What’s the purpose of #hashtags? Why are #hashtags important in social media marketing? How do you choose the right #hashtag? Use them correctly and you can dramatically expand the reach of your social posts. However, as a social media tool, hashtags remain under or poorly used. This webinar's presentation will demystify and explain how to effectively use hashtags in your school’s social media marketing

1. Demystifying Hashtags:
How They Work
in Social Media

2. 1.
2. The benefits of social media marketing
3. Core elements of a good social media post
4. Brief history of the hashtag
5. Hashtags 101
6. The importance of hashtags
7. Levels and types of hashtags
Pro tips on using hashtags
8. How to use hashtags for your school’s social media
9. Dos and Don’ts
10. Recap
Today’s Presentation

3. The Benefits of Integrating Social Media
in Your Marketing Efforts
Increase brand awareness
Increase inbound traffic
Reach potential students and get more leads!
Improve your search engine ranks

4. Core Elements of a Good Social Media Post
TIP:
Make sure
to keep it
relevant!

5. Poll #1
Facebook started using
hashtags in…
2010
2013
2007

6. Brief History of Hashtags
1988: The first hash symbol was used on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to label groups and topics
2007: Chris Messina took inspiration from IRC and used the first Twitter hashtag #barcamp
2009: Twitter finally introduced hashtags as a search tool
2010: Twitter introduced “Trending Topics”
2010: Instagram was launched
2013: Facebook started using hashtags
2018: LinkedIn introduces hashtags.

7. Why should I use hashtags?
Hashtags help you connect your social media content to a specific topic,
event, theme or conversation.
• Make Your Content More Visible/Discoverable
• Build Your Brand
• Connect with People in Your Niche
• Participate in Local and Global Conversations
Hashtags
will...

8. Hashtags 101
#HigherEducation
No spaces or
punctuation
Start with a #
Creating a branded hashtag?
Make it easy to remember
Include the hashtag
within or after your
message

9. Hashtags 101
#Higher-education
#higher.educatin
#I’mastudent
#higher education
#higher#education
#highereducation
#education
#business

10. The Importance of Hashtags
Hashtags are one of the most effective ways to get more
eyes (and engagement!) on organic posts for schools that
don’t have a budget to boost their content.
They allow you to expand your reach beyond just your
immediate followers.
On Instagram for instance, they are fundamentally a way to label and categorize
content, helping Instagram serve the posts to relevant users. In their most simple
function, the hashtags you use to fuel the search results on the Instagram Explore
page.
On Instagram, hashtags are also used as a reference for the algorithm, so it can
categorize the content and suggest it to users it thinks will have a high interest.

11. Levels of Reach
LEVEL 1 1M+ posts
LEVEL 2 100k to 1M posts
LEVEL 3 Under 100k posts

12. Levels of Reach
https://ritetag.com/best-hashtags-for/education
Twitter

13. Levels of Reach
Instagram and TikTok

14. Levels of Reach
Facebook
LinkedIn

15. Levels of Reach
I should always use hashtags that
have been used over 1 million times.
TRUE OR FALSE?

16. Pro Tips
Using ultra-popular hashtags isn’t always the best strategy for getting more engagement
on your posts and stories, as they’re less likely to be seen.
#design #inspiration #motivation #health #wellness #selfcare
Try to go further down the funnel when selecting hashtags for
the posts:
For instance, #marketing is really broad, but by going a step
further in the funnel you can have #digitalmarketing
or #marketingmotivation

17. Most Popular Education Hashtags
#education #learning #school #motivation #students #study
#student #science #knowledge #teacher #children #college #kids
#university #learn #business #teaching #success #community
#teachers #instagram #technology #inspiration #english
How can I choose the right hashtags?
?

18. Example: MNA Business School

19. Hashtag Dos and Don’ts
✔Make sure hashtags are active
✔Use a mix of all the previous hashtags
✔Make sure hashtags are relevant and that
they mean what they should
✔Identify your industry hashtags and check
what your competitors are doing
✔Check your spelling
✔Find out which hashtags are
trending in your industry
● Don't use hashtags unrelated to posts
● Avoid using hashtags that are banned
● Avoid including the same few hashtags with every
post
● Use hashtags alone. Instead, integrate them with
your copy (message + CTA)
● Don’t #hashtag #every #word
DO DON’T

20. Poll #2
How many hashtags should
I use on Instagram?
3 to 5
More than 10
but less than
30
30 or more

21. How to Use Hashtags
Instagram
Recommended: 3-5 hashtags per post.
However, data still suggest a better reach with a higher number of hashtags per
post.
The best would be to alternate, have posts with as many relevant hashtags as
possible and posts with the recommended number. And keep an eye on the
reach numbers.

22. How to Use Hashtags
TikTok
Recommended: 3-5 hashtags per post.
Hashtags are a big part of the TikTok experience.
TikTok’s Discover tab is even organized by
trending and popular hashtags.
As with Instagram, hashtags help the TikTok
algorithm decide who would be most interested
in seeing your content

23. How to Use Hashtags
Twitter
Recommended: 1-2 hashtags per post.
Use the explore tab to search and see what trending hashtags people are
already using.
Tweets with hashtags can increase engagement by almost 50% (1.5x) for
brands.
Facebook
Recommended: Facebook posts without any hashtags fare better than those with a hashtag. If you want to
use some, don’t use more than 3.
Use hashtags but not too many as it might look spammy.
Hashtags can be useful for grouping content in private Facebook groups
(i.e. alumni groups)

24. How to Use Hashtags
LinkedIn
Recommended: 1-2 hashtags per post.
Make sure to use relevant hashtags.
Keep the use of hashtags professional.
Trending LinkedIn hashtags will show in the “news and views” section on
the home page.
Using LinkedIn hashtags can help you connect with members that may be
interested in your school.

25. Hashtag Tips
✔ Look to competitors or accounts that post similar
content to find which hashtags to use.
✔ If one of your hashtags isn’t working, change it.
✔ Avoid using the same hashtags over and over,
Instagram’s algorithm may penalize the content by
pushing it down so it doesn’t show up for those tags.
✔ Keep in mind, that beyond choosing the right hashtags,
you also need to think of the words you choose in the
captions, as semantic keyword search has become more
and more important on social media.
Research tools:
www.trackmyhashtag.com/
hashtagify.me/hashtag/
https://ritetag.com/best
-hashtags-for/educatio
n

26. Recap
• Social media should be part of your marketing efforts.
• Use hashtags to reach a larger audience and label your content.
You should always combine hashtags from ALL levels and
categories.
Always make sure your hashtags are relevant and that they
speak to your audience.

27. Download HEM’s Free Hashtag Template

28. Download Your Social Media Self-Assessment Checklist

29. Free Social Media Consultation
Scott Cross
North America Regional Manager
514-312-3968 x 117
scross@higher-education-marketing.com
Lara Chuang
North America Client Representative
514-312-3968 x 115
lara@higher-education-marketing.com

30. Free Social Media Consultation
Archie Pollock
Regional Manager Europe/UK
Tel: +44 795 797 4939
archie@higher-education-marketing.com