In my post “Don’t steal hashtags” I cover the proper way to avoid stealing someone’s hashtag. In this post, I’m going to expand on that, and explain why you really should do your homework before using a hashtag for your own purposes. <-Click to Tweet!
Firstly, a hashtag is the “#” symbol in front of a word, to make it searchable, and “tag” the tweet for a specific topic. When clicked, Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook will open a search for anyone using that hashtag, and you will be able to follow along. This is the basis for a tweetchat on twitter.
Now, lets say you are about to kick off an awesome fundraiser and you want people to talk about it all over social media. You want to be able to track those conversations, or at least see them so you can respond. You decide creating a hashtag for your event will easily allow people to discuss the event, and you want it to be easy so you choose #fundraiser. Unfortunately, that’s just not specific enough for your event (or anything really) so let’s begin narrowing it down;
1) Think about the name of your event. The event name is pretty much always a safe bet, but not everytime.
2) Think about if this is a one time event. Will it happen again in two weeks? A month? A year?
3) Think about your events purpose. Why are you there? What’s the topic?
The name of this imaginary event is “Drink Coffee and Help The Children”, but that is way too long for a Twitter hashtag, so after you have thought over the previous questions and have a few ideas, it’s time to research.
Go to Twitter.com (and Google Plus and Facebook) and search for the desired hashtag. (Note: Facebook’s hashtag feature is still relatively new, and there may not be any organized hashtag use, yet.) Let’s say your top three ideas are #DrinkCoffee, #DrinkCoffeeJun13 and #DrinkCoffee2013.
#DrinkCoffeeJun13 – For our example, your fundraiser is an annual event held in June. Since it’s annual, the month is really superfluous, so the second idea is scratched out.
#DrinkCoffee – Although your fundraiser is selling coffee for its purposes and is named “Drink Coffee..”, it’s a very popular hashtag that many people use for various purposes, so we’ll scratch this one out, too.
#DrinkCoffee2013 – This one seems to be the best out of all three of your ideas because 1) It adds the year, marking the conversations for this year and every other year you hold the event. 2) It’s not too long. 4) It’s easy to remember. 3) It’s the name of your event.
So there you have it. A very simple run-down on how to create your own hashtag. <-Click to tweet this!
What are your favorite hashtags?
Have an event coming up? Want someone else to do the work for you? Let’s chat!
Comments 17
This is clear and this is useful. Founder of RiteTag here, and would love to G+ hangout on getting things done with smarter tags, and the meaning of #reachbeyondyourfollowers.
Hope to hear from you soon. Roxanne.
Author
I’m very glad you thought so, Saul! I might have to sign up for the beta of your product to learn more. Thanks for stopping by!
Good suggestions. Yes, a good hashtag can make or break your tweets.
Author
Especially if you’re attempting to start conversations about your event! Thank you, Bridget!
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I’m new – sooooo, to create my own hashtag, I just start using it? If nobody else is of course.. or am I missing something?
Author
Hi Chris! Essentially, yes! 🙂 After you’ve come up with a good hashtag, you have to do the research to make sure no one else has claimed it or is using it for their own purposes, and you’re pretty much good to go! Thanks for stopping in and reading!
Awesome – thanks! I’ve bookmarked your page for further reading. You’ve been a big help in only two blog posts that I’ve read of yours. Keep up the great service. – Chris
Author
I am very glad to hear that my posts have helped you, Chris. Thank you so much for letting me know, I appreciate it! 🙂
Hi, does this #hashtag creation also apply to google+??
Author
It sure does! 🙂 Thank you for the question, Gabriel!
once you have your hashtag you should listed in the directory like hashtag .org Tagdef or twubs.
Author
You’re right! It’s a great way to gain exposure for the hashtag, especially if you plan to make use of it more than once (like for a tweetchat). Thanks for stopping in, Carol!
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Hello. Less than a minute into my search on learning how to create my own hashtag, I came across your website. Your explanation is simple, sharp and useful. I’d like to thank you for being a great help. See you on Twitter! 🙂
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