th anniversary (August 2007), we often talk about it, but it is generally misused, because it is not well understood by its users. Back to the good practices of this real communication lever.

The power of the #Hashtag

To help you better interpret its use, let’s first go back to the basics and ask ourselves the question: what is the Hashtag?

Simple answer: it is a new method of referencing in the form of keywords.

More technical answer: the hashtag allows its users to identify themselves with common terms. The one who uses a hashtag will be targeted and we will specifically reuse the same #hashtag as the latter to offer him content in line with his expectation / use.

This promotes federation, creates encounters and will increase the knowledge of its users as instagram does very well with its homepage and its recommended content. It also allows you to monitor and follow specific publications (Example: #hotelmikonos) Also, the curious user will discover variants by browsing the network.

Attention: this is not a universal explanation.

On which networks should Hashtags be used?

In Theory:

Instagram: put a lot of them! (Not too many either, 15 is a good average)
Facebook: Go light, limit yourself to 3 – 5 if possible…
Twitter: both the originators of this phenomenon, both limited by the number of characters, be specific and limit yourself to 5 max…
Pinterest : No Hashtag.
Google + : Would be useful for google referencing for open publications. Recommendation: follow the same principles as Facebook.

In Practice:

While Facebook does incorporate them, it doesn’t use them that much. However, you can do some monitoring every three months to check the #myrestaurant publications with the search bar. On the other hand, it can be useful to position yourself thanks to those who use them, i.e.: Follow hashtags that correspond to our target heart/company to come and comment/react (Liker) the publications from your company page.
Recommendations: put 3 – 5 at the end of your text.

This is probably a key feature of Instagram…  A post without # cruelly loses potential targets. There are so many Hashtags that some people get bored and “fed up” with them but don’t pay much attention anymore. This is actually part of the algorithm of the Instagram recommendation engine.
Recommendations: Try to mix #hashtags with your #text and add a few at the #end of your #post!

On the Twitter side, it’s ideal to #react to current/live news! Set yourself up to react to movements initiated by the media.
Warning: be careful, Twitter is case sensitive (to majors): #Twitter ≠ #twitter!

Tools to find the #Hashtags 

Overall, it is interesting to position yourself on both popular Hashtags and more precise Hashtags, it allows you to gain visibility. This is thanks to obtaining many likes not especially qualified on known #terms but also to find prospects thanks to #topics and focus of interest.

It is very important to position yourself in the language of your prospects and obviously to favor English, which is the most used by the Hashtag.


©Thomas Alexander Photography

Example of hashtags for a photo of a panoramic view in the PACA region with breakfast in the foreground:
#landscape #view #sky #cloud #sun #sunrise #morning #happytime #beautiful #amazing #vitamins..
you’ll get a lot of robot/automation likes at first

Specific terms can then be used:
#breakfast #holidays #vacation #PACA #forcalquier [my city] #orangejuice #tourism …

The terms specific to instagram / its variations:
#instawine #instafood … I don’t know them all, here are the main ones  for food and travel !

Here are two of the most powerful tools that allow you to better know the hashtags :

  • Hashtagify :  With the trends of the day, the correlation between hashtags and the possibility to find others.
  • Tagboard :  (which allows you to make a very nice watch on your business)

Nota Bene: other tools like keyhole.co, also free can be used.

The #Hashtag for a contest

To set up a contest (Photos or Text) the hashtag can be very useful.

Do not hesitate to set up one, check its existence beforehand with Instagram and especially do not hesitate to communicate on it. Finally, don’t forget to remind your audience that only public posts will be counted.

Monitoring and Hashtag

If you want to monitor keywords on Twitter or Instagram you have several possibilities:

Instagram : automations are possible, but often paid… If we find one that is worth it, we will not hesitate to update the page, you will be informed!
On the other hand, we can always connect to our instagram account from the computer, do keyword searches and put these URLS in a folder in your browser.
Example of a link to bookmark (replace ‘hollidays’ with your positioning term) :

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/hollidays/

Advantages: native use, possibility to “like” by double clicking with the mouse.

Twitter : automations like Zapier (to configure yourself) or IFTTT (preconfigured) offer you free of charge to keep you informed (by email, sms or notification) when a new Hashtag is found.
It is also interesting to know that Twitter offers a real dashboard very complete at the following address: tweetdeck.twitter.com (connect with your account)

Going further: using the tag on publications/photos

Often, you have the possibility to highlight tourism actors in your publication. Take advantage of this opportunity to take beautiful photos (article to come) that talk about your region, your restaurant and mention (with @alsacez-vous @made-in-provence ….) these local actors!  Your publication will have a better visibility and may be picked up by these local actors in [Repost] – BINGO! –

Communicate around your hashtag in your establishment, on your photos and in your email signature!

Author clemence

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