Hashtags began as a way of organising large amounts of social content, but brands also use them to connect campaign activity and invite participation. A campaign hashtag can give people a recognisable way to join a conversation—but the tag alone is not the campaign.
This article focuses on hashtags created for a particular campaign, rather than generic brand tags or joining an existing trending topic. What makes that campaign hashtag useful? Start with these four principles.
1. Make the message clear
A hashtag needs a message behind it. What is the campaign about, and why should somebody care? Even a phrase that seems self-explanatory benefits from context.
Provide supporting information and make the organisation’s role visible. Use the tag consistently in relevant campaign communications and explain the idea to people encountering it for the first time. Do not assume they have seen an earlier post.
A campaign page can give that information a clear home. Photos, video and a straightforward explanation can help people understand the concept. Keep the route to participation simple and avoid unnecessary obstacles.
2. Explain what you want people to do
Many marketers hope a hashtag will inspire people to share stories, photographs or videos and interact with the brand. For that to happen, people first need to know the campaign exists and understand the invitation.
Show examples of the kind of contribution you are asking for. Explain how it relates to the campaign and where participants can see other contributions. A collection of relevant entries can make the idea easier to grasp and encourage others to take part.
Plan how you will introduce and support the campaign across your chosen channels. A hashtag does not create awareness on its own; it needs to be part of a wider social media approach.
3. Check for unintended meanings
Words look different when the spaces disappear. The much-discussed “Susan Album Party” hashtag from 2012 showed how an innocent phrase could be read in an unintended way when written as one continuous string.
Examine a proposed tag from several angles before using it. Ask colleagues to read it without an explanation. Could the words be divided differently? Does it have another association that you have missed?
Capitalising the start of each word can improve readability—for example, #SusanAlbumParty—but remember that other people may write it entirely in lowercase. The underlying choice of words still needs to work.
4. Accept that the conversation is not fully under your control
The openness that makes a hashtag useful also means people can use it in ways the brand did not intend. A request for positive customer stories may attract complaints instead.
The McDonald’s #McDStories campaign became a well-known example when people used the promoted tag to share negative experiences. The lesson is not that brands should avoid participation, but that they should consider a range of possible responses before inviting it.
Agree how you will monitor the discussion and respond constructively. A campaign plan should include the people and time needed to listen after launch, not just the content needed to get started.
For help building that plan, explore our guide to a social media content calendar. Our Benelux PR team can help connect a campaign idea with a clear message and an appropriate audience approach.
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