Sometimes those outside of content writing services consider understanding hashtags as simply being able to use the interface of the social network. Others believe that as long as you are able to attract local followers in the UK to the company Twitter account, you have Twitter expertise. Many don’t realise the value that the hash tagging system has and how to use it effectively.
# Discover
The hashtag on Twitter is now accompanied by a helpful word, ‘discover’, in the main toolbar across your Twitter homepage. That is exactly what it is designed to do. Your Twitter feed will only allow you to see new posts by your existing connections, the people you have followed. If you want to find new and interesting sources of content, click on the discover button.
Automatically you will see a range of tweets that have been proved popular with others in your network. So if the post has been retweeted a number of times and the user is followed by a number of your friends, chances are you will see it here. There are other buttons in the top left menu you can utilise to enhance your Twiter experience, such as the activity of your Followers and people who follow you, and suggestions of who to follow which are based on the contacts you already have.
Trends
Trends are often one of the most interesting things about Twitter. Trends monitors hashtags and mentions of a particular subject and allows you to join the conversation. For instance one of the big talking points of the last week has been the casting of Ben Affleck as the new Batman. Despite Affleck’s recent successes, particularly Argo, fans of the caped crusader have taken to social media to criticise the decision.
Ben Affleck has proved himself as a very capable actor, and with his picture ‘Argo’, which he both directed and starred in gaining two Oscars last year, it was thought that his transformation from figure of ridicule to a respected member of the Academy was complete.
In fact the public even took sympathy with his omission from the best director Oscar nominations, which proved to be an embarrassment for the Academy as Affleck scooped the award at various other award shows. However the public last saw Affleck in a superhero role in the movie ‘Daredeveil’ which was panned by the critics.
Hence the trending hash tags like #BetterBatmenthanBenAffleck spring up to help guide others to the debate.
Marketing
If you are looking to take advantage of Twitter for marketing purposes it is important to recognise these conversations. Lexus even jumped on the #Batfleck (an amalgamation of Affleck’s name with Batman) bandwagon, though the tweet was later removed. Affleck actually drives a Lexus, though of course the Batmobile will be seen as something of an upgrade.
The birth of the royal baby was another significant hashtag opportunity for marketers. As a news event it was a perfect one to be able to prepare for. Companies had 9 months to prepare for the birth and it was obvious a lot of content writing services put effort into the marketing content they put out under the #royalbaby hashtag for the impending arrival of the new UK royal.
Trend Tools
You can use various websites to follow what is going on on Twitter. Whatthetrend.com will give you rankings on the top trends on Twitter, and its userbase will attempt to explain the significance of each hashtag and what it means. Topsy.com is another service which provides useful analytics on trends on Twitter so you can analyze the effectiveness of a hashtag before you invest effort in producing content for it.
Trendsmap.com is another way to locate the latest trends, however it can prove more useful for local businesses looking to take advantage of trends in their home territory. If your content writing services business is only interested in what people are talking about in the UK, you can look at only the trends in that territory.
Choosing Trends
Obviously many trends will be quite sensitive and wrong to make use of. The #RoyalBaby trend was perfect as there was nothing negative about the story, it was simply a celebration of a big event for a family, the country and to some extent, the world. Making use of the #Batfleck hashtag is much more difficult as it is negative by nature. If you are a content writing services writing on behalf of a comedian or a company that makes money from edgy humour, or has involvement in movies or comic books it is a trend you can hardly afford to miss. For other companies, it may be a little risky.
It’s important to choose relevant trends for your company. Find conversations which will be between people likely to be interested in your brands and services or product. Sometimes it will be useful to target conversations with a lot of interest, but your content could be drowned out by all the other competing voices.
Make sure your contribution to the conversation is worthwhile. Blatant promotion will not go down well. Think of it as a real life conversation. If you dive in and interrupt it will not be well received unless you have something to add to the conversation. Think of it like you are selling a rose on the street in the early hours of the morning when the nightclubs are ending. You are not going to sell a rose to a group only consisting of men (normally). Pick the right conversation to promote your rose.
Establishing Your Own Conversations
The hashtags are also useful for creating your own conversation. If you want people to add to your debate, tell them to use your hashtag and monitor it to see the responses and respond using the same hashtag. BBC Sport hosts a Twitter conversation on the days sporting events using the hashtag #BBCSportsday every day. IGN and many other companies also use this technique to encourage feedback from their audiences and stimulate discussion.
Importance for Content Writing Services
Hashtags often seem to be forgotten in Twitter marketing strategies. Using them is a great way of reaching a wider audience, rather than just promoting the same material to existing followers. Hopefully content writing services are beginning to learn the importance of this tool for engaging with more UK customers.