Everywhere you turn it seems that you are inundated with a new social media or more specifically a hashtag campaign, from restaurants and hotels (#food, #hotels) to weddings and sororities (#partyof2, #PHC), with even political parties getting deep into it (#imwithher or #feelthebern). The hashtag movement is growing and all-encompassing. This is because it is the fastest way to increase engagement with fans/followers on social accounts. While brands and companies may choose to launch social media marketing campaigns for a myriad of reasons, in the end, they are looking to increase attention, customer engagement and brand affinity. The best thing about this type of marketing is that it usually does not require payment.

Set your goals

Do you know how to get started? Establishing a strong team and a plan will be one of the best ways to start. What does your brand or company want to ultimately gain with their hashtag? Do you want to gain a bigger following? Are you looking to be talked about online? Accumulate brand mentions? Once you find your focus and identify how your social campaign, you will be able to achieve your targets. Use it to organize your campaign’s short-term objectives for each of the social channels you’re using, team assignments, general content ideas you can build on and how you’ll use features of specific platforms

Pick your Platform

Should you use Twitter? Facebook? Instagram? Or should you focus on some of the lesser-known platforms? It depends. Once you have set your goals, you will want to pick the ones most suited to collect customer content on. The channels you choose must reflect your target audience. If you are a paint-by-numbers customized picture company, your focus will be completely different than a luxury hotel trying to drum up business.  It will help you hone in on what hashtag to use, and the next steps that you will want to take. Brainstorming, lists and determining your market audience will be the most beneficial.

Pick a Timeline

One of the biggest social media blunders is sporadic posting. The key to enhancing visibility and engaging consumers is regular posting. If you abandon your social media accounts for weeks at a time your consumers are much less likely to find you relevant. Life gets busy or you let go of the only person who had your passwords can be problematic, but do not fall behind. Once you have a timeline for a campaign and have identified major milestones, it is time to create a content calendar. Decide what you will be posting, which networks you want to publish to and when you will be posting it. Always include specific days and times.

Foster Customer Engagement

How do you get the word out there? You can focus on what you can do for the follower, because when companies do that, it comes naturally. The biggest trick is to create content that is interesting, compelling, and most importantly, relevant. Think about how what you are sharing will be of use to your target consumer. Will it help them save time? Will it teach them something new? Will it help them to save money? Whether it is a new quick and easy dinner recipe or a great coupon, consumers are always appreciative of content that they can use in their everyday lives.

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