Hashtag tracking is a valuable tool for brands since it helps them discover and repurpose content from various platforms, including Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and others.
In this article, we’ll provide a complete guide to hashtag tracking, including how to track hashtags, what metrics to look for, and how to use hashtag tracking to collect unique user-generated content for your brand.
What is hashtag tracking?
Hashtags are keywords or phrases preceded by a pound sign (#). They are used on social media to categorize content and make it more discoverable to users. Users can see all the posts and content that have used that hashtag by clicking on a hashtag.
Hashtags are a valuable tool for brands to reach new audiences, build brand awareness, and measure the success of their campaigns. They allow businesses to connect with users interested in specific topics and provide a way to track the engagement and reach of their hashtag campaigns on social media.
Why is hashtag tracking important?
Hashtag tracking is essential because it helps you gain valuable insights into your campaigns’ reach, engagement, and effectiveness. Marketing, event and communications professionals can use the information to improve future campaigns and strategies.
In addition, hashtag tracking can help you monitor the conversation around your brand, industry, and competitors. This can provide valuable information on what users say and their interests, allowing businesses to adjust their strategy accordingly.
If you’re running a hashtag campaign, hashtag tracking is essential to collect the content that your audience publishes on social media using your hashtag. A hashtag wall lets you easily repurpose this user-generated content across your marketing or internal communications channels.
There are several ways to track hashtags on social media, including native platform analytics and social media wall platforms.
Using native platform analytics for hashtag tracking
Most social media platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, provide analytics tools that allow you to track the performance of your posts and hashtags.
A social wall like Walls.io helps you collect content from hashtags, keywords, or profiles across many social media platforms. You can manage all this user-generated content in one place and use it across your marketing channels. You can then use this content on a website, enterprise wiki, or social media displays.
You can even use it on printed material. Here’s an example of a hashtag campaign that generated a lot of content and how the brand behind the campaign used this content.
Start tracking user-generated content published with your hashtag.
Here is how you can track content from specific Instagram hashtags using a social wall. Of course, it will work just as well for Twitter hashtags or YouTube keywords.
- Create your Walls.io account.
- Choose your Instagram account as a “Source,” and follow the steps to connect your account to Walls.io. Add the hashtag you want to track. Additionally, you can add filters to further narrow down your content. Finally, click Add. You can adjust the look of the hashtag feed to match your brand with only a few clicks.
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Here is what it looks like in action. The feed below uses the Carousel layout, but you can also choose from five other layouts depending on your needs. I’m tracking the #petgrooming hashtag, and it’s set to manual moderation, so the content collected is only displayed publicly when the moderator approves it.
The social media wall tracks content posted with this hashtag in real time. Here’s what the moderation panel looks like:
Collect content from Instagram on a hashtag wall.
What kind of insights can you gain from hashtag tracking?
By tracking hashtags on social media, you can gain a wealth of insights into your performance and the performance of your competitors. Here are some of the key insights you can gain:
Reach: The reach of your posts refers to the number of people who see your posts. By tracking hashtags, you can see how many people see your posts and which hashtags perform best.
Engagement: Engagement refers to the number of posts published with a specific hashtag and the Reactions they receive from the audience.
Competitor Performance: Hashtag tracking can also provide insights into the performance of your competitors, including their reach and engagement. This information can help you stay ahead of the curve and adjust your strategy to stay competitive.
Tips for optimizing your hashtag tracking strategy
Here are some tips to help you optimize your hashtag tracking strategy:
Choose relevant hashtags: Choosing relevant hashtags that align with your brand and target audience is important. This will help you reach the right people and get the most out of your hashtag-tracking efforts.
Create your unique hashtag: A critical factor for a successful hashtag marketing campaign is choosing a new, memorable, and unambiguous hashtag. This requires creativity and setting clear goals for the campaign that will determine the hashtag.
Monitor hashtag trends: Stay up-to-date on the latest hashtag trends by monitoring popular hashtags in your industry. You can use tools such as Hashtagify or Keyhole to do this.
Track hashtags regularly: Regularly tracking hashtags is essential to staying on top of your social media performance and making the necessary adjustments to your strategy. You also want to keep track of all the content your audience creates around your brand using your unique hashtag.
Engage with your audience: Engage with your audience by responding to comments and creating meaningful conversations. This can increase engagement and reach and help you get the most out of your hashtag-tracking efforts.
Start tracking content published with your hashtags.
FAQs
What is hashtag tracking?
Hashtag tracking is the process of monitoring and analyzing the performance of hashtags on social media. It helps businesses and organizations measure their campaigns’ reach, engagement, and effectiveness and improve their social media strategy.
Can tracking hashtag content help my business grow?
Yes, hashtag tracking can help your business grow by providing valuable insights into your social media performance and allowing you to make data-driven decisions about your strategy.
When tracking hashtags, it’s essential to look for metrics such as reach, engagement, impressions, sentiment, and influence. These metrics can give you insight into the performance of your campaigns and help you improve your strategy.
What are the best tools for hashtag tracking?
Hashtag walls such as Walls.io are the best tools for hashtag tracking since they enable you to collect content published with specific hashtags or keywords across multiple social media platforms. It even goes beyond social media, so if you’re running a hashtag campaign and would love to give everyone a chance to share their thoughts or photos, you can use Direct Posts.
Conclusion
Hashtag tracking is essential for businesses and organizations looking to improve their social media strategy. By tracking the performance of hashtags, brands can gain valuable insights into their campaigns’ reach, engagement, and effectiveness and make data-driven decisions to improve their strategy. Whether you’re a seasoned social media pro or just starting, a hashtag wall is an essential tool that should be in your arsenal.