A hashtag to social media is like GPS to a smartphone. It just makes your experience better!

The hashtag has revolutionized the way consumers engage on social media. The folks at SurePayroll developed an infographic that outlines all you need to know about hashtags.

Hashing Out the Almighty Hashtags

Tag Along: Why Use Hashtags

• Hashtags make it easier for people to find and follow discussions about brands, events, and promotions.
• They started out on Twitter, but have spread to Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Google search, and other platforms.
• They allow brands to track the performance of promotions across social media.
• Individual can see 100% increase in engagement by using hashtags, while brands can see a 50% increase.

Hashtags on Twitter

• Use hashtags on Twitter to categorize.
• Tweets with hashtags get 2 times more engagement than tweets without.
• Tweets with 1 on 2 hashtags have 21% higher engagement than those with 3 or more hashtags.
• But when you use more than 2 hashtags, engagement drops by an average of 17%.

Hashtags on Instagram

• Instagram, the opposite of Twitter, shows posts with 11 or more hashtags have the highest interactions.
• Use LOTS of hashtags on Instagram to build community.

Hashtags on Facebook

• Facebook posts without hashtags outperform those with hashtags.
• Rarely use hashtags on Facebook to categorize (for business-oriented followers) or build community (for community-oriented followers).
• Too many hashtags on Facebook leads to fewer interactions.

Tips for Successful Hashtag Campaigns

A good hashtag is: memorable, unique, relevant to your campaign.

Find a balance: Hashtags should be distinctive and simple for followers to remember. But generic hashtags, like #food, are too broad and too hard to track.

Create an easy-to-understand message:

• Craft a hashtag around one particular message.
• Keep it short
• Make the call-to-action clear, consistent, and easy.
• Avoid anything too abstract.
• Capitalize multi-word hashtags.

Create your own momentum:

• Identify your audience’s influencers.
• Look to your fans to inspire new campaign hashtags.
• Utilize your brand: Consider using your brand’s name in a hashtag.

Double check:

• Could your hashtag mean something else entirely?
• Steer clear of slang.
• Before you finalize a list of hashtags, check if yours are being used elsewhere in an entirely different context.

Proofread then proofread again:

• If a hashtag can be misread, it will be.
• Make sure when capitalization is removed, the words in a hashtag do not create other words or messages.
• Incorporate hashtags into traditional media: Consider using hashtags on billoards, television commercials, etc.

Have a backup plan:

• Test a hashtag before heavily marketing it.
• Have an alternative campaign prepared if your initial idea is co-opted.

Live tweet during a big event:

• Find a way to incorporate your hashtag into elections, sport championships, awards shows, and other major events.

Monitor the conversion:

• Follow hashtags to keep track of trends in your industry.
• See what your competition does, what influencers say, and how customers react.

Hashtags can be a great way to engage with followers on the proper platform, to introduce new products or services, and gain traction for an event. #UseHashtags

Infographic