How to Use Hashtags for Ad Agency New Business

hashtags for ad agency new business

The use of hashtags within social media creates a great opportunity to improve awareness and reach prospective clients. 

Hashtags are words preceded by the hash symbol(#). Twitter users were the first to use hashtags back in 2007 and are still the primary users, but hashtags are now used a lot on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Google +, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Vine.

Using hashtags is an easy way to make your content searchable. Prospects can click on a word with a hashtag symbol before it such as #inbound, #contentmarketing or #newbusiness to see all the other Tweets that include that keyword or phrase.

Hashtags also provide a great way for people to connect at live events such as #MirrenLive, #Inbound15 and #aasmallagency.  Using an official event hashtag  allows attendees to network with one another as well as with the organizers and speakers. As attendees share information using the event’s hashtag, even people who can’t attend in person can follow the updates and highlights.

Using hashtags shouldn’t be confusing. Here are some helpful tips to use hashtags successfully:

  • Keep your hashtag as simple and short as possible. Your hashtag takes up the valuable use of the 280 characters allocated by Twitter. 
  • Create a brand hashtag that defines your agency.  I use #FuelLines often as my signature tag.  When my content is shared along with my hashtag, my company brand gets promoted as well. Agencies often miss a great opportunity to market themselves when they don’t choose a hashtag. 
  • An event hashtag will often include the event name and sometimes the year or location. You’ll want to promote the official event hashtag on presentation slides and other event materials and through tweets and other updates. Encourage attendees, vendors and speakers to use the hashtag. 
  • Be sure to use your hashtag on your other social media streams such as Facebook, Google + and Instagram to continue to connect with your prospective client audience across other social media networks.
  • Also, add your hashtag offline such as on your promotional materials.
  • Don’t overuse hashtags. I recommend limiting them to only two. Beyond this, your message will look like SPAM.
  • Create hashtags that will connect your content to your specific target audience. Some of the specific hashtags that I periodically use are #adagency, #PR, #Digital and #Media. 
  • Track and analyze your hashtags across social networks using tools such as RiteTag and Tagboard.

For hashtag marketing to work, you need to use the right hashtags. Here are three sources that will help you find the right hashtags:

My favorite is RiteTag. Be sure to check their analytics’ tool for both topics and keywords.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

photo credit: Got Hash Tag? via photopin (license)

About Michael Gass

Consultant | Trainer | Author | Speaker

Since 2007, he has been pioneering the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.

He is the founder of Fuel Lines Business Development, LLC, a firm which provides business development training and consulting services to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

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