Social Media Roundtable:
#Hashtags
February 5, 2013
What the heck are hashtags?
 Adding the “#” symbol before any word or
phrase without spaces
 Organizes posts by topic
 Creates a link that leads to a stream of every
post that uses the same hashtag.
 An important part of your social media strategy if
you are using:
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Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Facebook
Tips for using hashtags
 Capitalize the first letter of each word. For
example: #HigherEd
 Don’t overuse hashtags. 1-2 per post is plenty.
 Choose hashtags that are widely used
 To find out if a hashtag is being used, do a
search for it.
How to search Twitter
 Directly from twitter profile
 Hootsuite, TweetDeck, or other 3rd party software
 search.twitter.com
 hashtags.org
How do I use a hashtag to promote
an event or organization?
 Search the hashtag to make sure it’s not already
being used by someone else.
 Find collaborators who will agree to use your
hashtag.
 Promote your hashtag.
 Use your hashtag frequently.
Minnesota State Mankato hashtags
that are already being used:
 #MNSU (the institution in general)
 #MavFam (athletics)
 #MavNation (coined by a past IBE cohort)
 #ClimbMNSU (Rock Climbing)
 #SBDC (Small Business Development Center)
 Others?