Are Hashtags Dead?

Are Hashtags Dead?

It seems like hashtags are in limbo at the moment. You can use a few to get in front of the right people, but most algorithms aren't as dependent on the tags as they once were. At the bottom I've even attached a quick Marketing tip for you.

Why were hashtags created in the first place?

Hashtags were created to help categorise the content.

That's it.

It helped the bots see what was in the content so it could be distributed to the right audience. Those who followed #Dogs would get lovely pictures of dogs and those who used #technology would be drowned out by bitcoin offers... simpler times.

From the start, hashtags were a useful tool and you could see posts on Instagram with 30 tags at a time at the bottom of the post to help boost it. Get it in front of as many people as possible. The views and engagement would increase and the real algorithm would see it as a potential great post and naturally promote it.

You can see a little of this still today, but there are a lot of ways people are using it wrong, thinking they will get the success from the past.

How Hashtags Work Today

Today, hashtags are still used to catagorise content, but the way the algorithm picks up content has matured greatly. Now, social media channels can see what the photo, video, PDF, etc. is all about and the accompanying text. Of course, there are some instances where it gets it wrong, but it's surprisingly effective.

You can't show a picture of a cake and use the hashtag car to get in front of car fanatics.

Unless that cake was a car cake.

The point is, the content matters more than the hashtag.

Marketing Tip - Stop Hashtagging Your Field

If you write a post about your business you naturally think to tag your industry, right? Well, you might find it interesting, so will your competitors, but what about everyone else?

If you're using content to market or sell yourself you need to tag people following hashtags that you want to be in front of. Tagging your industry is great if you want to attract your industry, but does very little else for you.