The genius of a great hashtag? Other businesses and customers can pick it up and share it, too. That’s what happened for interior designer Abigail Ahern, who has been pushing faux botanicals and workshops using the hashtag #AreYouFauxReal (among others) in London.
When a London-based interior designer and tastemaker wanted to bump up interest in wintery permanent botanicals, she took to social media with a witty, memorable hashtag.
#AreYouFauxReal is one of dozens of tags Abigail Ahern has been using this fall to promote lush permanent flowers, plants and trees, a push that puts her at the forefront of what The Telegraph is calling a resurgence of “faux fir” for Christmas. Through the hash tag, she’s also been plugging faux wreath-making workshops at her Islington store and encouraging fans to share their favorite faux styling tips.
Ahern already has a significant fan base (with nearly 70,000 followers on Instagram) but florists of all sizes can use her social strategy to drive interest and increase sales.
“Hashtags can serve as a call to action to drive sales,” writes Lauren Alexander, executive vice president of marketing at Underground Elephant, a marketing firm. “When your audience members see a hashtag that catches their attention, it provides a direct avenue to connect with you via social media. Through this connection, you can collect contact information and further engage that audience through discounts, email offers, or subscriptions to your newsletter or blog.”
But, remember, not all hashtags are created equal.
“You can’t throw a ‘#’ at the beginning of your product name and expect it to take off,” Alexander cautions. “You need to find something that resonates with your target audience.”
Some of her top tips for creating hashtags that deliver results:
- Be clear and concise. “Capitalize the first letter of each word in a multiword hashtag,” Alexander suggests. “Don’t add punctuation or spaces. Long hashtags are confusing; if you make yours too difficult to type on a mobile phone, you’ll miss out on opportunities for exposure.”
- Show restraint. “Two hashtags in a tweet is fine, but three is too many; after two, user engagement drops by 17 percent,” Alexander said. Also, “you don’t want your hashtag to become a slogan; you want it to become slang – common language everyone can use – even if only for a day.
- Commit to the cause. “Put hashtags on signs and company gear to promote your brand and get people involved,” she said. “Use hashtags to promote company events, teams, or anything that can directly connect with your audience. Hashtags are short and easy, so don’t pass up an opportunity to make your business more shareable.”
- Review your reach. “Apps like HashAtIt and Keyhole help you learn more about how, where, and why your hashtags are or aren’t succeeding,” she said.
