Twitter, Instagram, & How to use Hashtags
Over the last few months, I’ve been working on a few social media freelance projects for small businesses and they all say the same thing, “I just don’t understand Twitter. What am I supposed to tweet about?”
I compiled a list of helpful tips that got me really stoked on Twitter a few months back and now I’m tweeting out of control. Check out this list of helpful tips and examples and let me know if I can help answer any additional Twitter / Instagram best practices.
I highly recommend installing the Twitter app on your phone. It is ridiculously simple and it integrates so nicely with Instagram. I’ve been working in Social Media since 2008, and I NEVER understood Twitter until I started using Instagram. So, I’m going to try and help you get into Twitter the same way, through Instagram.
Helpful Tips:
- When you set up your Instagram and Twitter profiles, make sure they are the same username.
- For example, I am @missreulman on Twitter and Instagram - I will explain why this is useful in the example below.
- Write a relevant bio in your profile for both services. Questions to answer in your bio: Who are you? What do you like to take photos of? Where are you located? What do you like to tweet about?
- For example, a good bio on both would be: “Creative Director & Designer based out of LA & NYC.”
- Whenever you post a photo to Instagram - make sure sharing is switched “On” for Twitter.
- In your tweet or photo caption describe “what you are doing” and include related hashtags at the end of that caption.
- For example, I posted a photo while I was walking my dog on the beach. My caption might be, “Beautiful day at the beach, Ringo is a happy dog! #beach #SantaBarbara #California #dog”
- Similar example, but just to outline how important it is to have the same username across Twitter and Instagram - lets say I took a photo while I was at happy hour with my friends, the caption might be “Enterprise happy hour is the best with @4ttilio and @AlinaItkin #happyhour #SantaBarbara.” Now that photo gets posted to my Instagram and Twitter account and my friends will get notifications on both services. This is great for two reasons (1) they are more likely to start up a conversation with me on those services (post-happy hour) and (2) I will get exposure to their followers on both services.
- When I post this photo to Instagram synced with Twitter, my photo and caption will come up whenever someone searches the following hashtags on either service (#beach, #SantaBarbara, #California, #dog, #happyhour)
- Hashtags don’t always have to be super conventional, they can be funny too. For example, “Traffic again? #Ihatemornings #welcometoLA”
You know, you just kind of make it up as you go. Certain hashtags get a lot of attention and you end up getting a lot more followers because of them (especially if they are trending topics, like #coachella, #baytobreakers) and others are just lost in cyberspace. Just don’t think about it too much when you are trying to think of something to tweet - it should be natural, free form. If you want to know a bit more about hashtags and Twitter check out the Twitter Fan Wiki here.
Well - I know that is lengthy - but I hope it helps you understand the hashtag phenomena a little better :)
