Why should I use the hashtag?
Here's a recent infographic on the History of #Hashtags by Offerpop in November 2013. Since then, the hashtag has not only been presented in more than half the 2014 Superbowl ads, but has most recently been a tool for empowering women through hashtag activism
Since the hashtag has been included across most platforms, (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, and Vine) use it to your advantage to bring more engagement. Tweeting with hashtags brings 2x the engagement than those without.
Know your audience.
Make sure you seriously consider your audience before you send out your message or campaign. You may recall the hashtag controversy with the New York Police Department when they tweeted a seemingly innocent request:
"Do you have a photo w/ a member of the NYPD? Tweet us & tag it #myNYPD. It may be featured on our Facebook."
The unexpected happened when critics got a hold of the hashtag to instead reveal police brutality. Although 15% of the #myNYPD campaign consisted of these negative tweets, the news quickly spread. It was soon covered by USA Today, Vanity Fair, ABCNews among others.
Hashtag Help:
Twitter recommends you only use at most 2 hashtags per tweet. Anymore than that, and people think it’s spam. #Don't #be the #one to use #hashtag #overuse, as Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake illustrated last fall when it's overdone.
