#Hashtags Are Coming To Facebook

On Wednesday, Facebook announced that hashtags will now be clickable in an effort to create more public conversations on the social network.

Initially, the hashtag feature is being rolled out to a small group of users. Within the coming weeks, more users can expect to see clickable hashtags.

According to Facebook, users can now:

• Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals.
• Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram.
• Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

What is a hashtag?

A hashtag is the number sign (#) combined with a word or phrase.

Here's how to use hashtags to promote your business.

Using Hashtags to Promote Your Business

Small businesses should be taking advantage of social media, especially Twitter and hashtags. A hashtag is the number sign (#) combined with a word or phrase. At BBB, we often use #BBB or #StartWithTrust at the end of our tweets.  This way, if people are looking to find general business or consumer tips, they will have a list on Twitter to reference.

A blog post by OPEN Forum has five tips to improve your hashtag strategy:

1. Look for business topics.  Hashtags like #smallbiz and #SMB are very popular on Twitter and they can be a good source of industry news. If you are looking for more specific information, try searching for hashtags like #sales, #marketing and #socialmedia.

2. Hashtags must be simple. You only have 140 characters to get the word out on Twitter. Don’t spend 50 of those characters with a long and complex hashtag.  Keep it short and simple.  Also, limit your tweets to 1-2 hashtags. Anymore than that is overkill.

3. Be creative. Make a hashtag for your business. If you’re hosting an event be sure to create a hashtag, so people can tweet about it.  For example, the Massachusetts Conference for Women encouraged attendees to use #masswomen for those who were tweeting about the event.  The hashtag was a great success on Twitter.

4. Monitor your hashtags. If you use a social media suite like HootSuite or TweetDeck, add a hashtag column to closely observe what people are tweeting. Or simply plug your hashtag in the search bar on Twitter.

5. #FollowFriday or #FF. Use Follow Friday to showcase your most loyal followers or other businesses you support. Try to put as many Twitter handles into one tweet as you can. For a more personal approach, only put one or two usernames.  

For more information, visit http://www.openforum.com/articles/how-to-use-twitter-hashtags-for-your-business/.