Social media is all about community, and one way to find your people (or your audience) is by using hashtags. This syntactical invention of the early aughts combines the pound symbol with short words and phrases to organize posts by content.
Since then, the use of relevant hashtags has become standard practice on social media platforms, and Facebook hashtags let marketers engage in conversations across the platform to discover new audiences.
What are Facebook hashtags?
Facebook hashtags are words and phrases preceded by a pound symbol (#) that appear as clickable links leading to compilations of tagged content. For a Facebook hashtag to become a link, it must not contain any special symbols, punctuation, or spaces. While many hashtags contain all lowercase letters, this isn’t required, and using title case can actually improve the readability of certain phrases.
3 ways to use Facebook hashtags
There are three main benefits to incorporating relevant hashtags into your Facebook strategy:
1. Reach new audiences
Users searching for posts on specific topics or events often browse hashtags to discover related content. Adding relevant hashtags to your own posts puts you in front of interested and engaged audiences, many of whom may not have been familiar with your brand or business.
Adding location- or theme-based hashtags is one way to catch their attention—New Yorkers looking for things to do on a Saturday night might browse #brooklynightlife, for example. Similarly, a gallery opening featuring #emergingartists might be of interest to culture connoisseurs.
2. Cultivate engagement and community
It’s possible to use relevant hashtags to encourage customers to engage publicly with your brand or aggregate user-generated content (UGC). If you wanted to host an “ask me anything” session on social media, adding the #ama hashtag to promotional posts will clue in your audience as to the purpose of the event.
A skin care brand might prompt its followers to demonstrate how they use the brand’s products by using hashtags like #getreadywithme (or #grwm). Beauty brand Glossier’s online publication, Into the Gloss, encourages customers to share photos of their bathroom shelves by using the hashtag #itgtopshelfie.
3. Create cohesive omnichannel campaigns
Hashtags are a key marketing tool for brands looking to generate excitement around a new product launch or campaign. For example, the hashtag #shareacoke (a Coca-Cola campaign centered around finding a Coke bottle with your name on the label) served as a unique call to action and helped make purchases feel personal. Using the same hashtag across social media posts also makes it easy for marketers to internally aggregate affiliate or influencer content, as well as entries to contests and giveaways.
3 tips for using Facebook hashtags
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, it’s time to think about taking things to the next level. Here are three effective ways to refine your Facebook hashtag strategy:
1. Use popular hashtags
One tried-and-true way to find relevant hashtags is to track which popular Facebook hashtags your followers or intended audience use. If you’re hoping to get in front of baking enthusiasts, for example, you might post a weekly #holidaybaking recipe starting in October, or chime in on The Great British Bake Off (#gbbo) recaps. If social media strategy is all about showing up where your audience already is, hashtags are a great way to find people who are already enthusiastic about your subject matter.
Your other option is to use trending hashtags. While there’s not a way to see trending hashtags in real time on Facebook’s platform, you can use the autocomplete feature in the search bar to see which phrases are most popular. (This is also a great technique for discovering Instagram hashtags.) Consider treating the entire research process as a brainstorming technique, using popular or trending Facebook hashtags as inspiration for your original content.
2. Keep it short
Wondering how many hashtags are too many?
In general, avoid using more than three, although the number you use will ultimately depend on best practices for your industry and your goals. Aim to feature a few strong hashtags rather than overwhelming your post with an exhaustive list of broad or tangentially connected topics. Too many hashtags can read as spammy and robs your content of its central message.
When in doubt, stick to Meta’s most recent advice to use one to three hashtags as the sweet spot for Facebook posts. That could mean one campaign-specific hashtag you’ve created to track engagement plus two broader category, location, or niche hashtags.
3. Track hashtag performance
Once you’ve woven hashtags into your Facebook posts, it’s crucial to keep tabs on how they perform and the nature of the engagement they generate. If they aren’t attracting relevant interactions, experiment with your approach. For example, you might adjust the types of hashtags you use, lean more on current trends, or embed hashtags into your sentences versus listing them at the end of a post.
Facebook hashtags FAQ
Do hashtags work for Facebook?
Yes, Facebook hashtags work. The hashtagscreateclickable links provided they contain no punctuation, special symbols, or spaces.
What are good hashtags for Facebook?
“Good” hashtags are subjective and dependant on your overall goals. If your goal is to get your brand in front of new audiences, a good hashtag is likely more general or broad in nature. If your goal is to create visual evidence of community engagement, a brand or campaign-specific hashtag can create a dedicated space for it.
Do hashtags increase visibility on Facebook?
Yes, hashtags can increase visibility on Facebook. When you include your content in a feed alongside other posts on the subject, new audiences can discover your brand while browsing a given topic.
How do I get more likes on Facebook with hashtags?
The best way to get more likes on Facebook using a hashtag strategy is to leverage the most relevant hashtags for your audience. The hashtags you choose should highlight not only what you do best but also what your followers want.
