Hashtags: A Tool for Discovery (A Hashtag Infographic)

Here are 9 ways you can use hashtags to discover new things, market your products and services, or simply find interesting people and companies . . .

More Retweets and Shares — Tweets with hashtags are 55% more likely to be retweeted. Retweets get you more notice from people who do not follow you but follow the retweeter.

Double the Engagement — Tweets with hashtags get double the engagement of tweets without hashtags. That means more favorites, more retweets, more replies, etc. Hashtags also encourage more engagements in the other social networks as well: more likes, more shares, more comments, more repins.

Follow Topics — In most social networks, hashtags are clickable. That means people can follow topics with hashtags and/or scan topics at the peak of their interest in a subject.

Follow Chats — Hashtags allow people to follow chats on a specific topic, especially useful with Twitter chats.

Make It an Event — Highlight all the happenings at an event via a unique event hashtag so everyone can share the content, happenings, and news related to that event. And even schedule meetups at the event.

Drive People to New Content — You can use hashtags to drive people to new topics where you create a unique hashtag. People that like that topic can follow your new content over multiple social networks.

Monitor Hashtags — You can monitor hashtags that your potential customers might use, so when they need help, you can respond immediately with help.

Monitor Your Competitors — Follow hashtags related to your competitors’ names, brands, etc. You can find out right away when your competitors are announcing new products, new events, new services, new developments.

Monitor Yourself — Follow any hashtags related to your company name, product, brand, author name, etc. Discover what others are saying about you. You might also want to follow the sucky hashtags like #yournamesucks or #yourcompanysucks or similar constructions.