We have all seen or heard about Hashtags (written as #) by now, and we all have that one friend who does something like #imhungry #idontknowwhatiwant #whatshouldiget. There are many examples of using Hashtags in different ways, Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake made a humorous skit hash-tagging their way through a conversation (http://youtu.be/57dzaMaouXA).
When a topic starts to trend, often times people like to jump in and use the popular Hashtag. For example, hash-tagging #thevoice and posting a picture of something irrelevant to the actual show.
This gets messages grouped together through social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. When you use Hashtags, that post becomes more visible to others on social media platforms and search engines. Most search engines are now recognizing Hashtags, showing all the conversations, content and updates related with the Hashtag you are searching for.
Hashtags can be a great platform for you to use in your online business marketing. You can use the trending Hashtags, invite your regular customers or offer them a coupon to post pictures with #yourbusiness to get more visibility. There are other uses as well, for example, finding out what your competitors are doing, or how the media is treating a specific topic related to your product or service.
With the Holidays right around the corner, a very trending Hashtag is #cybermonday #blackfriday and #christmasshopping. Utilizing these Hashtags is going to group you with these popular topics, which then leads to more visibility! And hopefully more business!
