When the term “hashtag” started floating around Twitter in 2007, you may have laughed at millennials’ repurposed use of the pound symbol. Over a decade later, the hashtag is an integral part of social media use. As such, it is critical to your online success that you develop a solid hashtag strategy to go along with your online medical marketing strategy. Learn why below, along with top tips for finding the best hashtags for your practice.
Why #hashtag
Hashtags are tools that content creators use to make their content more easily searchable. Ultimately, they help brands boost awareness and increase audience engagement by helping audiences find them on social media. In fact, according to Twitter, brands that use relevant hashtags have a 50% higher engagement rate than those that do not. While you are a busy medical professional, hash-tagging is an important part of how you reach clients.
How to identify the best hashtags for your practice
Now that you understand the role of hashtags, it is time to build your hashtag strategy. Doing so begins with identifying the best hashtags for your content.
Use hashtag research tools
One of the best places to start searching for appropriate hashtags is with hashtag tools. Many of these tools are free and can save you hours of time-cross referencing hashtags across multiple platforms. They can also give you an idea of the popularity of each hashtag and allow you to strike a balance between competitive and not-so-competitive phrases so that you can cast the largest net. Some free and easily accessible hashtag research tools include TweetDeck, Twitter Search, and Twubs.
Understand what you want to be associated with
One of the biggest mistakes that brands make is using popular hashtags for the sake of having their content pop up in trending searches. A famous instance of a hashtag fail is when Kenneth Cole used the trending #Cairo not to talk about what was happening in Egypt but to promote his new spring line. This prompted a lot of criticism and should serve as a reminder to all brands, big and small, to not co-opt a popular hashtag for the sake of promotion. When conducting hashtag research, identify terms that resonate with you, your values, and your audience’s goals.
Consider what is trending
We know, we just told you not to adopt a hashtag simply because of its trending status. However, following the trends judiciously can help you emerge into new markets and engage with larger subsets of your existing audiences if you use them appropriately.
Aim for staying power
Finally (and also contradictory), select hashtags with staying power. You want your audience to associate your tags with your brand so that they can easily search for your new content. Identify a handful you can use across most of your content, and sprinkle in trending tags where appropriate. This type of strategy makes it easy for your existing patients to follow your conversations without closing you off completely to new audiences.
Build a solid social media strategy
Engaging on social media as a brand is tricky, and one wrong move can undo any previous efforts. For help with hashtaagging and other techniques for building and implementing a solid social media strategy, reach out to our team. Call us today.
Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.
