The third part of this series of how to mess up your social media focuses on Hashtags.
To start what is a hashtag – Used on a few social networks but most commonly found on Twitter, the definition from Twitter Help Centre is as follows :
So how can you mess up using a Hashtag ….
1) By not considering the response
During 2011 Australian airline Qantas were engaged in a dispute with several local labour unions. The airline grounded its fleets and cancelled hundreds of flights stranding thousands of passengers around the world. Less than a month later the airline announced an ill-timed hashtag competition on Twitter asking followers about their dream experience on Qantas airlines. The hashtag feed #Qantasluxury was created for the competition, however, it soon became ambushed by approximately 22,000 entries and the majority of these were negative experiences from passengers who were affected by the earlier dispute.
2) Not considering how the hashtag reads?
I have always advocated capital letters used in hashtags to make them easier to read and this example supports that. Susan Boyles public relation team didn’t consider capital letters when they launched the #susanalbumparty hashtag to promote her new album. The hashtag they wanted to you to see was #SusanAlbumParty, the hashtag that went viral very quickly was #SusAnalBumParty – either a very very clever PR exercise as the publicity went viral or an unfortunate mistake.
So what can you do to make sure you don’t fall into these traps?
- Check to see if a hashtag is already being used by your customers?
- Think about ways hashtags could possibly be used or interpreted.
- Add capital letters to your hashtag to ensure viewers see what you intend
Please feel free to leave your comments below …. As always if you need a hand with your social media, or want to chat through your current your arrangements get in touch with me Karen, on 07730525349, via twitter @EvolveBD or via email Karen@EvolveBD.co.uk
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