From TikTok to Instagram and Twitter, Hashtags have played an essential role in raising public awareness on social media. Not only is a good hashtag strategy effective in driving a public awareness campaign, but it can also drive a lot of traffic. However, you must choose and use viral hashtags to get the best results. In this article, we will look at the role of hashtags in raising public awareness and how to use them well.

What are Hashtags?

Hashtags are words or numbers that follow the # sign and are used to categorize and track social media content. They can be added to social media bios, posts, and comments on many platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Hashtags affect the overall performance of social media content, and that is why public awareness advocates use them for a particular intention or strategy such as making their social or political campaigns go viral. However, to leverage the full benefits of hashtags, creators need to understand how to use them well.

Importance of Hashtags on Social Media

In the early days of social media, users were frustrated by the many irrelevant posts they saw. Social media hashtags were introduced as a solution to the chaotic nature of the social media algorithm, enabling users to find the topics they find interesting.

Hashtags help to amplify a message and act as the spark that ignites a social movement, such as #BlackLivesMatter or #Metoo. At times, hashtags aren't always driven by the need for social change as some hashtags are just for fun. However, brands use hashtags to reach their niche audiences and create a community.

With many people showing an interest in their niche community and growing those they are already in, hashtags enable users on different platforms to create such a community. With hashtags, social marketers can increase brand awareness and achieve their marketing goals.

How Hashtags Help In Raising Public Awareness

When well used, hashtags can help grow an online presence and raise public awareness. No matter your social media platform, it can help you reach your social awareness goals in several ways.

Improving Engagement

Hashtags help drive the conversation on the trending topics and, therefore, increase the reach of your posts. They spark conversion and attract more attention to the posts. For instance, a sports brand that wants to raise awareness of the Fifa World Cup can use a hashtag such as #WorldCup or #FifaWorldCup. These hashtags can enable users to participate in bigger conversations about the event.

When they use hashtags, their posts will appear in the feeds and hashtags related to the World Cup, leading to higher visibility and more room for engagement. Advocates of social good can then monitor the performance of the hashtags according to the number of people using them. They can increase engagement using various methods, such as:

• Sharing UGC content using hashtags.
• Running giveaways and contests on Instagram using hashtags.

However, social advocates should be careful not to include irrelevant, spammy, or too many hashtags. Instead, they should carefully choose their hashtags to reach other like-minded people.

Increase the Visibility of Campaigns

If a social advocate runs a campaign, they can increase its visibility. This is because they allow users to categorize their content in a way that will enable anyone interested in the topic to find it. Hashtags can also help people become aware of the campaign and find specific pages and posts regarding the campaign easily.

Provide Post Context

Hashtags provide specific themes or topics for posts, allowing audiences to find, understand, relate to, and engage with the content. For instance, hashtags like #Metoo, which share about the sexual harassment that women face, can help a social media user find all the posts related to the experience. 

Similarly, an organization with an event or conference can use hashtags to create awareness about the events. The hashtag will make it easier for attendees and other social media users to follow the conference. Additionally, when a social campaign consists of various visual elements such as images and videos, hashtags can help to add the right context to the visuals.

How to Find the Right Hashtags For Public Awareness

One of the mistakes that social advocates make is thinking that using the most popular hashtags is the best way of making their campaigns go viral. This is untrue, as we have daily holiday hashtags like #SiblingDay. Instead, you must determine your goal before using a hashtag for public awareness. For instance, you might have the goal of increasing your engagement. After that, you can use the following tips to find the right hashtags:

Use Social Listening Tools

To identify relevant topics in your niche, use social listening tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social. These tools will help you track the pertinent keywords in your niche. You can find out the hashtags people in your city use and the topics that generate the highest interest.  The tools will even allow you to track the performance of the hashtags you use by analyzing the engagement, mentions, and engagement. This data will provide insights into the performance of your campaign.

Use Trending Hashtags

If you want to raise public awareness, you need to leverage trending hashtags. If people are already using the hashtags, you have a ready audience when you create new content targeting those hashtags. Additionally, your campaigns will likely perform better as they become part of a bigger community joining the conversations.

When searching for the relevant hashtags on Instagram, you can visit the Explore Page to see the pages whose popularity is increasing. Once you notice the hashtags they use, you can join the bandwagon if they align with your campaign. You can also find trending hashtags by tracking special occasions, holidays, and events.

Perform Competitor Analysis

Another great way to find relevant hashtags for your public awareness campaign is to find the hashtags your competitors already use. You can check for other organizations running similar campaigns with the same target audience. You can then analyze the hashtags in their posts, profile descriptions, and bios. Consider if they have common topics and themes relevant to your brand. Check the engagement level of the post and shortlist the hashtags you want to share in that space.

Remember that if a particular hashtag works for your competitor, it doesn't mean it will work for you, as you will need to track the hashtag's performance. You need to understand the voice you want to portray, your target audience, and the niche. Then, you can use the most targeted hashtags that resonate with your customer’s needs.

Final Thoughts

Hashtags play an important role in many public awareness campaigns. They help to build brand awareness and categorize your posts among similar ones in the same niche. Therefore, brands and social creators need to understand the impact of viral hashtags in raising public awareness. They should be able to do that by reading through our guide. We also advise checking out our guide on the best TikTok hashtag strategy.