Facebook recently announced the implementation of clickable hashtags on the site. This has been a long awaited update many in the social media world have been wondering about for some time. So why did Facebook add hashtags to the platform? Will this effect user privacy? And most importantly, how can your agency take advantage of the addition? Let’s take a look.
Why did Facebook Add Hashtags?
As far as we can tell, Facebook added hashtags for one main purpose: to stay in front of the competition. Although Facebook is the number one most widely used social media site, it had yet to implement the use of hashtags that derived from Twitter and are currently used on other social sites such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Google Plus. The hashtag’s main purpose is to categorize an update or post, and allow it to be searched by other users to encourage conversation on similar topics. Users on Facebook have slowing been incorporating hashtags into their updates for some time, as the “language of the hashtag” has become increasingly popular. Now with Facebook hashtags becoming clickable, it can be easier to search certain topics and see other businesses and users that are discussing a similar story. The one major difference on Facebook? Privacy and the closed networking model Facebook has, that marketers have struggled with since Facebook became a popular networking tool.
Will Hashtags Effect my Privacy?
Many articles across the web are discussing the user’s worry of privacy issues now that Facebook has added hashtags, which were originally used on Twitter to encourage conversation outside of your direct network. Facebook’s privacy settings are still in effect. A user can still select WHO they want to share an update with before they post it, therefore hashtags will mainly stay within your network of friends. The benefit for businesses will be those users and other business pages that have an open networking or public display of posts on the site, and to Facebook advertisers. Hashtags will allow Facebook advertisers to drill down even further to who they can target.
How Can My Agency Use Hashtags?
This is the question that many agencies and brands are asking. Here are a few ways to start using hashtags in your agency’s social media marketing strategy:
1) Tag your blog posts that you share on Facebook with relevant hashtags, but remember, don’t overdo it with too many!
2) Use Facebook’s new graph search feature to search for hashtags that are relevant to your agency. By searching for an area, event, local or niche topic, you may be able to find new business pages in your area, or current friends or fans discussing a particular topic.
3) Have producers use hashtags on their Facebook profiles to show up in search results. Also, if you can find a potential prospect on Facebook through hashtag usage or search, try connecting with them first on Twitter or LinkedIn, rather than sending them a direct Facebook request.
4) Facebook ads. If you are running Facebook advertising you can now use hashtags to target particular users.
Overtime we will see new uses of hashtags throughout Facebook. As long as the tag is relevant to the content you are posting in a status update, then using a hashtag on Facebook is perfectly acceptable. Try not to overdo it with the use of multiple hashtags that can eventually end up looking like spam.