How Hashtags Can Equal More Clients

If you are thinking “how does this help me get more customers?” Here is your answer. Social media, no matter which platform you are using is all about the relationship. The more recent problem is getting those customers to take action or in some cases just see your content. Many times as business owners we are so busy trying to ‘hit them’ with the perfect “book my services now”  shot that many times the offer is seen by multiple eyeballs, but it doesn’t have any effect because you haven’t “earned” the right to ask for the business.    

You can always implement strategies that cost money to get the bodies on your table. GroupOn, Living Social, Yipit, or Scout Mob is some of the most popular paid advertising to make the phone ring. Or you can purchase ads to a targeted demographic on the social platforms. 

But if you are looking for an organic (FREE) way to draw attention and find new potential clients then you will want to know more about the # symbol and how to use it on social platforms.     

The # symbol, you might have referred to it as a number or pound sign has gained its popularity on social platforms commonly known as a hashtag. The hashtag is used to highlight or draw attention to particular items on the social media networks. 

Before we get too far into information sharing I want to make this disclaimer. We all know how quickly things are updated when it comes to online marketing. Social media is no exception. So the strategies and information I am sharing is applicable at the time it is being written. Therefore, these are strategies I recommend implementing today, that should work today but with the ever-changing online world it will more than likely need to be modified in the future. 

What are hashtags and what are some of the best ways to use them?

A hashtag is a word or term that is preceded by a # symbol. There are no spaces or special characters (!@$%&-”?) between the # and the word(s). For example, I created #AllianceforMassageTherapyEducation and #AFMTE when the organization wants to share massage education information. This automatically creates a hyperlink that people can click to find all the posts and updates from the organization or members who have used the hashtag to talk about the organization. So basically putting# in front of any word will turn it into a clickable link. The links are not case sensitive but I do recommend adding an upper case to make it more readable for the user when you are linking multiple words together. Example: #IloveMassage is easier to read than #ilovemymassagetherapist.  

But what is the big deal and how is this going to help me get more bodies on my table? When using hashtags on a social platform like Facebook, they work a couple of different ways. First, when you click on a Facebook hashtag whether it is on a personal profile or business page, a box will open up showing other people and pages within a user’s network that have recently used that hashtag in chronological order. You should also see contributions from other users (provided those users have set their profiles to public). Therefore, even if they are outside your network, they could show up if they have also publically used the hashtag. 

Secondly, you can also search for a hashtag in the Facebook search bar at the top of the page. So if you wanted to see what people are saying about massage or back pain, you can type #massage or #backpain and click on the results that populates below the search bar. You can select pages and newsfeed posts within your network and other public profiles that have recently used that word or term. Also note: when you click to contribute something, that hashtag will automatically populate your post. By contributing on the subjects with your ideal audience, this gives you credibility and can grab attention of potential new customers organically.  

The official description from Twitter explaining hashtags states, “The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.” 

Twitter lends itself to be more of a “public soapbox” for the majority of the users. Because of this, you are able to see all kinds of data from the content Twitter users share. What this means is, if you click on a hash tagged word, it allows you to view any other message that contains the same hash tagged word or phrase. That way, you can see what others have to say on that particular subject. Because these are so wildly popular on Twitter, many businesses will sponsor a trending topic. That means a business pays a fee to Twitter to get bumped to the top of the list, giving huge brand visibility to its sponsors.   

3 Strategies for Using Hashtags on Social Media Platforms Organically

1. Use hashtags to find topics of interests and also people of interest that you have in common with your ideal customers    
2. Create a hashtag that identifies your brand. I wouldn’t put my brand hashtag on every tweet or post; I would recommend using them when you are specifically referring to one of your services.  The obvious advantage to creating a brand hashtag is that it reinforces brand identity; also a more powerful benefit is that if people click the hashtag they will find all the updates you or your customers and fans have posted about your practice.  And of course if your updates include links to your blog or website, that encourages other possibilities of engagement and potentially becoming a customer.
3. I recommend searching similar hashtags to inspire fresh content for blog posts as well. 

Hashtags make it easy to search and track ongoing conversations, when you are participating, building relationships and connecting with your audience on topics they find more interesting and are related to the services you provide – that is even better!  Participate by adding to the conversation and not making it a “sales pitch” is the first step to earning the right to ask for the business. 

There are so many more strategies to using hashtags; I have an in-depth article in the April Issue of Massage Today that includes dos and don’ts’s, how to create a Twitter Widget for your hashtag and even more explanation and uses for them on social platforms.  All of this to help you organically get more eyeballs seeing your updates and continue to build those lasting relationships. 

If you need help putting together a social campaign using hashtags or need some 1 on 1 coaching for using hashtags then message me at www.srbsolutions.net  you can save 10% off the services by mentioning this blog.