Most people have heard of the hashtag—maybe in the realm of social media, or maybe just in pop culture. It was recently a Saturday Night Live skit with Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon. But, do you know how the hashtag really works; and how it can help your practice?
The hashtag, once the user-generated symbol #, is now an all encompassing way to group relevant information together in all social media conversations. Sites including Google +, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even LinkedIn and Pinterest have made use of the hashtag by automatically adding a link to anything that follows the symbol.
How the Hashtag Can Help Your Practice
A recent article, History of Hashtags, reveals that “more than 70 percent of mobile users use hashtags, and a tweet is [55] percent more likely to be re-tweeted if it contains a hashtag.” Fifty-five
percent re-tweet incidence—that is social media gold! And while the hashtag has made a comfortable home in pop culture, it can be useful for all types of marketing, including building your medical practice’s brand.
For instance, if you’re a dentist you can use the hashtag when posting about cosmetic procedures including #teethwhiteningtips or if you’re a bariatric surgeon it can be useful to post information with the popular hashtag #weightlosstips. These more general hashtags can help you to join the conversation. If, however, you are interested in directing a more focused campaign then tagging your practice name, or actual procedures can help.
Your social media post could look something like this: “Five avenues you should explores before considering bariatric surgery. #weightlosstips #weightlosssurgery #yourpracticename”
With this post you’ve effectively joined the general conversation about weight loss, as well as introduced your practice as a resource in the realm of bariatric surgery—all of this done by adding hashtags to a post that was relevant and informational to begin with.
MyAdvice Has a Dedicated Social Media Department
Are you still confused by hashtags? Are you too busy to manage your social media presence? MyAdvice can help—we have a dedicated social media department staffed with social media experts, writers and analysts. That means we can plan an organized and effective social media strategy to get potential clients interested in your services! Contact an MyAdvice representative to learn more.
