Facebook announced this week that it will be introducing clickable hashtags for its users. If you read my blog post, Six Reasons I Unfriended You on Facebook,
you’d know that I’m not too crazy about using hashtags on that social
site. However, the main reason I was chastising its use was because they
were pointless, but now that hashtags will be interactive I’m going to
have to rethink my stance on it. The two questions that automatically
spring to mind are: What will this do for marketers? How will hastags
impact users?
According to Facebook, here is what marketers need to know:
- If you are already using hashtags in an advertising campaign through other channels, you can amplify these campaigns by including your hashtags in Facebook advertising. The same creative best practices on Facebook still apply – compelling copy and photography that is in the brand voice works best.
- Any hashtags that you use on other platforms that are connected to your Facebook Page will be automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook.
- Like other Facebook marketing tools, hashtags allow you to join and drive the conversations happening about your business. We recommend you search for and view real-time public conversations and test strategies to drive those conversations using hashtags.
- Hashtags do not impact your distribution or engagement in News Feed on either desktop or mobile. We recommend you continue to focus on your existing campaigns to drive your most important business objectives.
The important thing to focus on here is the use of the phrase “public conversations” in the above statement. When I first heard that hashtags were being introduced on Facebook, I automatically thought it would be great for marketers because it would encompass all Facebook conversations. That’s not the case. Hashtags will only help identify when people are talking about your brand on open, public pages which, if you have a decent social media monitoring tool, you already have access to. For marketers, a monitoring tool is still important because you will miss mentions when people are talking about your brand without using a hashtag. Besides, even if PR professionals were able to see hashtags being used in private conversations, what could they do with that info besides get some ‘share of voice’ metrics from it? A brand can’t friend someone on Facebook.
So does this change anything for PR professionals and marketers? The answer is not really… yet. Facebook has yet to introduce trending hashtags, although they have announced that they are coming, and until that is rolled out, it’s business as usual.
As for users, I suppose hashtags could help find a few public conversations about a topic of interest, but isn’t that what Twitter is for? Facebook is usually regarded as a social network to connect with family and friends. Sure, there are some people that get involved in group discussions on fan sites and brand pages, but do those people really need hashtags to guide them in the right direction?
What’s your take on Facebook introducing hashtags? Will it affect your marketing strategy?
According to Facebook, here is what marketers need to know:
- If you are already using hashtags in an advertising campaign through other channels, you can amplify these campaigns by including your hashtags in Facebook advertising. The same creative best practices on Facebook still apply – compelling copy and photography that is in the brand voice works best.
- Any hashtags that you use on other platforms that are connected to your Facebook Page will be automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook.
- Like other Facebook marketing tools, hashtags allow you to join and drive the conversations happening about your business. We recommend you search for and view real-time public conversations and test strategies to drive those conversations using hashtags.
- Hashtags do not impact your distribution or engagement in News Feed on either desktop or mobile. We recommend you continue to focus on your existing campaigns to drive your most important business objectives.
The important thing to focus on here is the use of the phrase “public conversations” in the above statement. When I first heard that hashtags were being introduced on Facebook, I automatically thought it would be great for marketers because it would encompass all Facebook conversations. That’s not the case. Hashtags will only help identify when people are talking about your brand on open, public pages which, if you have a decent social media monitoring tool, you already have access to. For marketers, a monitoring tool is still important because you will miss mentions when people are talking about your brand without using a hashtag. Besides, even if PR professionals were able to see hashtags being used in private conversations, what could they do with that info besides get some ‘share of voice’ metrics from it? A brand can’t friend someone on Facebook.
So does this change anything for PR professionals and marketers? The answer is not really… yet. Facebook has yet to introduce trending hashtags, although they have announced that they are coming, and until that is rolled out, it’s business as usual.
As for users, I suppose hashtags could help find a few public conversations about a topic of interest, but isn’t that what Twitter is for? Facebook is usually regarded as a social network to connect with family and friends. Sure, there are some people that get involved in group discussions on fan sites and brand pages, but do those people really need hashtags to guide them in the right direction?
What’s your take on Facebook introducing hashtags? Will it affect your marketing strategy?
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