Creating branded hashtags that uniquely represent your business on Instagram has become a popular and effective marketing strategy. But how exactly do you develop memorable, impactful hashtags?
As a social media consultant with over a decade of digital marketing experience, I‘ve seen firsthand how curating branded hashtags fuels engagement and conversions when done strategically over time.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll unpack everything you need to know about crafting successful branded hashtags custom-fit for your business Instagram goals and audience.
Why Consistent Branded Hashtags Are Crucial
Let‘s start by getting clear on what branded hashtags are and why they should be part of your Instagram marketing plan.
Branded hashtags incorporate your business name, username or campaign theme into easily searchable hashtags followers can use to discover your content. For example:
- #NikeRunning
- #ShopSmallBiz
- #GetFitWithOura
Recent research shows that more brands are leveraging customized hashtags:
- 72% of major companies use branded hashtags on Instagram
- 65% have seen increased user engagement when using 3+ branded hashtags per post
Additionally, an analytics study by Socialinsider found posts using branded hashtags drive:
- 22% more profile visits
- 31% more website clicks
- 18% more post saves
The #1 goal of branded hashtags is forming connections between your target audience and branded message. Hashtags act like a search engine, so you can strategically increase discovery beyond just your existing followers.
I‘ve also found curating branded hashtags over an extended time builds community and gives your audience a vocabulary for talking about your brand organically.
Now let‘s get into the step-by-step process for creating memorable branded hashtags made specifically for your business…
How to Strategically Develop Branded Hashtags: A 7-Step Process
When making branded hashtags, you need to be intentional. Don‘t just slap your business name into hashtag form as an afterthought.
Doing it right takes brainstorming, research and consistent testing. Follow these best practices I‘ve cultivated over my career:
1. Start by Brainstorming Keyword Options
First, reflect on words and short phrases that represent your brand identity and values. What feeling do you want to evoke? What makes your business unique?
Catalog any keywords related to:
- Your brand name/slogan
- Products or services offered
- Target audience/customer persona details
- Current campaign themes or slogans
I start every brainstorm by creating a mind map of potential variations I could use before honing things down.
2. Competitor Analysis
Do an analysis of hashtags your competitors are currently leveraging to see if any align with keywords you identified.
This allows you to pinpoint overlapping terms to avoid so your branded hashtags stand out in your niche.
Tools like RiteTag make it easy to search and compare hashtag use by competitor domains.
3. Validate Availability & Relevance
For each keyword phrase you have left, search Instagram to see if they are already established as popular hashtags generating tons of non-relevant content.
You want to develop original phrases aligned specifically to your brand identity and campaign themes. Validate hashtags aren‘t already flooded to maximize discoverability.
The free Social Insider tool allows you to validate volume of usage across platforms. Only about 20% hashtags searched will be viable options, so have backups!
4. Combine Into Branded Hashtag Options
Turn your keyword options into usable hashtags by putting a # before words. Some best practices here:
- Shorter hashtags (under 15 characters) tend to trend better
- Order words to be easily remembered
- Use natural language connections like "get" or "try"
A few examples:
#MyBrandsName
#TryOurProduct
#GetFitWithUsExperiment by combining your strongest keywords into potential branded hashtags for testing.
5. Research Legal Implications
While technically you cannot copyright common words used in a hashtag, do some due diligence around legal ownership of key terms.
If any branded hashtag options involve your official trademarked business name or logos, you‘ll have more legal standing should copycats emerge.
6. Test Options with Existing Audience
Start introducing your top branded hashtag options into Instagram captions and Stories. Pay attention to which resonate most with your existing audience by tracking engagement.
Ask followers to actively use emerging favorite hashtags to increase tagging behavior and visibility.
7. Measure, Refine & Retest
Lean into 1-3 top performing hashtags for consistency, refining things that don‘t land with your audience over time.
Continuously search availability of your core hashtags every few months as other usage could emerge. Stay on top of performance through Instagram‘s analytics.
Keep testing new variants that align to evolving campaigns – variety keeps followers engaged!
The Hashtag Trademark Controversy: Can You "Own" One?
A question I often get asked is whether you can officially trademark or own rights to branded Instagram hashtags. The answer is…complicated.
While hashtag ownership is not outright impossible, it requires time, money and legal maneuvering with no guarantee. Let‘s compare relevant trademark vs hashtag specifications:
| | Trademark | Hashtag |
|---|---|---|---|
|Legal Protection| Registrable under USPTO| Not directly copyright protectable |
| Owner Exclusivity| Grants sole usage rights owners can legally enforce | Open-format makes exclusivity virtually impossible to control |
|Financial Investment| Average ~$375 and 6 months to register one trademark term | No registration costs but time/resource efforts needed to popularize hashtag |The challenge with hashtags is their open, user-generated nature. Instagram terms state that public content, including hashtags, can be shared by others legally.
So even if you quickly adopt an original hashtag, competitors or customers could hypothetically appropriate the same tag without formal repercussions.
However, trying to steal already popular branded hashtags comes with reputation risks and lack of authenticity with audiences. Hashtag usagecrystalizing distinctly with specific brands through extended marketing campaigns does grant some informal ownership power.
For example, #JustDoIt has become indelibly tied to Nike‘s brand identity. Adidas or Reebok piggybacking off that branded hashtag would face backlash, so Nike enjoys more implicit control of association.
Overview, hashtag creation alone does not warrant legal exclusivity. But strategically promoting hashtags tied to trademarked brands and slogans over years increases ownership standing.
The #1 Benefit: Deepening Audience Connections
While the nuances around enforcing "ownership" of Instagram hashtags remains muddy, what matters most is using branded tags to effectively engage your target audience.
Curating customized hashtags provides invaluable opportunities to:
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Showcase User Content: Followers adding branded hashtags creates a free source of authentic user-generated content you can easily find and reshare. I‘ve had clients receive thousands of tagged posts fueling growth through participatory storytelling.
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Gather Crucial Performance Insights: Instagram analytics tracks impressions and engagement of hashtags used in posts, Stories and profiles. You can quantify content and lead-conversion success based on hashtag usage.
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Listen Into Your Audience: Pay attention to the followers actively posting and engaging with your branded hashtags. This reveals changing consumer interests and pain points in real time you can immediately act upon.
The bottom line is that branded hashtags foster two-way communication channels for community building beyond just vanity metrics. Yes, hashtags boost impressions…but more importantly, personalized branding allows audiences to connect with your specific story.
Lean into hashtags that provide fans a lexicon for communicating their meaningful experiences with your brand. Think of branded hashtags like dotting conversational breadcrumbs for your tribe to gather around.
Choose tags offering engaging "rabbit holes" for new consumers discover what sets your business apart. Be that anchor point grounding audience journeys through the explosive hashtag landscape.
Key Takeaways for Curating Memorable Branded Hashtags
Hopefully this guide provided an informative overview of best practices I‘ve honed from managing global branded hashtag campaigns.
Here are the key tips to remember:
- Brainstorm keyword options capturing your brand identity and values
- Research availability and check trademark considerations
- Combine top keywords into branded hashtag variations
- Consistently test options measuring performance over time
- Refine hashtags based on audience engagement behaviors
While you can‘t completely control hashtag usage, embedding customized tags across Instagram provides touchpoints for community interactions that pay dividends long-term.
Have any other questions on strategically optimizing branded hashtags? Let me know in the comments!
