Hashtags are definitely the exciting part of the internet that is now an integral part of social media communication. With their help, you can not only highlight your content in a particular place, but also encourage the reader to take an interest in your brand. So it is no surprise that even the biggest giants are using hashtags in online marketing. What is a hashtag and how do you use it? You will find out in this article.
Hashtag - what does it mean?
To begin with, it is worth explaining exactly what a hashtag is and what the term means. It comes from the English language and is the result of combining two words: hash (English for 'grid') and tag ('marker'). According to the definition of the Polish Language Dictionary, a hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the # sign, which makes it easier to find and group items such as tweets, videos, photos, etc. A hashtag therefore means that a particular post is about a particular topic, which is marked with the graphic symbol #. The best example of the use of a hashtag is when, for example, we are organising a workshop and we want every interested person to reach us, in which case we should use the hashtag #workshop. Hashtags are a kind of link that you can click on, in which case it takes you to all the posts that contain your chosen tag.
What is a hashtag used for?
Interestingly, hashtags originated long before the advent of social media, as they were first used in 1970 in assembly language for the development of the historic PDP-11 6-bit machines, while they first appeared on the internet in 2007, when former Google employee Chris Messina asked a question on Twitter: "How do you feel about using # (pound) for groups?". ("What do you think about using # for groups?"). He then described on his blog how hashtags could function on Twitter. Initially, they were used to create channels to talk about a particular topic, but over time they have been rolled out to other sites.
Nowadays, internet users use hashtags to organise and structure content, as well as to find topics that match their interests or emphasise an important message. 
How do I add a hashtag?
Although hashtags are popular with social media users, many times they are added incorrectly, thus not having the desired effect. As a reminder: the hashtag on the keyboard is usually located under the number 3. How do you make it? Simply press the SHIFT key and press 3 to get the #.
Remember that the # sign must come before the word, without spaces, and must be written as a single string of characters e.g. #MyBirthday. Importantly, it can contain numbers, but special characters and punctuation are prohibited. If you want to add more than one hashtag to a post, they must be separated by a space.
It is also worth mentioning that experts recommend using hashtags without Polish characters and, for greater reach, in English.
How do you use hashtags on social media?
Twitter hashtags
The hashtag owes its popularity to Twitter and to date users cannot imagine tweeting without using the # sign. Literally everything is tagged with the hashtag on Twitter - from funny stories to novel reviews, recommended books to even the opinions of politicians. Some are used all the time, while others quickly disappear and new ones appear in their place. But what should you bear in mind when using hashtags on Twitter?
Above all, avoid too many hashtags. Twitter itself recommends that posts contain a maximum of two tags. This is because the portal has a limited number of characters (280) that can be used in a single tweet. Remember to match your hashtags to the content of your posts - this way, internet users will find topics that interest them. In turn, you can use the search engine to check tweets with a selected hashtag.
Hashtags on IG (Instagram)
Hashtags are now firmly established on Instagram and are now one of the key elements of profile building. Choosing the right hashtags ensures that you reach your target group and influences the reach of your posts.
Is it worth searching for the most popular hashtags on Instagram that relate to our industry? Of course, popular hashtags will increase the reach of a post, but it is important to remember that this will only work for a short while. Niche words, on the other hand, will not get overdue quickly in Instagram's internal search engine and will allow you to reach better quality users. It is recommended that you use a mixture of popular and niche tags in your post. Also remember not to use so-called banned hashtags - these are words that have been temporarily banned by Instagram, most often concerning controversial slogans, such as racism, violence or pornography.
It is good practice to define your company hashtags that are unique and dedicated to your brand or promotional campaign. After typing the phrase into a search engine, we can check if the hashtag is available. 
Hashtagi na Facebooku
The leader among the most popular social media only introduced hashtags in 2013, but they have not been a success. In fact, it is hard to say unequivocally why hashtags are not as popular on Facebook as they are on other sites. Most often, we can encounter hashtags on this site in the groups to which we belong. There, in order to organise content and make it easily searchable, their use is often mandated in the terms and conditions.
Hashtagi na YouTube'ie
Hashtags on this service only took hold in 2016. They can be used in both the title of the video and the description. As on other platforms, the hashtag is in the form of a clickable link which, when clicked, displays other content related to the tag. This makes it easy to find videos with similar themes and to categorise them.
It is worth remembering that a maximum of 15 hashtags can be added on YouTube - adding more than this will result in the service ignoring them and, as a result, none will be added to the material.
How do you monitor the effectiveness of hashtags on social media?
Now that you know what a hashtag is, how it is used and what it is used for, it is time to find out how to test whether our tag is ingenious and effective.
It seems unimportant, but nothing could be further from the truth! Hashtag monitoring shows you how effective the hashtags you have used have been, plus you can find out things like:
- how many times a created hashtag has been used on the web or a selected service,
- what is the source of the mention and the reach of the hashtag,
- whether the use of a particular hashtag was positive, negative or neutral,
- we can also see how many people have reacted to a particular hashtag.
There are many tools for finding the best hashtags in terms of uniqueness and relevance to our industry. With that said, some programmes are only a so-called hashtag generator, i.e. they do not allow for subsequent monitoring of our tags. However, it is easy to find ones that allow us to track hashtags and mentions of our brand.
Summary
The right hashtags are an invaluable aid to online marketing. Using them allows you to increase your reach, reach potential customers and build brand recognition. Whether you are just starting out in social media or not - hashtags are your ally.
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