How to choose a hashtag for your business

Discover how to choose a good hashtag for your business in 5 simple steps.

1. Hashtag is community conversation

On Twitter and Instagram your business account starts with an at symbol plus the name of your business @MyBusiness: this allows your customers to reference you so you can reply to them in a quick and simple way, starting a direct dialogue.

But many times your customers want to share opinions, pictures and videos with their community referencing your business without linking directly to your social media account. That’s why it is important to offer them a clear and easy hashtag with your business name #MyBusiness so they can share multimedia content.

2. Pick a short hashtag

Good things, when short, are twice as good. If the name of your business is compound shorten the hashtag using the initial letters or using only the consonants if it’s a long name. If your business is located in different cities and you’re using a different hashtag for each, use the acronym of the city like #MyBusinessNYC (for New York City) or #MyBusinessLA (for Los Angeles).

3. Create a simple hashtag

Using initial letters plus acronyms can result in a hashtag difficult to write and remember. If this is your case, try combining the initial letters of the name of your business with the sector (#MBRestaurant) or the city where it’s located (#MBLosAngeles).

4. Make your hashtag unique

Without a doubt, the most important thing is making your hashtag unique, ensuring that it’s not used yet for purposes not related to your business. Check your hashtag directly on Twitter and Instagram or use social media monitoring tools such as TweetDeck or Hootsuite. This way, you’ll be able to read and answer opinions and see pictures and videos of your customers about your business to share them on your official @MyBusiness accounts.

5. Share your hashtag

Share your hashtag on the social media accounts of your business, both on the bio and your posts. Mix your business’ hashtag with other related hashtags that you can find at Hashtags.org and Hashtagify or with geolocated hashtags from Trendsmap.

Communicate your business’ hashtag on your website, emails and newsletters. Use also physical media to promote your hashtag: flyers, brochures, posters, bags, boxes and napkins are perfect places to advertise offline your online brand.

Do you have screens in your business? Try displaying on your TVs and monitors the social media photos and videos tagged with your hashtag and you’ll see the conversation of your community grow automatically.