Monday, January 14, 2013

3 Twitter Hashtag Secrets

Hashtag image from Bobby Owsinski's Music 3.0 blog
If you've been reading this blog for a while you know that I'm a big proponent using Twitter as a promotional tool. The key to using Twitter that way is by including hashtags in your tweets, or the # symbol before a keyword (like "#musicmarketing" which I'll be using when I tweet about this blog). This is one of the ways that people can find your tweet when they do a such for a particular topic.

If you're using them already and you don't find your followers increasing, check out the following "secrets:"

1. Don't be ironic. I know that it's the cheeky thing to post something like #badcupofcoffee or #rudepeople, but that doesn't help you reach the people that you want to reach. To find the right keyword, go to search.twitter.com, plug in the keyword that you think will work, then check out how popular it is and what some of the other keywords that people are using.

2. Limit the number. It's been proven that using more than 2 hashtags in a tweet is counterproductive. It just confuses people reading the tweet. Stick to only 1 or 2.

3. Target your audience. Once again, do a search to find which hashtags fit for the audience that you're trying to reach. I have a list of about 20 that I can mix and match depending upon the nature of the tweet and which audience might like it more. For instance, the list is different for the tweets from this blog, which is about the music business, than for my Big Picture blog, which is about music production. To narrow it down further on that blog, I have a list that's targeted to musicians (#drums, #drummers, #guitars, etc.) or recording (#recording, #producers, etc.).

Using hashtags isn't hard and they can bring results beyond anything you might expect. All you have to do is use them correctly.

By the way, today is the last day of social media maven's Ariel Hyatt's crowdfunding campaign. I've contributed a few rewards to her various tiers, so be sure to take a look.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

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