Bhavik SoniIf you are in search of a new campaign strategy to increase brand awareness and engagement on social networks, then we have an excellent tactic that you can try out: hashtag campaigns.
A hashtag campaign helps make it a lot easier for you to spread your brand message, provided it is done perfectly and makes sense to the social media platform and audience.
In order to help you understand why hashtag campaigns are a great idea to promote your brand, we are going to discuss what the hashtag campaign is exactly, its benefits and how you can run one by yourself.
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What Exactly Is A Hashtag Campaign?
As the name suggests, hashtag campaigns are social media advertising or marketing campaigns that revolve around a particular hashtag an organization creates and then promotes. That is an incredible way to create awareness around your brand, event, product, and more.
For running such a campaign, your brand needs to choose a good hashtag that can best represent your marketing campaign and content featuring that specific hashtag. The point here is to also have your customers use the hashtag in related content to reach a wider audience.
By creating a rewarding hashtag campaign, you’d be able to reach more people through social media networks than you can otherwise with a general organic campaign or organic ad. You could even boost engagement with followers who participate and then share your brand hashtag in their posts.
A hashtag campaign is a good opportunity to build up your brand further and boost followers. You could also use the campaign as a means to show your support for several social causes that align with your brand’s mission.
Let us now look at some benefits of a hashtag campaign and how you can run your own.
Top 5 Benefits Of A Hashtag Campaign
1. Creates Brand Awareness
A hashtag campaign is a great way to bring out your brand’s message to a wider audience. If you are a relatively smaller or new brand, consider incorporating a hashtag campaign as just a means to build awareness.
A small example from a big brand here can be the hashtag campaign #MyCalvins created by renowned fashion brand Calvin Klein. To create brand awareness hashtags, you will have to include your company name or your unique service or product name in the hashtag so that people start getting acquainted with your brand.
Calvin Klein includes the hashtag #MyCalvins in many different posts to make its audience excited for owning their personal ‘Calvins.’ In fact, several customers even post images using the same hashtag, helping to spread it even further.
2. Promotes Products and Services
You could also utilize a hashtag campaign for promoting your company’s product or service. This strategy is popular with new films that are soon going to be released, but it is also a successful tactic for brands, especially when introducing new services, products, etc.
The best example of this can be Adidas when it launched the latest Originals lineup. The company used the #ORIGINALS on Instagram while collaborating with a few celebrity influencers to boost its campaign reach.
The company now has an ‘Adidas Originals’ page on Instagram, proving how the campaign was a success in creating audience awareness and curiosity around this line.
3. Aggregate Information
A hashtag is searchable. So, creating one for your customers or audience to use as they discuss a topic is an amazing way for aggregating information in one place.
The Tonight Show by Jimmy Fallon is a great example, where they ask their audience to share some funny stories or other information regularly using various hashtags. They then choose tweets that utilize those hashtags for sharing on their show.
Hence, think of different ways to use a hashtag campaign for aggregating information, be it serious or funny.
4. Boost User Engagement
A successful hashtag campaign is ideal for increasing user engagement and having followers post or tweet about your brand hashtag.
As the main aim of the hashtag campaign basically is to get the audience to know and talk about your brand, you also need to ensure that you make the hashtag accessible and easy for the audience to get maximum engagement.
Besides, make sure that you are not using any common phrases that aren’t already being used widely in general conversations, as that could dilute your campaign’s impact.
5. Gather User-Generated Content
Your hashtag campaign should get your audience to share images that include your products. You can then share this content on the social media channels you use in the form of user-generated data or content.
A great example of such a hashtag campaign, which has generated several Instagram images, was the #WhatsInYourBag campaign by RYU. The campaign was centered on a photo competition that fetched RYU more followers and helped generate tons of images to share across their social media feeds.
How To Run Your Own Hashtag Campaign?
So now that you are aware of the benefits of a hashtag campaign, let’s take a look at how you can run one. Here are a few steps that you need to follow:
Know Your Audience
Ensure that you understand your audience and the type of content that they love interacting with. That will help you determine what kind of hashtag campaign you should run.
Apart from social network demographics, you should also set a clear audience persona to understand their behavior pattern online and accordingly develop a campaign that they will engage with.
Define the Goal of Your Campaign
Is your aim to increase awareness, make sales, or generate a little engagement? The goal of the hashtag campaign you launch will determine the kind of hashtag you should run.
If you want to generate some engagement, consider launching a campaign that helps your target audience to have a little fun on . You can even use this as an opportunity for running a photo competition that concentrates around a specific hashtag, like the one we discussed with RYU above.
Similarly, if you want to increase your sales, ensure that your hashtag focuses on a particular service or product that your brand promotes. Try getting more customers to participate by sharing tweets and images about the experience they had with your brand.
And if you want to boost your brand awareness, include some letters of your company name in your hashtag.
Make Participation Simple
If people find it difficult to engage with your respective hashtag, they won’t do it. Hence, make sure that you don’t make it challenging for them to participate. Make it as easy as writing a tweet or posting an image, including your brand’s hashtag.
Select the Right Social Media Channel
The last step includes selecting a social media platform to launch the hashtag campaign. You will likely be selecting between Instagram and Twitter as the two are very popular for hashtags.
As these two platforms are very distinct, deciding which one will be the best for your hashtag campaign should be quite straightforward. Instagram would be great if you want an image-based campaign, while Twitter would be good if you plan a conversation or text-based campaign.
Conclusion
So, are you ready to engage with your audience via hashtags? Make sure you consider the points mentioned above to run a successful hashtag campaign.
Also read about: How to Build a Personal Brand Through Social Media
Bhavik Soni is a Creative Writer at Auto Monkey. We provide an original analysis of the latest happenings in the social media industry. Connect with Latest Social Media Trends and News plus tips on Twitter, Facebook and other social tools on the web.