I teach Twitter workshops and perhaps the most common question I get asked has to be ‘What is a hashtag anyway?’  So I decided to do a little blog all about hashtags and what they are for.

What is a Hashtag?

A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a # symbol to identify a particular topic or popular event that is taking place. e.g. If you see #Liverpool chances are there is a tweet chat going on about Liverpool or a big game on that folk are tweeting about.

See below for an example of hashtags that were ‘trending’ (most popular topics) one evening.

 

The most popular hashtag was Hibernian Training as we were holding a competition on#irishbizparty that night. But see that if you click on #Juniorcert most likely this was because the Junior Cert results were out the next day and people were chatting about this.

So, if you wanted to post about the Late late show, you would include #Latelate  in your tweet to join the conversation. Click on a hashtag to see all the posts that mention the subject in real time

How can hashtags help me in business?

Use relevant hashtags to your business: See what hashtags other businesses in your field are using. If you’re promoting a wedding product I would use #Bridal #Wedding #Bride for example.  I bet if you put #Bridal in the search box you will find lots of others who are in your industry. You should follow some of these users and they could become allies especially if you are doing wedding stationery and they are doing gowns!

There are popular hashtags used by businesses also. For example #Weddinghour is on from 9-10pm and is very popular with all bridal and wedding suppliers. Follow @Weddinghour for more info.

Daily hashtags in use which help promote Business:

#FPSBS @Teamfreddiepig

#Purplebiz @Purpledognet

#Bizitalk @Bizitalk

#Tweeturbiz @Tweeturbizuk

#Womaninbiz #Wineoclock – @AwardingWomen

#1pmlunch - @1pmlunch

Weekly hashtags/Tweet chats

#womensinspire - @WomensinspireIE - Every Tuesday night from 10-11pm GMT. A #Starbiz is selected each week also.  The Starbiz gets to host the hashtag the following week! 

#Irishbizparty – @irishbizparty – Every Wednesday night from 9-10.30pm

#Twitterbrothers – @Tweeturbizuk – Mon night 9-10pm

#Mumzinbiz – @Lavenderbabies – Mon 8-9pm

#Twittersisters – Every Thursday 8.30 -9.30 pm

#Tweetursis – Tues 9pm

#Britishbizparty Every Monday 9-10pm 

#Galwayhour #Donegalhour – New hashtags….keep an eye out for them.

#GreenIre Follow @Shersustainable for more info 

Competitions:

@Theopaphitis #SBS – Between 5 -7.30 Every Sunday evening. Theo Re Tweets his favorite 6 entries! Just tweet what you do using @Theopaphitis and put #SBS in the tweet!

@Jacqueline_gold #Wow – Between 1 and 3pm every Wednesday just tweet using Jacqueline’s name and the hashtag #WOW – She will choose her favorite 3 businesses!

 

There are lots and lots of others! So if you see a hashtag being used in a tweet, click on it and check it out. There are lots of funny ones that go around too, so keep an eye out and join in!