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Social Media Tip: How To Use Hashtags on LinkedIn

November 16 blog header - How To Use Hashtags on LinkedIn-01

The very nature of LinkedIn and its users makes it a powerful tool for B2B marketers. In fact, 80 percent of B2B leads generated by social media come from LinkedIn.

One important tactic you can use to expand your reach through LinkedIn is with carefully considered use of hashtags to categorize your content and reach more audiences.

You will want to choose a combination of hashtags that are focused on a topic (such as #automation or #humanresources) along with hashtags specific to your brand or campaign (think about #JustDoIt or #ShareACokeChallenge).

When choosing which general hashtags, keep them relevant, and consider these factors:

  1. Popularity. Hashtags followed by the most people could reach the largest audience, but they also are the most used, so your content could still get lost in the shuffle. (Approach hashtag popularity in the same way you would identify keywords to target in your SEO strategy< https://www.jonespr.net/inboundaccelerator/keyword-selection-spot-between-search-volume-and-ranking-potential>.)

  2. Specific content and niche markets. Since best practices for LinkedIn is to use only two or three hashtags, be specific. Rather than using a broad category such as #innovation, choose something more targeted and relevant to the content of your post such as #healthcareinnovation.

  3. Your customer personas. This applies to choosing your social media content as well. Consider sharing content that isn’t necessarily specific to your brand or products, but that fits the interests and pain points of your customer personas. For example, financial advisors may want to share information on related topics, such as career advancement or home buying, using the hashtags #careeradvice or #mortgagerates.

  4. Location. Local businesses and events can narrow their audience to their geographic location by including hashtags specific to their city or state, or that include both their business type and location, such as #StLouisDining.

  5. Get to know your hashtags. If you are considering making certain hashtags a part of your ongoing LinkedIn strategy, spend time following them yourself for a better understanding of the types of content typically shared using those hashtags. Be sure they are a good fit for your brand and your intended audience.

In addition to using general hashtags, you will likely want to create a few specific to your company, which can emphasize your brand identity and, when used by followers or influencers, extend the reach of your brand. Consider creating hashtags for:

  • Your business name

  • Your business tagline

  • Individual campaigns, promotions or events

Companies can also use LinkedIn Elevate to create a company hashtag. The company hashtag can be automatically appended to employee posts, which helps to increase the visibility of your company and tag company-related content.

Tips to consider:

  1. Don’t make branded hashtags too long or too complex. They become difficult to read and understand.

  2. Include capital letters to make the meaning clear.

  3. Do a thorough check to be sure your planned hashtags aren’t already in use.

  4. Closely examine your proposed hashtag for alternate readings when words are all squeezed together.

Also keep in mind that you may want to use different hashtags on LinkedIn than on other platforms, depending on your audience. LinkedIn is a little more conservative, more professional, and focused on business, careers and networking. As such, keep your hashtags on LinkedIn tightly tied to the content and topic-focused.

LinkedIn will also allow you to use hashtags on LinkedIn articles. (Note that LinkedIn articles may only be published to personal pages, not company pages. But they are a good way for your executives to share content and to repurpose blog material.)

Find more best practices for using LinkedIn, check out our LinkedIn Business Guide: What, When & How Often to Post. You should also download our Social Media Solution Sheet to learn more about how JONES integrates social media into a complete inbound marketing strategy.

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