When you follow hashtags on LinkedIn, it’s important to think of them as online public venues. And just like any public venue, it has to host a noteworthy event that draws a crowd.
In order to do that, you have to create a ton of value. Luckily for you, The Copy Cartel will show you how to follow, use and track relevant hashtags on LinkedIn for effective content marketing.
But before we do, let’s talk about the two types of hashtags on LinkedIn for starters. (Branded vs. Non-branded hashtags)
Following Branded Hashtags on LinkedIn
Branded hashtags are hashtags that are completely unique to you or your organization. They present a wonderful opportunity for you to become the thought leader and influence the conversation you want to have with your followers or potential clients.
This could be a catchy slogan, product, or even your name.
You can even register your own unique branded hashtag so it can be officially associated with your business or brand. The only disadvantage with branded hashtags is that you start out with zero reach or engagement.
And depending on how big your business or organization is, it could take some time to foster that “buzz” yourself on LinkedIn. (or other popular platforms such as Instagram)
That’s why there are 5 simple steps to using branded hashtags:
#1 Use Easy-to-Remember Branded Hashtags
You don’t want them to be easily mixed or have users confuse them with other hashtags that can steal your marketing thunder. So keep it simple, unique, and catchy.
#2 Promote
Get your internal organization and your desired demographic to follow your hashtag for regular updates. Reiterate the value they will get from following your branded hashtag. For example, you can use branded hashtags to promote giveaways or other useful products your customers didn’t even know they needed.
#3 Attach Your Branded Hashtags to Value
It’s really important that your branded hashtags add a lot of value because you are starting a new conversation or movement that no one knows about. So make sure your followers get something useful out of it. Your followers must see and believe the perceived value you are trying to establish with your branded hashtag.
#4 Post Consistently and Appropriately
Keep a schedule of regular posts for your branded hashtags or post as often as needed according to your content marketing goals. Try to post during times you can get the most engagement on LinkedIn.
#5 Track Your Branded Hashtags
Monitor internal and external posts of your branded hashtag. Check and see how much engagement your branded hashtags garner. This way, you can ramp up or go back to the drawing board depending on its performance. Keep an eye out for other posters that use your branded hashtag.
Make sure they are part of your organization or mention your organization if they use your unique branded hashtag. If they don’t, make sure you comment on the post to add some value.
Following Non-Branded Hashtags
Non-Branded hashtags are common or regularly used hashtags that are used to connect interested users and other parties in a conversation via a social feed. They are not unique to you or your brand and can be extremely broad or niche.
Because they are not unique, there will be a lot of competition for engagement and followers. So the broader the topic, the bigger the competition. That’s why you want to target more niche non-branded hashtags. However, you also want to target broader non-branded hashtags for initial visibility.
A good rule of thumb is to use a good mix of broad and niche non-branded hashtags in your post.
It’s important you stand out as an authority in that hashtag conversation and convert users from just following that hashtag conversation to also following you.
Keep Non-Branded Hashtags Relevant
You also want to make sure you follow and use non-branded hashtags that are relevant to your industry and clients.
It’s not worth it to create posts for a non-branded hashtag that gets ZERO engagement or has ZERO followers to convert, retain, or recruit.
That means there are various niche non-branded keywords that present a lot of opportunities to become a top thought leader in and convert followers to your brand or organization.
For example, #portcongestion is a major issue in the supply chain industry I currently work in. Yet, there are more posts for that hashtag than there are followers!
As of to date, the #portcongestion only has 89 followers! That’s a very niche hashtag regarding a very serious global problem.
That’s 89 people who decided they want updates on this conversation. This presents an opportunity for any organization to insert themselves in this conversation and provide value on that topic to those 89 followers as opposed to #supplychain which already has 216,000 followers on LinkedIn.
#Supplychain may have more visibility. But there will be other thought leaders and competition vying for the attention of those 216,000 followers.
If you can provide enough value to that conversation, you can convert some of those followers to your brand or organization as well. But if you are small fish, you want to avoid getting swallowed up by your competition on broad non-branded hashtags.
Keep in mind, some strategies for branded hashtags are also applicable to non-branded hashtags.
How to Follow Branded or Non-Branded Hashtags on LinkedIn
- Go to Linkedin.com
- Click into the LinkedIn search bar
- Type out the desired hashtag. For example, #TheCopyCartel (yes, this is a shameless plug)
- Click on any post from the results feed to fully display #TheCopyCartel
- Click on the hyperlinked #TheCopyCartel from the individual post
- This will take you to the “homepage” for that desired hashtag. Click Follow
That way, you never miss any of our social posts on LinkedIn. That also goes for any other hashtag you want to follow.
It’s a very effective way to research hashtags and figure out how much volume they have. Plus, you get to keep tabs on your competitors’ posts for any hashtag you want to track.
The Importance of Following Hashtags
It’s highly recommended you get your organization to do this immediately for optimal results on all your social posts going forward.
Following hashtags will help influence the LinkedIn algorithm and increase the traction of your posts on LinkedIn because you are creating a demand for that conversation. And those who supply the most value to conversation become the most prominent thought leaders.
That probability increases if you can get your entire department and other users to follow the conversation you want to become the authority and thought leader in.
This will also help us boost your SEO if you utilize this strategy to convert organic impressions created via LinkedIn.
So go ahead and try out these strategies for branded and non-branded hashtags on LinkedIn
If you enjoyed this article on following hashtags on LinkedIn, feel free to share with your marketing friends and colleagues. And we’re always looking for good people to work with us.
Until then, stay blessed
~K
