If you are active on Twitter you will be aware that it has its own language - ‘Tweets’, ‘DM’, ‘#Hashtag’, ‘Pin’, ‘Follow’, ‘Bio’. Understanding and using this terminology can be a time-consuming process so we are creating a series of blogs to help accountants take on Twitter and make the most out of every tweet.
With up to 80% of B2B companies and small businesses on Twitter, you know your accountancy practice needs a profile on Twitter. However, to stand out in the competitive Twitter landscape, you need to use every feature at your disposal. Effective use of #hashtags is a great way of marketing for accountants to generate new leads when you know how.
In this blog, we aim to clear up any confusions about #hashtags and put you well on the path to becoming a Twitter pro.
What is a #Hashtag and why are they important?
Once you start using Twitter, it doesn’t take long to notice the prolific use of ‘#hashtags’. The very first #hashtag is credited to Chris Messina, a social media expert, in August 2007 (if you are interested it was #barcamp). Since that date, they have become an essential social media tool.
A #hashtag is a simple way to help categorise or filter your tweets into topics. They are referred to as #hashtags because of the ‘hash (#)’ symbol that is used before the text that follows, for example, ‘#accountants’.
On Twitter, #hashtags are used before a keyword or topic and facilitates a search for it. Putting a #hashtag in front of a keyword means it is immediately indexed by Twitter and is searchable by others.
When you click on a #hashtag, you will be directed to a page containing every post that uses the same #hashtag. This indexing allows users to search for posts with a common topic, which comes in handy when you’re looking for popular topics to leverage posts about your business or services.
They are an excellent way to increase engagement, which is important for businesses to attract new customers and grow an online presence. #Hashtags highlight popular topics and subjects such as ‘trending’ topics and the latest industry news. You can find out more about trending topics and how they work by reading these FAQs about trends on Twitter.
Using existing #hashtags to grow your accountancy business
Twitter #hashtags are a great way to learn from others and improve your social output. Use #hashtags to narrow down topics and find more specific conversations that are taking place. #Hashtags like #marketing, #sales, #businessadvice all offer a multitude of business-related content and are filled with great resources you could be implementing in your posts. You can also find information on business events or advice on making connections and meeting like-minded businesses by using #networking.
To get started try typing in ‘#accountinghour’ or ‘#bizadvice’, which will show a list of conversations taking place that are using that specific #hashtag. #Hashtags like these become hangouts for your potential customers, business owners and entrepreneurs for advice, resources and current news. Other helpful #hashtags to find potential customers might be ‘#SMB’ or ‘#B2B’.
When putting a #keyword into Twitter search above much of the legwork is done for you. Searching for #accountants, for example, brings up potential profiles to follow, the latest tweets, people, photos and videos. Have a go at searching for terms related to your customer demographic and then join the conversation.
Create your own #hashtags
Many businesses and brands choose to create their own #hashtags normally around your business name or product and this idea is something we recommend.
If you feature your branded #hashtag in a carefully constructed series of tweets alongside other relevant content it is likely to get noticed and shared on Twitter. This strategy is a great form of advertising for your brand and will significantly raise your business profile online. Twitter has a great article which contains everything you need to know about how to create and use #hashtags.
That’s it!
Everything you need to get started on using #hashtags for your accountancy business' social media marketing. Like what you have read? Don’t forget to share our blog to your network.
