A hashtags campaign is a social media campaign using a specific hashtag to increase brand awareness, build a community and gain user-generated content. The chosen hashtag is a brand-specific one.
Simply put, hashtags are used as keywords that can help you propel your campaign’s posts into the vast world of the internet so that more and more users can see them.
You use a hashtag to make your social media campaign more visible to show that your brand resonates with your audience.
If your target audience comprises people from the age group 24-30 years old, who travel the world, then it’s clear that your next campaign should feature a hashtag that they will surely use.
You will get user-generated content through your hashtag campaign because you promote the launch of a product or service that satisfies your audience’s needs.
When launching your new giveaway, service or product, you use a hashtag campaign to increase brand awareness and create buzz around that topic.
A social media hashtag campaign can help you grow your brand in many ways. These type of campaigns are really a big deal and here are a few reasons why you should use hashtag campaigns for your social media strategy:
By choosing the right hashtag for your social media campaign, you definitely get to attract more users.
The curiosity building up around the hashtag will help you spread the word about the new launch, products and services.
The catchier the hashtag you choose for your campaign, the bigger the audience you get around your brand.
Make sure the hashtag you choose for your campaign is in line with your brand’s values and long-term social media campaign’s goal.
This is how you know you promote the right image for your brand.
Your reach and impressions will increase as your new social media campaign’s hashtag grows more popular.
The virality of your hashtag will bring you high values for reach and impressions while also boosting your engagement.
When you launch a hashtag campaign that perfectly suits your audience’s preferences and needs, you’ll surely get user-generated content.
Those who use your products and are satisfied with what you offer will clearly use your new campaign hashtag and become part of the thread.
When they use your hashtag, their community will find out about you and be curious to get to your TikTok or Instagram to learn more.
As more users find out about your hashtag campaign through all the user-generated content that creates buzz around you, your community engagement will flourish.
And high values for your social media metrics can make your campaign viral and your brand more popular.
When choosing the suitable hashtag for your new social media campaign, it’s important to consider a few guidelines to make sure you avoid creating confusing word combos and use them as a hashtag.
Here is a list of instructions you should keep an eye on when deciding on the hashtag campaign:
When developing your hashtag campaign for social media, you get a whole bunch of benefits.
Maybe this list will convince you:
Hashtag campaigns boost your brand, making your services and products more discoverable.
To ensure you craft a social media hashtag campaign that converts, you could use this list of best practices to make things work in your favor and fuel your brand’s growth.
Booking has a brilliant campaign, encouraging people who use their services to use their new hashtag when posting pictures or videos from their travels.
Their hashtag campaign uses “#TravelGenius,” and Instagram and TikTok users have already started including it in their posts, proudly showing everyone the amazing places they’ve traveled with Booking.
The brand collaborates with celebrities who promote their new hashtag campaign. One of them is Mariah Carey.
People really take amazing pictures that they include their travel journals and tag Booking.
Up to this point, the #TravelGenius hashtag was used in more than 15,000 posts.
Coca-Cola never seizes to surprise their fans. The brand is currently running a few hashtag campaigns with the help of influencers and stars.
The new campaign using #CocaColaCreations shows people that their soda can now fit everyone’s taste. This hashtag was used in more than 24,000 posts so far.
The sodas launched in this campaign have different blends of tastes in a creative combination.
The new campaign encourages users to be bold and try new tastes and experiment new sensations.
Many people who have tried the new sodas have commented on their posts, saying their opinions about the taste.
The great part is that everyone found their favorite.
Adidas has empowered their audience since forever, with motivational campaigns and inspiring sportswear, making everyone be on the move.
The new hashtag campaign #ImpossibleIsNothing encourages users to surpass their limits.
This campaign features a lot of collaborations with influencers and sports people who promote Adidas’ new hashtag campaign.
Their hashtag was already used in over 500,000 posts on Instagram. That’s an amazing community.
L’Oreal Paris is one of the biggest beauty brands in the world. This brand runs many hashtag campaigns simultaneously since they periodically launch new products they want to promote.
L’Oreal Paris collaborates with many influencers and celebrities, like Camila Cabello, to promote thier new hashtag campaigns.
The hashtag #GlowParadise was used in about 20 posts, but this number is still growing because the campaign has just strated.
Lays is well-known for their amazingly flavored chips that have a lot of fans all around the world.
This snack brand shocked everyone with their new campaign, launching surprising aromas for their crisps.
The hashtag campaign #DoMeAFlavour is about letting their fans come up with new flavours’ ideas and the brand chooses some of them to launch them in limited editions.
Besides increasing brand awareness, they built a loyal community around the brand, showing their audience their opinions matters for Lays.
People have asked for the weirdest combos of flavors.
Their new hashtag campaign has over 135 posts so far, but the game has just started.
However, maybe for some people it’s hard to find out about the campaign since the hashtag does not feature the brand’s name, even if the pun used is fun and easy to remember.
L’Oreal has many inspiring social media hashtag campaigns that empower people and encourage them to trust themselves and their beauty.
This brand talks about beauty like being a unique feature that comes in many forms and, although they sell make-up products, they have ads with actresses who take off the make-up.
Why? Because they want to be perceived as a relevant brand, one inspired from their followers’ lives.
The #LessonsOfWorth hashtag campaign that still runs on their Instagram account is a very powerful social media campaign.
The Reels feature women with great influence, like actresses and TV hosts who are well-known in the entire world. Moreover, they are role models for millions of women out there.
The video with Kate Winslet who talks about self-worth is incredibly inspiring and you cannot help but feel goosebumps when listening to her.
The element of surprise in this video, for the L’Oreal community, is that Kate Winslet takes off her make-up as she speaks, telling her listeners that beauty is not about makeup.
Is L’Oreal leading an anti-makeup campaign here? The answer is no. It’s all about smart advertising. It’s about telling stories that don’t even look like ads. This disguise made their campaign successful.
On TikTok and Instagram, L’Oreal has 24 posts that feature this hashtag.
Sephora’s hashtag campaign called #SephoraSquad is one of the most used hashtags of theirs, with 85.000 posts.
Even if this beauty brand started this powerful hashtag campaign, the user-generated content that followed was incredible.
Sephora works with a lot of influencers, both micro and macro-influencers and creators all around the world.
However, building such a strong community around their brand had a positive effect on their hashtag campaign that kept on flourishing.
They started getting a lot of user-generated content from followers who bought their products. The impact of influencers was huge and it proved to work its magic.
The Reels and carousels published by influencers with the brand’s latest products helped them build their brand awareness, grow their engagement, enlarge their community and power their visibility.
Sephora posted 3507 posts with this hashtag in the last six months on Instagram.
Lady Gaga, renowned as a singer, actress, and role model globally, leveraged her influential image to promote her beauty brand, HausLabs. Using the hashtag #CleanBeauty, she initiated an awareness campaign advocating for makeup products not tested on animals. Despite not creating a brand-specific hashtag, the campaign utilized the existing #CleanBeauty, which has over 6 million posts on Instagram. Numerous brands, including HausLabs, have contributed to the hashtag, amassing over 114K posts by business accounts in the last 6 months, emphasizing its effectiveness in building brand awareness.
Everyone knows Duolingo has a really strong marketing strategy, having a nice community behind it due to its presence on TikTok and Instagram.
They really know how to build fun and informative content, attracting more clients through the playfulness of their brand.
Duolingo does not only post fun content, but they share fun methods for learning new languages.
Their hashtag campaign #LanguageLearning has skyrocketed, being extremely popular on both TikTok and Instagram.
In the last 6 months, the brand posted 5121 posts with this hashtag.
I hope a lot of us remember who Grimace is. If not, well, this purple puppet that looks like a chicken nugget or a potato, it’s one of the characters used to be popular in the ‘90s.
This puppet is the embodiment of a milkshake and McDonald’s has recently celebrated Grimace’s birthday, building a lot of suspense and hype around it.
The hundreds of social media posts about Grimace from this brand hashtag campaign have taken over the internet in the past few weeks.
McDonald’s has published a lot of posts about Grimace, but they didn’t always use the hashtag.
There are 1984 tagged posts with #Grimace in the last 6 months on Instagram.
Maison Margiela Fragrances, a renowned retailer with a focus on beauty and fragrances, gained widespread acclaim with the launch of REPLICA, a perfume line inspired by evocative memories. Their hashtag campaign, #SmellsLikeMemories, has garnered attention, accompanied by collaborations with artists and influencers. The brand has fostered a creative initiative, prompting artists to create diverse works such as recipes, paintings, sculptures, and flower installations inspired by their fragrances.
Maison Margiela Fragrances also engages with their followers, replying to their comments and even helping those who want to find a suitable perfume for their preferences.
The brand collaborates with skilled influencers who produce high-quality Reels and poetic content to endorse their fragrances. The associated hashtag has garnered over 26,000 posts on Instagram, with a recent six-month analysis using Socialinsider’s AI Instagram listening tool revealing 186 posts. Influencers predominantly contribute carousels and Reels using the hashtag. Additionally, the brand has initiated a hashtag campaign for their refill bottles, employing #NeverEndingMemories.
Skittles, a leading brand in sour candy, has consistently captivated customers with a variety of sour flavors over the years. Their enduring and well-known hashtag campaign, #TasteTheRainbow, aligns with their colorful candy imagery seen in popular TV commercials. This hashtag has been featured in 678,000 posts on Instagram, reflecting its widespread use and success in promoting the brand.
I used Socialinsider’s AI Instagram listening tool to search for their hashtag campaign and I discovered that in the last 6 months, this hashtag was used in 527 posts, and 499 of them are from influencers.
The hashtag was primarily used when posting Reels.
Skittles has used a lot of user-generated content in their campaign and also many posts from the influencers they collaborate with. Some of them have shown in Reels how they integrate Skittles in some weird recipes.
Fenty Beauty is a beauty brand that is growing in popularity just like Rihanna’s family keeps on growing. The brand has extended so much that it also features Fenty Skin, where they focus on developing skincare products.
The #FentyFam hashtag campaign focuses on posts from the women working at Fenty. They record Reels and take pictures of them using Fenty products, while also telling their stories.
And that’s how you get to your customers’ hearts: through stories and top-notch products.
This campaign is encouraging Fenty employees and clients to tag the beauty brand when testing their makeup products.
I looked up the hashtag #FentyFam with Socialinsider’s AI Instagram listening tool and here are the main results.
In the last 6 months, this hashtag has been used in 57 posts, while 56 of them were published by influencers.
The hashtag from Fenty Beauty was mostly used in Reels on Instagram.
Some of the posts on Fenty Beauty’s Instagram show that the beauty brand even planned a Fenty Fam sale for all their employees. Isn’t that amazing?
Tarte Cosmetics is another beauty brand that took over the makeup-enthusiasts’ world. They use a branded hashtag, just like Fenty Beauty.
Their hashtag campaign with #tartecosmetics has been used in over 3 million posts.
Using Socialinsider’s AI Instagram listening tool, I looked into Tarte Cosmetics’ hashtag campaign example.
In the last 6 months, this hashtag has been used in over 10K posts, and about 9500 of them were posted by influencers.
They mostly used the branded hashtag from Tarte in Reels and carousels.
The beauty brand uses a lot of content from the influencers, posting Reels with them when testing the newest beauty products. And this type of content is really satisfying for followers.
Tarte Cosmetics does its social listening and social audit right since they interact with all the followers who need their guidance when purchasing their products.
Their quick replies to comments about new lipstick shades and blushes really boost their audience loyalty.
A catchy hashtag can turn a hashtag campaign into a viral trend. When crafting a hashtag, ensure it reflects your brand’s values and new product while also being playful to attract attention. These tips on creating a hashtag campaign for social media will be valuable for future planning. Ensure the campaign is creative and purposeful to engage your community effectively. To enhance your social media marketing strategy, consider a comprehensive guide that provides insights for creating a plan from scratch, offering valuable advice for beginners and those reevaluating priorities in 2024.
Social media marketing involves leveraging platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Facebook to promote your brand and sell products or services. Activities like launching new items, engaging with customers through comments, and creating compelling content that reflects your brand’s values constitute social media marketing. Successful execution of this marketing approach requires applying social media management skills and tools.
Developing a plan for social media marketing is essential, akin to preparing other aspects of your overall marketing strategy. The process involves creating a strategy in seven steps, as the accompanying video details.
Social media strategy planning starts with your goals. Whether you want to expand your team, build a larger following or a more active community, defining your social goals is the first step to reaching them.
Either way, your goals will define your social media marketing strategy and how much time and energy you must dedicate to your campaigns.
What matters is that you set realistic social media goals. We recommend tackling smaller objectives that allow you to scale your social efforts in a way that’s both reasonable and affordable.
Below are some examples of social media marketing goals businesses of all shapes and sizes can pursue.
Brand awareness means getting your name out there. Some 68% of consumers say they follow a brand on social media to stay informed about new products or services.
Avoid solely publishing promotional messages and strike a good balance with authentic content that emphasizes your brand’s voice and story.
For example, in this TikTok video, Sani, a family-owned apparel company features a day in the life of the brand’s founders while visiting India for business:
Whether online, in-store or through your social profiles, followers don’t accidentally make purchases. For example, are you alerting customers about new products and promos? Are you integrating your product catalog into your social profiles? Are you running exclusive deals for followers? Social media gives you an avenue to generate revenue.
Bringing new followers into the fold means finding ways to introduce your brand to folks who haven’t heard of you before. Growing your audience also means discovering conversations around your business and industry that matter the most. Digging through your social channels is nearly impossible without monitoring or listening for specific keywords, phrases or hashtags. Having a pulse on these conversations helps you expand your core audience (and reach adjacent audiences) much faster.
Making assumptions is bad news for marketers. Both leaders and practitioners can disprove assumptions from social data’s valuable insights. With the right tool, marketers can quickly research their audience. No formal market research or data science chops necessary.
What you need to know about your audience to influence your social media marketing strategy is already available. You have to know where to look.
Here are some key numbers for your 2024 social media marketing strategy that speak directly to which networks your brand should approach and what types of content to publish:
Social media demographics and statistics provide valuable insights into your target audience’s online presence. However, it’s crucial to grasp the nuances of each social network to strategically position your business.
While larger brands may maintain a presence across multiple platforms due to extensive resources, mid-size or small businesses need to be more selective. Not every social platform is suitable for every brand. To streamline your efforts, the following is a brief overview of the major social platforms.
Simple and straightforward, X is a solid starting point for most businesses. Requiring minimal setup and providing a place to go back and forth with followers directly, there’s a reason why X remains one of the go-to platforms for customer service. If you’re trying to master the social media marketing basics of hashtags, tagging, brand voice and social media etiquette, look no further.
For local businesses, Facebook is essential for targeting local customers by enabling check-ins and reviews, fostering a dedicated local following. Its chatbot functionality enhances customer service and marketing campaigns. Despite algorithm changes in late 2022 prioritizing more sophisticated criteria, Facebook’s ad platform remains the gold standard for social media ads, helping businesses navigate algorithmic shifts and stand out in the crowded digital landscape.
At its core, Instagram is a network centered around visual content. A major hub for brick-and-mortar businesses, e-commerce shops and influencers alike, the platform encourages brands to get creative. From eye-popping photos to clever captions, it’s all about finding unique ways to show off what you’re selling.
When Meta released Threads on July 5, 2023, the social network received over 100 million registrations less than a week after its launch, making it the most rapidly downloaded app ever. The launch of Threads sparked conversations about its role in the fediverse, or decentralized social media.
But, for now, Threads is a text-based social network that users can sign up for through their current Instagram account. Users can post on mobile, but Threads is also available on desktop. Threads are great for brands who already have Instagram accounts because the sign up process is pretty seamless.
LinkedIn is a network laser-focused on business trends and networking. LinkedIn is a goldmine, especially for anyone networking in the B2B space. Looking to get in touch with an influencer, marketing manager or CEO? Chances are you can find them here.
There are so many benefits of using LinkedIn marketing beyond networking, including content distribution and lead generation. We also have a guide for LinkedIn best practices so you can get full advantage of those benefits.
Pinterest marketing is insanely popular, especially among Gen Z and Millennials. Over 465 million people use this visual pinning platform every month to find inspiration and their next purchase. Pinterest is noted to be one of the best networks for social selling. Like Instagram, Pinterest thrives on imagery and inspirational content where products serve as the proverbial centerpiece.
Although some might not regard YouTube as a traditional social network, the platform’s active and engaged community speaks for itself. Considering that video represents the top-performing type of content across nearly every social network, YouTube is a great place to house your videos if you’re already producing them.
TikTok reached 1 billion users in September 2021 and remains one of the most popular apps in the world. Along with its viral trends and niche communities, the short-form video app is known for its hyper-personalized algorithm that keeps users scrolling for hours. TikTok marketing has changed the game for brands, allowing them to connect with customers in an entirely new way.
While there are over 15 social media platforms available for your brand, it’s advisable not to stretch yourself too thin. Instead of attempting to dominate every platform, prioritize those that align with your industry and target audience.
Conduct thorough research on your current social media audience and concentrate on networks where your primary audience is already engaged. Further analysis is necessary to identify the characteristics of your real-world social customers accurately.
Your social media marketing strategy hinges on your content. At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what to publish based on your goals, audience and brand identity. You probably feel confident in which networks to cover, too.
But what about your content strategy? Below are some tips, ideas and inspiration that can help.
Coming up with a content strategy might seem like a lot of legwork, but it all really boils down to your goals.
Regardless of what you might post, coming up with a hashtag to couple with your content is a brilliant branding move.
Hashtags can get your attention and encourage people to share their photos interacting with your brand.
One of the best ways to stand out on social media is to define your distinct brand voice. Chances are you’ve seen a post from a particular brand that feels like, well, theirs.
The quippy, casual tone that makes Discord’s X presence beloved by casual users and moderators alike is a great example.
Of course, not every company will benefit from the same sort of tone. The key is to present yourself as a human rather than a robot. Adopt a consistent brand voice and style that’s appropriate for your business.
From graphics to Reels and beyond, numerous brands consistently use familiar content formats and creative elements. Adopting specific themes can enhance your consistency and focus on a coherent content strategy. For instance, you could rotate between memes, product photos, and user-generated content while adhering to a defined color scheme. If managing these diverse sources of social content becomes challenging, explore the use of social media management tools. These tools assist in organizing your media library and scheduling posts in advance.
Stories aren’t going anywhere. Tapping into your followers’ FOMO (fear of missing out), Stories-style content is both interactive and can’t-miss. Popping up first in your followers’ feeds by default, this content can help your brand’s account “skip the line” and stay fresh in your audience’s minds.
Stories are especially valuable for taking your followers behind-the-scenes and making your social feed feel more personal. For example, consider how you can use Stories to cover an event or take your followers on a journey without them having to leave the comfort of the ‘gram.
Social video is booming thanks to the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels. Short-form productions dominate the social space across all platforms due to their high engagement rate.
Both personal and personable content should be a cornerstone of your social media marketing strategy. Don’t be afraid to remind followers of the humans behind your posts. Remember that over a third of consumers are looking for authentic, original content from brands.
For example, Zoom has excellent original content on their Instagram and TikTok accounts, like this Reel that explores the different signs in the workplace:
Timeliness is arguably more important than ever for marketers. Not only are you expected to put out fresh content regularly, but also to always be “on” for your followers. But you can’t always expect customers to operate on your clock. And timeliness is a tall order when you’re strapped for resources or are part of a small team.
To optimize social media engagement, brands should not only focus on posting at the best times for their audience but also ensure that their social media or community managers are available to engage with customers after posting. While scheduling posts at optimal times is important for automation, the effectiveness is compromised without real-time interaction. Teams must be present to respond to product inquiries or concerns promptly, emphasizing the significance of both strategic posting times and post-engagement efforts.
This guide underscores the various elements involved in maintaining a contemporary social presence. However, creating your own doesn’t need to be a cumbersome task. By establishing actionable goals and addressing each step outlined above, you’ll find yourself well ahead of the curve in terms of your social media marketing strategy.
Sources:
https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/social-media-hashtag-campaigns/
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-marketing-strategy/
https://influencermarketinghub.com/hashtag-campaigns/