You've seen those little # symbols in tweets on Twitter and on other social networks, but what are they and what do they mean? Twitter defines hashtags as, “the # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.” So by using a hashtag you can easily allow others to follow that tag and see all the tweets related to that topic. Cool right? And, as a business owner, you too can use hashtags to your benefit. How? Easy peasy. When you post a tweet, ensure you use a hashtag related to your business.

For example, check out this tweet from Munchery, a San Francisco biz that home-delivers meals handcrafted by local chefs:

Munchery is capitalizing on a Twitter trending topic, (#superbowl), the day after the local team, #49ers beat the Falcons. With this tweet, Munchery is placing their message into the Twitter feeds of everyone following or searching the hashtags #49ers and #superbowl.  Smart cookies, those Munchery folks!

Want to see what on Twitter? Trending topics are shown on the left side of your Twitter feed:

And, Skadeedle's social media guru recommends tagdef.com to explore the best hashtags for your content.

Twitter also recommends you try these 2 tips when using hashtags in your tweets:

• Don't #spam #with #hashtags. Don't over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 2 hashtags per Tweet.)
• Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

And guess what? Because hashtags are so useful for categorizing content, they've gained popularity on other social networks like Pinterest and Instagram. By making it easy for people to find and engage with your content, you'll get a lot more eyeballs on your messages, and more eyes can mean more business.

Use Twitter hashtags and see how they help get your messages seen and shared! What're your best Twitter hashtags tips?

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