It's hard to believe but hashtags on Facebook has been around since
2013 and got an
update in 2016 but no one seems to know how to use hashtags properly on Facebook. According to Facebook, hashtags turn topics and phrases into clickable links in posts on your profile or Page. When people click a hashtag or search for a hashtag, they'll see a results that contain the hashtag so they can learn more about topics that interest them. However, Facebook has been relatively quiet on how exactly hashtags work and what marketers can do with them.
To make matters worse, according to BuzzSumo's
study in 2016, posts without hashtags actually saw more reach compared to those with hashtags. This was after they analysed more than a billion posts from over 30 million brand Pages.
However, in 2020 it looks like Facebook has made a tweak to their algorithm and made hashtags relevant again. Some people have noticed this prompt on their composer window (Source:
Social Media Today) in recent days.
So, what does this mean for marketers? Should you jump into the hashtag bandwagon and would it improve your organic reach? According to Facebook marketing expert
Mari Smith, hashtags help with increased organic reach among her followers.
So, what is happening with hashtags?
Facebook introduced the hashtag
#SupportSmallBusiness in May to help support small businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and since then, hashtags seem to be getting a new lease of life. They are testing it with different colour presentations and when you start typing a hashtag, it will even suggest hashtag terms to use.
Facebook themselves have not released any official documentation on the changes to their algorithm for hashtags if any. While Facebook does suggest that adding hashtags may improve reach, there is still no concrete proof yet.
So, what can marketers do at the moment? Why, experiment of course! Hashtags costs you nothing and if it does increase your organic reach, that can only be a good thing. Remember that in social media, change is the only constant.