I’m sure you’ve noticed (or will now) the recent surge in advertising on TV using hashtags. I have no issue with hashtags…I’m down with the kids, I know what they mean and what they’re used for; but call me old fashioned but I don’t think hashtags should be something which find their way in to our everyday conversation. Even some of my nearest and dearest say a hashtag when they speak to me, like I can’t gauge their opinion from their previous sentence. Funnily enough I don’t need a hashtag (or an explained emoji for that matter) to help me understand the way someone feels about a subject.
However, the use of them in business is actually for a really traditional, old fashioned way of thinking about marketing. Having fully cohesive brand throughout your entire marketing strategy, linking everything together makes for a strong brand and using a hashtag is just an extra something which adds to this.
A great example of this which I’d like to share with you is the British Army’s new adverts. Thinking of their ads, their slogan comes to mind straight away with the short ‘do do’ type music to go along with it. #BeTheBest has been their slogan for a long time, but using it as a # just boosts ways in which people can interact with the brand and discuss the army on social media.
Hashtags aren’t just something which big brands can use, this is something which any business can utilise to bring all their marketing in line with each other. The trick is to find something which is appropriate to your business but is also easy to find for users. For example #networking #womeninbusiness, rather than #smalltowninwaleswomennetworking.