Using Hashtags for Branding

Originally posted by awkwardimages.com

A few weeks ago, we revealed the mystery of hashtags to explain what they are and how to implement a hashtag strategy on Twitter. But did you know that hashtags are also very useful for other social media sites, such as Instagram, Pinterest and Google+? They are becoming so popular, one couple recently named their newborn daughter Hashtag!

You use hashtags on other social networking sites in much the same way you do on Twitter. Simply add a # symbol in front of the word or phrase you wish to tag (without spaces) in your post. You can also add hashtags to words in comments, although you must be the original poster for this to work on Instagram.

So how can your brand benefit from using hashtags? You can run a promotion asking users to upload photos of your product or from your event with a specific hashtag and use the content in later promotions. (See this Mashablearticle for some examples of branded hashtag contests on Instagram). The best thing about hashtags is that you can be really creative in coming up with ways to use them for your brand – and let your fans get really creative with the implementation!

Please share your hashtag success stories with us in the comments below.

The Mystery of Hashtags Revealed

I’ve been asked a lot lately about hashtags, so I thought I’d put together a brief tutorial for those of you out there scratching your heads at the phenomenon of adding a pound symbol (#) in front of a word or phrase. What does it mean and why should you care?

The hashtag first became used in popular culture on Twitter as a way for users to categorize or group messages together and as a way for their tweets to be found more easily in Twitter search results. To create a hashtag, simply add the pound symbol (#) before a key word or phrase that you want to highlight. For example, if you are a retailer and you’re having a big sale on shoes, you might use #ShoeSale in your tweet to help get found by anybody looking for a shoe sale. (The capital letters don’t have an effect on search, but it makes the words easier to read). As Jeff Bullas points out in his blog, “hashtags are like Twitter SEO.”

At the same time, you can find other people who are talking about your product or industry by doing a hashtag search of your own. You would simply type your keywords into the search bar to find anyone who is talking about #shoes and join the conversation. Many events and conventions designate a hashtag that attendees can use to find other Twitter users who are attending the same event, and people who cannot attend may still follow along what is happening by following the hashtag. Televised events now have hashtags that are broadcast to viewers so everyone can be part of the same conversation, such as the Democratic National Convention (#DNC2012) and Republican National Convention (#RNC2012).  If you do a search in Twitter for these hashtags, a list of tweets showing these topics will come up. Often, hashtagged words that are very popular become Trending Topics.

Hashtags are not just limited to Twitter anymore. Other social media platforms, such as Pinterestand Instagram, have also picked up on using hashtags as a way for users to categorize their content and to make searches easier – both to find what they’re looking for and for others to find them. How are you using hashtags for your business? Have you had success in creating your own trending hashtag? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Social Media and the Summer Olympics

Social media is set to play a big role in the 2012 Summer Olympicsthis year, with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube leading the charge. During the last Summer Olympics in 2008, the most popular social media sites of today were just getting their feet wet, and the number of Internet users has increased from 23% to about one-third of the world’s total population, according to Mashable.

Olympic rings on display in Cardiff, Wales

A recent Mashable article made an interesting comparison of the status of each of the three top sites in 2008 to where they currently are in terms of users, functionality and growth. Some of the other top social media networks like Google + and Pinterest were not even around during the last Olympics. And while many people will surely be sharing tweets and videos throughout the summer games, some fraudsters will also be trying to get in on the action.

Phishing and ticketing scams have already been reported and social media users are urged not to click on any links in alerts that seemingly come from these sites. Instead, go directly to the site by typing the URL into your browser, and those lucky enough to score tickets to the Olympics can visit the “Ticket Checker” on the official London2012.com website to verify their authenticity.

How do you plan to use social media during the 2012 Summer Olympics? What events are you most looking forward to watching?

Image credit: rovingsheep

Popping on Pinterest and Facebook

Want to make your posts pop and get attention from your fans and followers? Do it with an image. Here are some marketing strategies for your images on Facebook and Pinterest.





 Facebook

• post images with motivational or inspirational text on them
• post humorous images and memes relating to your industry
• post brightly colored images that grab attention easily
• post a question with your image to make it more "sticky" and encourage comments
• post multiple images at once in an album to attract more curiosity to the images that can't be seen without clicking

Pinterest

•   post longer images; they get more attention
• use photos that pop, even when they're small
• make captions when you have something interesting and relevant to say about the photo
• infographics get a lot of attention, so consider creating one to get more attention on Pinterest
• link all of your images to a relevant page on your website

What have your most successful shared social media images been thus far? Do you have any top tips for images on Facebook and Pinterest to grab your audience's attention?

The 3 E’s of Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC]

Ten Golden Rules is jumping on the Pinterestcraze with its first infographic, or “information graphic,” as a web marketing tool. For this foray into the graphics space, TGR’s CEO Jay Berkowitz created a visualization of his “3 E’s of Social Media.” Utilizing a mix of cartoon-like images, photos and text, the 3 E’s are illustrated and explained for easy reference and recall. The final test will be to see how quickly and thoroughly this graphic spreads through the web via Repins, Likes and Retweets. Graphics are extremely popular these days with new sites like Pinterest and apps like Instagram gaining millions of users in short amounts of time. Infographics in particular are a visually appealing tool for disseminating statistics and concepts in an easy-to-digest manner. Have you used infographics to market your business? Use the comments section below to tell us about your experience.

Shazam It! Consumers Get a Deeper Content and Sharing Experience with Music, Ads and TV Shows

Have you ever heard a song you like, but you just can’t remember the name of the band? Or maybe it’s a new song that you immediately fall in love with and you just have to know who sings it immediately. Shazam! Now you can.

In my opinion, Shazam is one of the coolest – and most underrated – apps available. If you have never used or heard of Shazam, it is an app for your iPhone, iPod or other mobile device that can identify almost any song in just seconds. It’s perfect for those “senior moments” or new songs that grab your attention. A couple of years ago, they quietly introduced Shazam for TV advertising as well –a brilliant use of the app as a second screen for content and calls to action. According to Adweek, Shazam powered up to a third of the ads during the 2012 Superbowl.

This week, Shazam released its fifth iteration, Shazam 5.0, which is faster than the older version and includes a richer user experience, including an updated interface and sharing capabilities with Twitter and Facebook. Check out their video via Mashable. It looks and sounds like the company is beefing up the app in order to beef up its advertiser roster and increase revenues in return.

You don’t really hear people talking about Shazam like they do about Pinterest. Do you think their new and improved app with sharing buttons will raise the buzz level? Have you or would you ever Shazam a commercial on TV?