The Hashtag

In a trending world of digital marketing via social media or internet, 
generating traffic greatly hinges on this new animal well known as the hashtag.
What is a hashtag?
It is simply a combination of the hash sign (#) joined together with a word or 
a set of words.
One may ask, what is so special about this combination and the simple
 truth lies entirely in what its capable of adding to the ad industry.
For any one who didn't know this tool,  here is a news flash, its stands as one of 
the strongest  modern digital weapon used to attract customers looking for
 a particular product you want to market via social media platforms.

Now there are a couple of products up for grabs on the internet and these 

are categorized in two major ways;

1) Goods
2) Services

Those of you who are merchants know what I am alluding to, but how do we

 really use the hashtag?
Or how can we best exploit this so called hashtag to generate traffic to a product

 being marketed on the internet?

Its a no-brainer that most social media users on twitter, Facebook, Instagram 

or any other platform use it casually or for fun as a cross referencing tool to 

enhance a wider engagement on a common topic, but this would be so for 

users who are not selling any products on the internet.
 But if you are someone wanting to start any business online, just make the 

Hashtag your next best friend, other wise if you don't  you'll be letting the best 

pass you by.
Now for purposes of in-depth analysis, let's shine  more light on how to use this tool;

The Hashtag tool can be used  before, after or some times both ways with 

articles or posts on social media. I don't know about you but it all depends on 

how you want to use it, anyways that's besides the real point I am writing this post,

 its rather the power and potential behind use of this tool.

Any one doing mainstream business knows that generating sales will entirely 

depend on how you advertise your products, and I will give an example;
If I chose a niche like "Art and Design" which is actually one of my specialties, 

when I choose to write an ad article on it, it means I want people to know I sell 

art and design services but this niche in particular is quite wide and some one 

would want me to be more elaborate on what I am trying to sell, and that's where 

Mr. Hashtag comes in to demystify the puzzle and how?... Thought you'd never ask!

Here is the "HOW" in detail

When you chose to place an ad on social media about Art and Design, its imperative 

that people looking for specific art or design services can be able to find you, but this 

wouldn't be possible if you simply leave it (ad) abstract in nature, what do I mean..!
Have you ever visited a clinic and all you see is the big word 'CLINIC' or may be 

Doctor's clinic without any services listed on the signpost? Answer is; hardly, 

so if medical service providers endeavor to put a list of the various services 

you ought to see on the sign, it means their ad will appear more complete and their 

client(s) "patients" will walk in with a lot of confidence knowing the kind of services 

being rendered without a doubt.

The same goes for food services; Whenever you walk inside a restaurant, a welcome note 

is usually the menu loaded with a list of all the dishes to choose from, you see 

where I 'm going with this right? So how do we apply the same analogy using the Hashtag?

 

Here we are going to employ the key words strategy, and this is how:
In any niche for marketing like art and design, you should use the Hashtag as a highlighter 

of all the possible services in line with the subject matter...  

this should be given its due importance. 

 

 Put a hashtag that is representative of the niche you are talking about.  

Illustrated below is how to structure a hashtag without drifting off your niche;
#sketchartist #drawingsketch #businesscards #brochures, and as you can see 

the hashtag words have two sections, one is Art and the other is Design.

 #Keywords

Remember in this case we are using a niche which is in two sections, of which you have Art and the other is Design, but this isn't always the case with other niches, don't be alarmed.

 ...so the art key words would be;

1. Sketch + artist giving you #Sketchartist
2. Drawing + sketch giving you #Drawingsketch

…and the design key words would be;

1. Business + cards giving you  #Businesscards
2. Brochures this is a single word giving you #Brochures

"Just so you know, never leave a space in-between a hashtag keyword, no use of 

punctuation marks no matter how many words you have embedded with in it.
A simple example is right above for #businesscards instead of "#business cards" 

lest your hashtag will be cut in half"

The strategy here is to generate as many leads as possible looking to buy any of 

your services under art and design or even better landing both.
Use the liberty to load all your hashtags with any key words relating to your niche. 

Again do not conjure up key words not related to your niche, this way you won't

 loose any potential client's looking for a service NOT mentioned with in 

the text body of your ad post.

 

Blog post by

 

Kawaayi Rodney

 

Tweeter:  @RKawaayi