How To Run a Hashtag Campaign?

We understand that you're trying to make your brand stand out in the endless flow of social media. It is only a matter of time before getting lost among thousands of content, cat videos, and dance trends. Well, have you ever thought about how powerful a weapon that seemingly simple "#" sign can be? As an agency, we have been in the kitchen of this business for years, and we are here to tell you about the much-anticipated topic of How To Run a Hashtag Campaign in all its nakedness, not with pill information, but with real experiences. Fasten your seatbelts, because we’re diving behind the scenes of a campaign that will make waves in the digital world.

The Art and Strategy of Finding That Perfect Hashtag

It all starts with finding that magic word. Don't make that mistake... In other words, it's not enough to just say "let's just write the first thing that comes to mind". If it did, everyone would do it. What really makes a hashtag campaign a "campaign" is finding that special word that carries all the energy of the brand, that sticks in people's minds, and more importantly, that no one has touched before. Common, commonly used hashtags will make you get lost in the crowd. For example, instead of saying #HappySunday, there should be something special that your brand brings to that market. For example, if you’re a coffee brand, you should find something more niche and specific to you, like #SundayCoffeeRitual. Be careful, this is very important: before choosing a hashtag, definitely search for that hashtag. Sometimes, the most innocent-looking word may be associated with an event in the past that you would never want. Signing under such a pot can throw away all your efforts in an instant.

Another step of the strategy is simplicity. Avoid long and complicated hashtags that people will not remember, that will make them think three times while writing, and say "what was that?". I swear, no one will bother. We were brainstorming for a technology client recently, and something fancy but long like #FutureShapingTechnologies came out. It sounded corporate and cool, but let's be honest, who writes that? In the end, we decided on something much simpler and clearer, like #TeknoAdım, and the turnout was better than we expected. This taught us once again: people like simple and clear. Don't give them complicated tasks; life is complicated enough as it is.

Don't pin all your hopes on a single hashtag. This is like betting on a single horse; it's risky. In addition to your main campaign hashtag, there should also be supporting players who will feed it. So secondary, tertiary tags... These can be more general, popular tags. If your main tag is, say, #FeedYourSoul, you can support it with more well-known tags like #bookworm, #coffeedelight, #selftimeayır. In this way, you will both create your special area and benefit from the traffic of those popular tags, reaching more people. It's like casting the hook to a wider area. Your chances of catching a fish will increase.

Motivate People: User-Generated Content (UGC)

Okay, you’ve found the hashtag, and your strategy is ready. Now comes the most important part: getting people involved. In order for a campaign to really work, people need to create their content using your hashtag. We call this UGC, or User-Generated Content, which is a fancy name. Here’s the secret: people believe in real experiences of others like themselves rather than in the glossy ads of brands.

So, how do we convince people? You need to give them a reason. But that reason doesn’t have to be a raffle for the latest model phone. Believe me, sometimes the spiritual satisfaction of the job is more effective. Announcing the most creative posts as the star of the week on your page, giving them a small discount code, or even just writing a sincere comment on their posts, can work wonders. We once ran a campaign for a small local boutique with the hashtag #ItsMyStyle. The prize was just a tiny gift certificate. But people's desire to show their style, to say "look, this is who I am," was so overwhelming that hundreds of great photos were received. Even the owner of that boutique didn't expect this much. This showed us that what drives people isn't always money; sometimes, they just want to be visible and feel like they belong to a community.

However, don't torture people while doing this job. Please, I beg you, keep the rules of participation simple. Lists like "Follow these three accounts, like the post, tag 5 friends, take a photo of yourself doing a handstand..." turn people off right from the start. The easier and more fun the process, the more people will join in. Maybe all it takes is sharing a moment of theirs using the hashtag. Remember, your goal is not to give people homework, but to give them a playground where they can express themselves. Then look how the content pours in.

Understanding the Language of Numbers and After

We launched the campaign, people are producing content, and everything looks great. So, is the work done? Of course not. It starts now. In this stage of the marathon, it's time to look at the campaign's report card. In other words, measure, analyze, and learn the performance. How many people did your hashtag reach, how many times was it used, and how much interaction did it receive? These are the basic questions. But if we only focus on these "how many?" questions, we miss the big picture. The important thing is to be able to read the story behind those numbers.

When analyzing, look not only at the numbers, but also at the emotional side of things. In other words, how do people feel when they use your hashtag? What is the spirit of the posts? Is it positive, humorous, or are people making fun of you? Yes, that's a possibility too. Doing this emotional analysis allows you to spot a potential crisis before it even starts. It also shows you exactly how your target audience understands the campaign. It can be misleading to say "super popular" just by looking at the number of times a hashtag is used. Understanding the nature of that popularity is the whole point.

All this information you get will be your roadmap for your next move. Not for preparing a report and putting it on the shelf. Which types of posts got more attention? Videos or funny texts? Maybe the campaign was booming on Instagram, but Twitter was speechless. Such data will give you a "copy" to fine-tune your strategy.