You know that feeling when you’re creating a social media post and you think to yourself, What hashtags am I supposed to use? This exercise is going to make your social media life much easier!
We’ve completed this hashtag exercise for nearly all of our clients, even the ones whose social media we don’t handle. It helps remove the guesswork, makes posting easier, and in turn alleviates unnecessary stress. Let’s get started!
You’re going to start by brainstorming. Excel is great for this. The columns are ready-made, it’s easy to add new columns and move them around. Bonus- the terms can be sorted alphabetically.
The first column you’re going to create is Brand Terms
Brand terms are what set you apart from your competitors. They’re your business name, terms, phrases, and taglines unique to your business.
Your brand hashtags also include what you absolutely want people to know about your business or what’s important to your brand.
#MAPSolutionsGroup #marketingandplanning #elevateyourbusiness #marketingsolutions #strategicmarketing
Every marketer uses #marketing. There are over 65.3 MILLION posts with #marketing. Do we still include it? Yes, because it tells people what we do (see the next category). However, it’s not listed under our Brand Terms.
The second category is What You Do/Offer
This one is a biggy! Create additional columns/subcategories for the various products/services your offer.
MAP Solutions Group works with clients in a variety of capacities.
#FractionalCMO #marketingconsultant #marketingcoach #businesscoach
We also post about and provide an assortment of services. Our hashtag spreadsheet has separate columns for branding, marketing plans, media plans, marketing budgets, websites, social media, advertising, email marketing, promotions, group sales, etc. It’s extensive. Once the terms are compiled, time isn’t wasted thinking about what hashtag to use for every post. Just pull from the list.
Next up are Miscellaneous Hashtags
These might be categorized by the type of post- #protips or common hashtags such as #mondaymotivation #tuesdaytips #wisdomwednesday #thursdaythoughts #flashbackfriday.
One of our favorites is #WeCanHelp.
And finally Location
Location may not be relevant to your business. We’re located in New York and work remotely with clients across the country, so we didn’t create this category. If we had, it might be #WestchesterMarketing
If you work locally in your community it is essential to include location, because social media is served globally.
A Few Final Tips
-When you’re compiling your hashtags think about them from your customers’ perspective and the terms that they would use. Avoid industry jargon (unless you’re B2B).
-Hashtags are very closely aligned with SEO (search engine optimization) terms.
-Don’t use all of the same hashtags on every post. That will have a negative impact on your visibility.
-Use hashtags that are relevant to that specific post (the Algorithm Gods are always watching).
If you’re feeling overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) at the thought of doing this for your business – reach out- MAP Solutions Group can help!
