#twittermarketing

When it comes to twitter, I am #clueless. One of the first things I noticed was a word or set of words with the (#) symbol in front of it. After a little google-research (yeah, I made up that term), I’ve come to find these are called hashtags. Hashtags are used to organize and connect tweets about the same topic. For the purpose of marketing, I decided to see how a business could use these effectively.

I’ve learned hashtags are used as a way to search content from people you aren’t following.  You can either use ones that are already created or make your own. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, so when making your own hashtag it's important to keep it short. The idea is customer's will retweet or tweet on their own using the hashtag, so it has to be memorable. So let's say the Superbad movie is about to come out on dvd, and you want to start a twitter viral campaign by posting McLovin quotes from the movie. By ending the quotes with (#Mclovin) the topic would become "trending", and Superbad would get the buzz.

Of course, it is extremely important to use hashtags that reflect your brand and your company. If you use one already created, take time to research the context from which it is used. Also, make sure it is applicable to your tweet. For example, Nike wouldn’t tweet about a new shoe being released then hashtag #chileanminers, simply because it is a popular topic right now. No one likes SPAM.

Once you have successfully created hashtags and they are being used by others, you need to be able to keep up with them so you can respond. Tweet Grid is a site where you can watch people using your tag in real time.