How to Create a Viral Hashtag for Your Brand: A Step-by-Step Guide

Author: Nina Tsenova

With today's digital age of marketing, a well-planned hashtag campaign can boost engagement, increase the reach of your brand, and create an energetic online community. The appropriate hashtag can be the difference between a successful campaign to promote an event, launch a new product, or create long-lasting brand recognition. But how do you build a viral hashtag that reflects your brand?

We will discuss the most important aspects of a successful hashtag campaign in this comprehensive tutorial, from selecting the ideal hashtag to leveraging its power on social media.

The Importance of Hashtags in Brand Building

There is more to hashtags than fashionable social media frills. They are effective marketing tools that promote user-generated content (UGC), enhance discoverability, and assist with categorization. By being viewed by a larger audience, a solid hashtag can:

Make your brand more popular.
Drive conversation and discussion to increase engagement.
By connecting your business with a popular slogan, you may be able to cement your brand awareness.
Utilize viral marketing campaigns or challenges to increase sales and conversions.

Hashtags can turn your marketing campaign from ordinary to memorable and viral if used correctly.

Step 1: Define Your Campaign Goals

Remember your goals before creating a hashtag that goes viral. Different types of hashtags are needed for different campaigns:

Brand awareness hashtags such as #ShareACoke for Coca-Cola are meant to create a lasting brand impression.
Promo hashtags such as #OREODunkSweepstakes are used to launch new products or to provide temporary offers.
Community & Engagement Hashtags: Encourage fan engagement and user-generated content such as Apple's #ShotOniPhone.
Event hashtags to market webinars, conferences, or events related to your company (e.g., #Coachella2024).

Decide your main objective so that you can come up with a hashtag that caters to both your market demands as well as your marketing strategy.

Step 2: Create a Surprising and Unique Hashtag

A memorable hashtag must be short, simple, and brief. While brainstorming for your hashtag, keep the following things in mind:

Avoid lengthy or complex terms and make it simple and readable: A brief, clear-cut hashtag, e.g., #LikeAGirl (Always brand campaign), has a better chance of being shared than a lengthy, unclear one.
Make it brand-relevant: Ensure that the hashtag conveys the essence of your campaign, mission, or brand jargon.
Use emotional triggers: People will be more likely to use hashtags that trigger emotions, humor, or curiosity (e.g., REI's #OptOutside, promoting outdoor activity).
Check for availability: Verify if your hashtag is available before selecting it. You can verify uniqueness on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter.

Shun surprise connotations: Re-check your hashtag once more to make sure no misinterpretations occur. Words could on occasion get jumbled to come up with strange and unsuspected comments.

Step 3: Test Your Hashtag and Refine It

Test your hashtag with a small team of individuals prior to launching your campaign. Try:

Seeking comments from committed clients or coworkers.
Posting it on your social media sites to gauge the reaction of people initially.
Checking the readability of the hashtag: Does it read correctly without spaces?
You can refine your hashtag by testing to ensure maximum effectiveness and virality.

Step 4: Utilize Multiple Platforms to Promote Your Hashtag

It takes repeated promotion for a great hashtag to become viral. Here's how to spread the word:

Use it in all your posts: Add your hashtag to video descriptions, stories, and social media captions.
Encourage user-generated content (UGC): Encourage followers to use the hashtag to share their own stories.
Utilize influencer marketing by collaborating with people who can tell their followers about the hashtag.
Utilize it in offline marketing by incorporating your hashtag into promotional materials, event banners, and packaging.
Run a challenge or contest: Offering an incentive to a campaign can significantly boost turnouts (e.g., TikTok dance challenges).

Your hashtag has better potential to trend and go viral the more visibility it gets.

Step 5: Engage and Track Results

The work does not stop once your hashtag has been launched. To maintain momentum and ensure long-term success, interaction is necessary. Here's the way to keep it going:

Get user engagement: To keep the conversation ongoing, comment on, like, and share pictures that contain your hashtag.
Measure success: Use third-party platforms like Hootsuite or social media analytics platforms like Instagram Insights and Twitter Analytics to measure reach and engagement.
Refine and adjust: Alter your approach if your hashtag is failing to gain traction. Attempt working together, re-promoting by launching new campaigns, or experiment with other types of content.

Brands That Were Successful Through Their Hashtags

Need some inspiration? Brands that succeeded in launching viral hashtags include the following examples:

Coca-Cola's #ShareACoke campaign had people sharing their own customized Coke bottles, which massively increased social interaction.
ALS Association's #IceBucketChallenge went viral and raised millions of dollars for charities.
The #LikeAGirl (Always) campaign was extremely popular due to its inspiring and reflective theme.
Consumers became brand ambassadors when they became a part of Apple's #ShotOniPhone campaign, where people were asked to share their best iPhone photographs.

These brands created a movement around their hashtags and did not merely coined them.

Conclusion: The Influence of a Strong Hashtag

Your visibility, engagement, and credibility might all be dramatically increased by a viral hashtag. You may be able to create a hashtag that speaks to your audience and stays relevant long enough by using these systematic approaches.

Remember that engagement, relevance, and simplicity are the most key aspects of an effective hashtag. Your brand can be the next social media superstar if you take the right approach.

What's going to be your next #hashtag when it's time for you?

You can also read about:

Hashtag Hacks: How to Find the Best Hashtags for Your Brand