By Jenny Mann
[dropcap}I[/dropcap} work with a lot of breweries to help them get their digital presence off the ground. One of business owner’s most common concerns regarding social-media is “feeling unseen”. One of the easiest things a business can do to be seen is to use hashtags.
Does your brewery use hashtags?
Hashtags are key words preceded by the pound sign (AKA: #). They are used on social-media platforms to categorize content to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation. Hashtags make your business discoverable by helping your target audience find you! They help boost your brewery’s social-media reach and engagement, keeping your fans and followers informed with valuable information regarding your business. And using just one can bump your reach by over 12%.
Know your tags and who follows them
By doing some very light research, you can find your ideal hashtags.
Simply go into your search feature on Instagram. Type in a key word and tap on the “#”, and you will see a number listed next to the hashtag. This is how many times it has been used. Try to stick to hashtags in the thousand to hundreds-of-thousands range, then throw in one with a million here and there.
You can also see if a hashtag is too obscure to use to be seen. Here are some examples…
- #beseen (363K)
- #sdbeernews (4.1K)
- #sandiegobrewery(14K)
- #craftbeer (34.6M)
- #thisisveryeasytodoandveryhelpful (0)
After determining the hashtags that make the most sense for your brand, you will want to research who your ideal audience is. Look who is searching those very specific craft-beer topics, and follow those hashtags like you would follow a person, brand or business. Now this hashtag will show up in your feed and you can engage with a fan or future fan.
Be relevant, real and mix things up!
Instagram has recommended using 3-5 hashtags per post, however, I’d say stay within 10 relevant hashtags. Remember, more is not always better!
And utilize relevant hashtags. Do not use hashtags that do not have anything to do with your post topic. Social media is smart. It knows. So when you use a slew of hashtags that are considered “popular” and your post topic has nothing to do with your hashtag choices, your post will get less engagement and less reach, and your ideal audience will not be able to find you. What you thought was a sly method can end up backfiring on you.
Don’t get in a rut. Try not use the same hashtags for every post. Every post deserves its own variation of hashtags.
Always use your brewery hashtag (#nameofbrewery ) first! This way your fans and followers can find you. And this encourages your fans to use your hashtag as well when they post and share your product.
And remember, just like IRL (in real life) you set your own standards…and you should carry this into your digital presence, as well. If a popular hashtag does not agree with you, or does not fit with your branding or beliefs, do not feel pressured to use it.
Take what you’ve learned here and give those hashtags a try. It’s time for your brewery to be seen!
Have more questions? Need some advice or creative brainstorming? Let me know! I offer a free 30-minute consult for members of our independently owned craft-beverage family. Just shoot me via email!