Article 3 - Social and Media / The Power of Hashtags for a Business

 The Power of Hashtags for a Business

Although the pound sign, these days hashtag has been in use since late 1980s, it did not take the world by a huge wave and reach a great number of internet and social media users until the late 2000s. It was first introduced on Twitter by Chris Messina - co-founder of Citizen Agency, (Digital Media PR, 2016) on August 23, 2007 with his tweet: “how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups, as in #barcamp [msg]?”. The term 'hash tag' originated from Stow Boyd’s blog post in August of 2007. It was later in July 2009 when Twitter formally adopted the use of hashtags into code, automatically hyperlinking terms appended with the '#' sign. Another year later year later, Twitter began listing the most popular hashtags on its homepage under 'Trending'. (Digital Marketing Philippines, 2014) Various other social media platforms like Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+ also realized the importance of hashtags and introduced them in their networks as well.

With the onset of social media, it is now possible for business owners to interact with and engage their customers in the discussion while getting valuable feedback. The power of Social Media Marketing relies on how well this is done. Often referred to as consumer generated media, Social Media Marketing is often called 'Consumer Generated Media' and it uses any number of online social media channels to fill the gap between businesses and their potential target markets and also their dedicated customers. Social Media relies heavily on its users to shape trends and thus showcase what is hip and happening right now. If used strategically, Social Media can help an organization achieve global recognition with a single hashtag - these can be called viral campaigns. Once viral, every single viewer becomes a potential consumer of the products and services, which online seem just another click away. (Garst, 2013) The hashtag has made it very easy for brands to be individually and uniquely recognized and established while connecting their customer base. Hashtags also are quite helpful in helping a company brand itself and reach a wider audience it otherwise could not. This brand awareness can directly boost the sales and profits.

For example, RedBull launched their "It Gives You Wings" campaign with the hashtag 'givesyouwings' which became very popular and generated thousands of reactions worldwide starting in 2011-2012. It is still a hashtag and is used by various consumers of the brand on a daily basis. To further implement the hashtag, the company encouraged consumers to share their personal stories related with the campaign and the organization. This aided in building relationships with users who share the brand’s values and interests while also connecting them with other users. (Rzaki, 2014) As they became highly involved with the company, it developed brand loyalty and hence drove sales up. Andrew Waddel, marketing director of the campaign stated that this innovative branding method is to aid the company reinforce itself in the market and forming an intimate connection with the users.

Coca-Cola also benefitted a great deal with their "Share a Coke" campaign which used the hashtag 'shareacoke'. This engaged customers as they could take photos and videos of simply sharing a Coke and posting it online with the hashtag, overall contributing to greater brand awareness. (Lloyd, 2016)

As the power of hashtags becomes increasingly clear not only in our daily lives but also the way companies and brands utilize it, one can say they are an effective marketing tool. They provide an ability to track conversations about the brand, monitoring competition, and helping the consumers keep an eye on what’s happening – thus providing better customer service. The users can also get notified of the special deals, offers and events of the company. (Leung, 2016) A hashtag is a great way to ensure brand visibility. As they are very easy to use, the users are in charge of selecting and viewing their preferred content; this means they help in reaching the people interested in the content. (Taylor, 2015) Hashtags are also very simple tools to organize heaps of information posted online, so only the relevant filters through. 

References:

1. Digital Marketing Philippines, (2014), The History and Power of Hashtags in Social Media Marketing [online] Available at: http://digitalmarketingphilippines.com/the-history-and-power-of-hashtags-in-social-media-marketing-infographic/  Access date: 16^th May, 2017
2. Digital Media PR (2016), The Power of the Hashtag [online], Available at: http://www.5wpr.com/new/social-media-hashtag/ Access date: 16th May, 2017
3. Garst, K. (2013), 7 Reasons why hashtags are a must in your marketing [online], Available at: http://kimgarst.com/7-reasons-hashtags-marketing Access date: 16th May, 2017
4. Leung, N (2016), 4 Reasons why you should use hashtag for your business [online], Available at: http://www.nateleung.com/4-reasons-why-you-should-use-instagrams-hashtag-for-your-business/ Access date: 16th May, 2017
5. Lloyd, M. (2016), The Importance of Hashtags and Ways to Use Them in the Proper Social Media Context [online], Available at:  https://mobe.com/the-importance-of-hashtags-and-ways-to-use-them-in-the-proper-social-media-context/?aff_id=1760 Access date: 16th May, 2017
6. Rzaki, (2015), #GivesYouWings [online], Available at: https://modernworldverse.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/success/ Access date: 16th May, 2017
7. Taylor, N. (2015) Why Are #Hashtags So Darn Important? [online], Available at: http://www.associationadviser.com/index.php/why-are-hashtags-important/ Access date: 16th May, 2017