Are Your Hashtags Working Against You? Three Mistakes to Avoid
Did you know there’s a wrong way to use hashtags in your social media posts? Let’s review 3 common mistakes with hashtags use on LinkedIn and X, its implications and what you can do to correct them.
Before we begin, here are the hashtags basics.
What is a hashtag? Hashtag is a word or a phrase preceded by the “#” sign and is used primarily on social media platforms to tag posts as a part of a larger conversation. Hashtags help categorize content to make it discoverable to others who are interested in the same topics/subjects.
Can you add a hashtag sign to any word? A word or a phrase can become a hashtag. There are a few types of hashtags:
single word hashtags i.e. #cardiology #pediatric
phrase hashtags: #cancerAwareness #heartfailure
acronym hashtags #IMR #CMR #LAD #PAD #TAVR
congress hashtags #TCT2025 #WCLC25 #VIVA
How do I know which are the right hashtags for me and my audience? To know which hashtag to use, research your subject and your audience on the social media platform you want to use. The goal is to understand:
· what hashtags they are using?
· what are the most commonly-used hashtags?
· if you click on the hashtag, do you land in the right/relevant conversations?
Pro-Tip: For LinkedIn, prioritize relevant keywords and phrases in your posts (such as in your titles, or subheadings) as LinkedIn algorithm will treat them as “keywords” to help your audience discover your content.
What are the most common mistakes with the hashtags?
Mistake 1: Using irrelevant hashtags.
Using irrelevant hashtags means your posts won’t show up in the right conversations for you or your target audience (TA).
For example, if you are taking to HCPs about heart disease and how your product helps to diagnose/ treat heart disease, you may use such hashtags as #heartdisease #cardiology #STEMI or something more specific. However, if you use similar hashtags such as #healinghearts, #savinglives, you are not reaching the right user. These hashtags pull up different conversations that are not relevant to your audience. So, all that great content you are posting is not being discovered by the very people you are trying to reach.
Pro-Tip: Hashtags used by HCPs can be different from hashtags used for DTC.
If you audience is not using the hashtags, don’t use them. Ask yourself:
What purpose does this hashtag serve?
Will it be discovered by my audience?
Mistake 2: Using incorrect hashtags.
When you use incorrect hashtags, your social posts are not working for you and for your goals.
What are incorrect hashtags? Two scenarios:
Hashtags containing company name
Frequently, product managers or marketing managers create hashtags to help promote their company name. #ChooseCompanyName, #ThinkCompanyName #AlwaysCompanyName #CompanyNameFirst. While it’s a good thought to build brand awareness, it is not the best tactic for social media if you want to engage HCPs. Your [company] social media handle most likely already contains your company name, and the media files (photos or videos) you use in the posts may contain your company logo.
The consequence?
If your target audience is HCP, you are essentially asking them to tag their posts with your brand’s hashtag. This can be interpreted as “endorsement” –unless they are on contract and official KOL and disclose that relationship—but otherwise, no HCP would willingly do that.
While this scenario may be doable under special circumstances, such as if your contacted KOL or your company’s CMO initiates such a hashtag with a well-thought-out strategy—it may work, but will have a host of issues to deal with, and results may take a long-time to see. However, there’s a reason you have a handle on social media platforms –HCPs can tag your company’s social media handle in posts.
2. Inventing your own hashtags
Sometimes Sales Reps get so excited about the product, they invent their own hashtags that signify a specific milestone, i.e. signing a contract at an account or a share a number of cases they have done.
The consequence? Self-invented hashtags don’t contribute to reaching your marketing goals, don’t impact your KPIs nor help you get in front of the right audience. Remember, hashtags need to make sense and have a purpose.
Pro-tip: Train your employees on social media policy and best practices to support your company’s social media strategy.
Need help crafting an effective social media strategy for your product? Get expert guidance today.
Mistake 3: Using too many hashtags.
When you use too many hashtags in a single short post, such as 280-character X posts - you make it harder for the audience to focus on what you are trying to say. The audience is distracted and is less likely to retain your message. Too many hashtags that are used incorrectly is also considered spamming.
Pro-tip: Choose 3 most important and relevant hashtags that flow organically OR add them at the bottom of your post.
Create a hashtag strategy that will bring results: reach the right audience, increase exposure and drive awareness
As a brand, it’s important to know how to use hashtags correctly to build your brand image. There are plenty of accounts on social media who don’t use hashtags correctly, including HCPs. The reasons are 1) they don’t know the right way 2) they copy from other accounts who do it incorrectly 3) they want exposure, and believe that adding a lot of hashtags will drastically increase their reach.
Doing it Right: How to build a hashtag strategy that actually works
Research the appropriate hashtags for our product/disease state/therapy; congresses; and any campaigns you want to run
Align the entire team on the usage of the selected hashtags
Use hashtags strategically in the copy: hashtag usage needs to make sense and needs to support your business goals.
Use best practices: Don’t use more than 3 hashtags in the copy for short, character-limited posts and don’t invent new hashtags.
Hashtags alone are not the key to winning your social media strategy. It’s a good content, consistent posting with the right hashtag strategy that will produce results.
Key Takeaway: Using proper hashtags will not automatically improve your social media marketing; it’s the content you publish on your social media channels consistently that creates value to your audience, builds trust and keeps them engaged.