A hashtag is a keyword or phrase (with no spaces), preceded by the hash symbol (#), that people include in their social media posts at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. It makes the content of your post “findable” to all people with similar interests who “search” for that hashtag. They don’t necessarily have to be a follower or fan of your page (i.e. like).
Adding them to your social posts will increase the “findability” factor of your content and thereby give you more online visibility!
Here are ten popular wedding-related hashtags at Instagram.
#wedding
#weddingday
#bridal
#weddings
#weddingdress
#weddingphotography
#engagement
#engaged
#bridetobe
#weddingphotographer
As you might notice, these are pretty broad hashtags, or what I would call “global” hashtags. If you work primarily in one geographic marketplace, they might not deliver the type of results you ideally want. With that in mind, you will also want to use geo-targeted hashtags.
Geo-targeted hashtags using YOUR marketplace might look like this: #bostonweddingphotographers, #bostonwedding, #bostonweddings, or #bostonweddingdiscjockeys.
The right hashtags will greatly broaden the reach of your social media posts to thousands of potential followers, fans, or customers.
So now, how do you actually find popular hashtags?
I use Instagram and think it is a pretty good indicator of the overall popularity of a hashtag across all social platforms.
Simply use the following URL and replace the last part of it with the word you want, inserting the hashtag count for the word you want to see between the last set of forward slashes /______/.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/wedding/
#happy #hashtaging
Action Items
Use Evernote as a notepad to keep your hashtags ready-to-use (easy to cut-and-paste).two
Remember to use geographically targeted hashtags in your social media posts.
Use hashtags in your Facebook posts too. They are not limited to use just at Instagram or Twitter, although they are mostly associated with those social media channels.
Amp-up your social media management with power tools like Hootsuite or my favorite SmarterQueue.
Questions? Email me at chris@bookmoreweddings.com
