When To Tag and When To Hashtag (On Twitter)

by | Aug 2, 2016 | Social Media Tips

While many of us love Twitter and others not so much, the 140 character social network, if used properly can be a very valuable business and marketing tool.

When to Tag and When to Hashtag On Twitter

That is because there are 313 million monthly active users on Twitter and while Facebook is known for connecting with people you are friends with, Twitter is a great source for people you want to be friends with. That means very influential people have Twitter accounts and having a strong presence means potential for new connections and new business.

But while there are a ton of strategies on how to best use Twitter (who to follow, when to Tweet, etc.) one thing that every person on Twitter should know is when to tag  (@) and when to hashtag (#) in your Tweets and how to use these tools most effectively.

Lets say for example you are trying to get your tweet noticed by a specific person or company such as Bill Gates. In a situation like this – you will always want to find their handle and include @BillGates when mentioning them in the Tweet. By doing this notifies that user that you are talking about them and provides the potential of them engaging back with you.

On the contrast, by using the hashtag #BillGates in the tweet will make that term clickable but only attract people that are following that hashtag and not the Microsoft founder specifically. No notification will get sent and unless Bill Gates is in the news and trending, the tweet probably won’t get very far in the social hemisphere, at least not to the person or people you want it too.

Hashtags are much more useful during events or conversations that are trending. That is because people are usually discussing a specific topic (not a person, unless they are in the news) and by adding a hashtag makes it easy for others to see what you are Tweeting and for them to respond back.

You only get a very limited amount of “real estate” when it comes to Twitter. You need to consider each character carefully.

To learn more how to best utilize Twitter and other social networks for your business contact The Interactive Imprint at 954-254-1650 or visit TheInteractiveImprint.com.