Hashtags have been very popular on LinkedIn during 2019 and their use is expected to continue rising for 2020 as well. However, even if LinkedIn provides some “hashtag suggestions” for its users, many businesses of all industries still find it hard to choose the most converting hashtags to achieve engagement with their audience.
Check out this post to find out all about LinkedIn hashtags and how to make the correct use of them for higher engagement.
What’s in it for me?
The use of hashtags in your LinkedIn posts helps users discover what you share more easily (especially if they follow certain hashtags). Hashtags are also a good way of categorizing your posts. The use of them on LinkedIn is very similar to that of Instagram and Twitter, however, there are some best practices you can follow for each platform to leverage their use.
When is best to use hashtags on LinkedIn?
Make sure that you follow this tip: Don’t overwhelm your users with many hashtags! That’s a better strategy to keep for Instagram.The rules for Twitter posts demonstrate that it’s best to use 3 to 4 hashtags, and it’s good to follow the same advice for LinkedIn.Your copy is also important; you should always aim to have at least one line of descriptive copy. You need to complement your post with hashtags and not let them become the main part of it. If you try to include as many hashtags as you can, you will end up with a post that looks like spam to your users and I’m sure that you don’t want that! Another reason is that the LinkedIn algorithm might also consider your post as spam. The recommended number of hashtags to use is 5 (maximum).
It is also important that you use post-related hashtags and not only brand-related. Think about it this way: What are your users usually searching for? Most probably, hashtags related to their interests or the industry they’re dealing with. Therefore, few or none of them will be searching for branded hashtags. You could, for example, add only two hashtags that are however very relevant to your posts, such as #marketing and #leadgeneration if, for example, your company has to do with marketing automation.
The first hashtag is relevant and appealing for anyone in the marketing industry,and the second one is more specific however it helps many users that are searching for this keyword.
How can I choose the best hashtags?
Aim to use industry-specific hashtags for all your posts, but also to incorporate some post-related hashtags. This is particularly helpful for your users to discover your hashtags and hence your posts. For example, if you are an HR Manager looking for the ideal candidate, you can use hashtags such as #jobopening or #vacancy.
You should also definitely consider the suggested hashtags that LinkedIn provides before you hit the “Post” button. These hashtags are usually very relevant to your posts so you could make good use of them.
Sometimes it’s also advisable that you add location-based hashtags to your posts so that you can enable users in your area to find your posts more easily. This is good especially if your posts are aiming a certain region.
Another tip is to follow hashtags on LinkedIn to get inspired. You’ll be amazed by how many ideas you can get from there! You also have the additional option to pin your favourite hashtags to your homepage for easy access. And for those of you who always like to dig deeper, why don’t you try clicking on “Discover more” on the bottom of your hashtags list?
Use LinkedIn Analytics wisely: you can discover your most successful posts and check which hashtags you used for those posts, in order to use them again in your next posts.
Make use of popular hashtags as well - the reason is that many people are not familiar with specific hashtags so using generic and at the same time popular ones will help you reach those people too.
The last tip is to make sure your hashtags can be viewed by everyone on LinkedIn and not just your personal network. This will help you gain more traction for your page and possibly more followers.
