Before you begin hashtag research, there are a few terms that you should know.
 
Hashtag density
 
High-density are hashtags that have over 500,000 posts. There is a lot of competition when using these hashtags, as new posts are made with them every few seconds, making it harder to get a high-ranking post.
 
Low-density are hashtags that have less than 500,000 posts. There is less competition when using these hashtags since users post less frequently with them making it easier to get a high-ranking post.
 
Hashtag Groups
 
Hashtag groups are a collection of hashtags that cover similar topics. Hashtags in the group can range from broad to specific markets within the topic. Below are different types of hashtags in order of broad (high density) to specific (low density)

• Industry Hashtags - #Photographer, #Blogger
• Niche hashtags - #WeddingPhotographer, #TravelBlogger, #TravelPhotographer
• Brand Hashtags - #WeddingPhotoMag by @weddingphotomag, #WeAreAllbirds by @allbirds
• Community Hashtags - #BakersOfinstagram, #FoodiesOfInstagram, #MyTravelgram
• Location hashtags - #SydneyWeddingPhotographer, #PastryNYC, #MadeInToronto, #NYCFoodie
• Celebrations/Event hashtags - #SuperBowl, #NationalDonutDay, #WorldEmojiDay, #Christmas2020
• Campaign hashtags - #ShareACoke by Coke,  #IceBucketChallenge by ALS Accociation

 
Hashtag Research
 
Start by creating a list of popular hashtags in your industry. You can find these hashtags by looking at popular influencer and competitors posts, doing a search by tags on Instagram, or checking the top posts on the explore page.
 
Once you have a list of the hashtags, it is time to curate the list, starting by removing generic and irrelevant hashtags as well as all location-based hashtags that aren’t your location.
 
Next label each hashtag based on their type and color-code them based on their density.
 
With all this done you now have a list of relevant hashtags that you can pull from when creating posts.  We recommend doing no less than 10 hashtags for Instagram posts, using a mix of high- and low-density hashtags. Through trial and error, you will eventually discover the perfect blend of the two for your posts.

​Social media has become the largest tool for networking and recruiting new employees. As a business owner or human resources professional, you should not overlook social recruiting.  Recruiting online isn’t just limited to LinkedIn.  Over 92% of companies are using social media, including Facebook and Twitter, to help recruit their newest team members. Here are some statistics to show social recruitment is not just a flash in the pan:
​

• 73% of employees are hired with the aid of social media
• 42% of companies say the quality of candidates has improved
• 31% increase in employee referrals
• 59% of employees say a company's social media presence influenced their decision
• 14.4 million people in the U.S. alone have used social media to job search

One of our favorite ways to recruit online is with the Facebook recruiting app called Jobcast. This app allows employers and recruiters to create fully branded careers sections on their company Facebook page. Jobcast allows you to tap into Facebook’s over 1 billion active users, is quite affordable and their packages are suitable for companies of all sizes.  
 
Don't forget, the future workforce loves social media. Gen Xers and Millennials use social media for anything and everything, including job searches.  Social media is also a good opportunity for you to see the creative, more personal side of a prospective employee.  This could help give you insight into other things that might not jump off the page of the typical resume or in an interview.  

Recruiting online isn’t going away.  Get up to speed and start using this great way to recruit new employees!  

 
 
 
 

​Have you heard the news?  Instagram is changing their news feed!  Before you hit the panic button, let's walk through the changes so you can capitalize on them.  

Did you know approximately 65% of people miss what is in their Instagram feed?  This makes sense if you look at your Instagram page and see where most engagement drops off significantly 1-2 hours after the post!  In order to help solve this issue, Instagram is moving toward an algorithmic feed.  
​
On the Instagram official blog, they say, "Instagram has grown, and it's become harder to keep up with all the photos and videos people share.  This means you often don't see the posts you might care about the most.  To improve your experience, your feed will soon be ordered to show the moments we believe you will care about the most."  

• Instagram will test the new feed prior to rolling it out to the entire user base.  
• There is no timeline, but they say we can expect to see the algorithm "in the coming months."
• It's not shocking that this change is coming since Facebook owns Instagram.  This is very similar to how Facebook shows your News Feed to you and, as we recently blogged about, Twitter is trying to replicate it as well.  
  
  

So how will this work, you might ask. Let's take a look:  

• If you're a CrossFit junkie (we say that with all the love as we are too!), as an example, and you like 80% of all of the CrossFit page photos.  
• You typically check your Instagram before you go to bed, you may not see a post they make at 12AM if you don't log in until the following night.  
• The new Instagram feed will make sure these types of posts are at the top of your feed no matter when you log in so that they can ensure you see the content that is most important to you.  

Finally, we know you want to understand how this translates to your business page.  It will be important now to have a concentration on content your followers will like or comment on, rather than say, general information posts.  Frequency and focusing on when your followers are online will become less relevant.  It will be important as these changes occur to continue to closely monitor your page activity, engagement and growth to make sure you're changing your strategies to match how your followers are interacting with your brand.  

Do you ever open your Twitter account, only to feel like you have missed very important tweets?  We know we do.  We're following our favorite pages so we can see their really cool posts, important updates, learn new information and more!  Well, the new Twitter timeline feature is going to help with this!  Let's take a look.  

1. Twitter Timeline - Twitter's new timeline wants to help you see more of your most important tweets.  After all, you're following the accounts, right?  You want to see their content!  Twitter is now going to give us a "best tweets" sub-category in the "while you were away" list.  Twitter knows that people who use this feature tend to Retweet and Tweet more, so the new Twitter will expand this option and hopefully the higher Retweet and Tweet trend continues!  This is great for everyone involved.  End users see more information they want to see / share and we get more of our content in front of our target audience!  
2. What's In My Timeline - The Twitter team says it will show us tweets that you're most likely to like, retweet, quote, respond to, etc.  From a marketing perspective, we're excited that they're going to include ads in this mix!  There will be an average of 12 tweets according to Twitter, however, it could be more or less based on the number of accounts you're engaging with or following.  
3. What If I Hate It? - You can certainly go back to the old timeline.  If you head on over to your Twitter settings, "unclick" the box for Timeline - "Show me the best Tweets first".  

​

Facebook's new algorithm change reminds us of the book, "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson, M.D.  Although, perhaps in this case, it's who moved my Facebook posts! 

Facebook determines whether your posts are shown to your fanbase or not using their algorithms....and these change...a LOT!  So, what does this mean for you?  We're going to help make sense of it here.  

What Changed?  

According to Facebook, engagement (i.e. liking, clicking, commenting, etc) is historically the main factor in the system that determined what you saw in the News Feed.  However, if your friend Beth liked a post about Yoga, it doesn't necessarily mean that you'll want to see it.  

Facebook put out a survey to over 1,000 people to rate their experience.  Yay!  We love it when brands ask for feedback.  They asked how they could improve the content they see when they are on Facebook.  They also surveyed tens of thousands of people around the world and asked them to rate stories they saw from 1-5 stars with the question, "How much did you want to see this story in your News Feed?"  

From this research, they developed the new algorithm.  The News Feed is going to evaluate the probability that you want to see the story as well as if you would take action on it (like, comment or share).  
​
How Does This Affect Your Page?

Facebook is saying this update should not impact reach or referral traffic.  Some pages may see declines in referral traffic if they're posting content that isn't relevant to the audience.  This eliminates the "click-bait" you may have experienced from other pages previously (we know none of our fans are posting that type of content, right?).  If you start a post with "You'll never believe what happened when....", try again.  While that may temporarily spike your metrics, over time, it will catch up with you.  

We have one word to leave you with......QUALITY.  Post content your followers actually want to see and you'll be all good!

As these changes to Facebook settle in, Social Power Group will keep you updated on our findings and best practices to help you make the most of your Facebook page!  

​PS - you can check out Facebook's full News Post here.



​
​

No matter what generation you're from, you have seen the hashtag (please don't call it a pound sign) on social media.  Love it or hate it, they're not going anywhere anytime soon.  They're so popular, the word was even added to the dictionary a few years ago!

It's important that your business find ways to incorporate them into your posts.  Consumers search on platforms via hashtag.  If I want to know something about construction, I search #Construction or #Machinery.  Fitness?  #Workout or #Running.  

Can you use too many hashtags?  YES!   It is important to think about how you can maximize engagement on all of your social media posts.  Using too many or too few will impact that metric depending on the platform you're using.  

Here are our rules of engagement for hashtags:
​

1. Facebook - no more than two
2. Twitter - no more than two
3. Instagram - no less than 10

I'm sure you're wondering, so where can't I use hashtags.  Leave the hashtags off of your LinkedIn posts.  This platform is a bit more formal and hashtags should be left out of the post.  

In closing, you can overdo it and we wouldn't love that.  Don't be too long, don't be irrelevant and don't use more than necessary!  

​This video is one of our favorites.  Check it out:

​