Hashtags are clickable and searchable on facebook..[/caption]
Originally created by Twitter users, hashtags are now part of the social sharing culture, and work the same on all networks that enable them. As such, hashtags on Facebook allow users to:
- Search for a specific hashtag from your search bar. For example, #NBAFinals.
- Click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest.
- Compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.
#hashtags already work for many users on Facebook.[/caption]
Like everything on Facebook, users can control which hashtags are public and which private, by selecting the audience for a post. Clicking on a hashtag brings up a list of related conversations from people and pages you follow, as well as public updates from pages you don't follow.
With #hashtags live, marketers can now target broader audiences on Facebook, boost advertising campaigns, and more. Here's how hashtags can help businesses already, according to Facebook Studio.
How to Use #hashtags on Facebook
- Marketers already using hashtags in advertising campaigns through other channels, can now amplify them by including hashtags in Facebook advertising as well. Marketers need to respect Facebook's creative best practices that already apply for advertising pages, posts and photography.
- Hashtags will also work for users cross-posting updates from Twitter and other networks on Facebook, becoming automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook. This means broader reach for your messages.
- Hashtags also allow marketers to join and drive the conversations about their business, products and brand. Facebook encourages users to search for and view real-time public conversations and test strategies to drive those conversations using hashtags.
- Right now, hashtags do not impact distribution or engagement in News Feed on either desktop or mobile. Marketers are advised to continue to focus on their existing campaigns to drive the most important business objectives.
- Centralize usage around one hashtag. Messages containing too many hashtags are confusing, and "spread thin" according to Twitter's best practices.
- Use obvious hashtags. As an example, the American version of X-Factor used #xfusa as their official hashtags, but fans on Twitter used #xfactor five times more than #xfusa. The show producers were listening, and changed the official hashtag to #xfactor to please their fans.
- Use hashtags creatively - a good example are the mad-lib hashtags, defined as a hashtag that goes at the beginning of a post that starts a sentence a user can then finish.
