The Low Down On Hashtags

I know we've all seen a hashtag and we probably know someone who uses them to label every.single.thing they do. #perfectlife #livinglife #dranksomecoffee #atesomegrapes #pooped #goingtobed. But what the heck does a hashtag really do? Well, preceding a keyword with a hash character, or pound sign, (#) will identify messages on that keyword. So think of it like an archive of similar posts or pictures.

So how the heck can you use those fancy little hashtags to your advantage? If you're a photographer, you might be tempted to stick to keywords that you associate with your industry: #photographer, #photography, #canon, #nikon
Now, are those keywords very popular? YES! Will those keywords get you some likes? Probably! Are those the keywords your clients are going to find you with? Not likely! You know who is using those keywords? Other photographers. Or people looking to attract photographers. As a Graphic Designer, photographers are one of my ideal clients. So #photographer is a keyword I use a lot. But someone who is going to need a photographer in their life is not going to be as likely to find you with that keyword

This is where going back to your brand and identifying your ideal client comes into play. Use that knowledge that you curated early on in your business. You know who your clients are: maybe they are new moms, someone recently engaged, someone getting married, high school graduates, etc. You want your keywords to resonate with them. You want to use the keywords they are using to get your snazzy content on their discovery page. Keywords like: #newmom, #senioryear, #engaged, #becomingmrs those are keywords your ideal client is going to be using. Do your homework, see what keywords your competition is using, see what keywords your clients are using, see what keywords someone you'd love to be your client is using. Curate keywords that bring in clients not likes!