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Learn to use hashtags like a pro: Friday 15 – Small Business Tips

March 24, 2014

Friday 15: Small Business Tips, is a series designed to help small businesses like yours make the most of their online presence. If you missed our February post about email marketing, check it out here.

Today, I’m talking hashtags. You see them everywhere: on websites, social media sites, and even on television, radio and in print. I decided to dedicate this post to the wonderful pound symbol, so you can start using it as part of your business’s social media strategy. #Enjoy.

Lesson Highlight: Hashtag basics: Connect to customers on social media

A hashtag is word or phrase prefixed with a pound, or hash, symbol (#), typically used in a social media post. For example, #Friday15 is a hashtag. Hashtags organize messages by topic. People can search for a hashtag to see all associated messages. You can use hashtags to target messages to specific groups of people interested in particular topics.

For example, let’s say you own a coffee shop. When posting a photo of your lovely caramel latte on a social media site, you include the hashtag #coffee. Now, people tracking #coffee will see your post. This provides exposure for your business and helps position you as an authority on the topic. (more…)