How to Use Hashtags on LinkedIn to Grow Your Law Firm’s Audience

LinkedIn is constantly improving to better serve users. Though the platform has been around since 2003, they introduced the use of clickable hashtags in 2016. Other platforms have been using them much longer, and they’ve become one of the standard aspects of using social media. LinkedIn is catching up to channels like Twitter and Instagram when it comes to hashtags. In this article, you’ll learn how to use and optimize your hashtags on LinkedIn so you can get your law firm’s content discovered by more people outside your immediate network.

How do hashtags work on LinkedIn?

Hashtags on LinkedIn work to categorize content, just as they do on Twitter and Instagram.

Hashtags help users find content on a specific topic. And, if you add hashtags to your law firm’s content, they’ll help your content get discovered by a wider audience, including those not following your firm directly. What’s more, you can follow hashtags on LinkedIn, meaning that posts containing your chosen ones will appear on your feed.

Making your LinkedIn content available to more of your target audience should always be your goal as a marketer.

When should I use hashtags on LinkedIn?

Use hashtags on your posts

You can simply type out the pound sign followed by the word or phrase you wish to use. As you type, LinkedIn will auto-generate hashtag suggestions to give you an idea of what’s popular. You could also click on the “add hashtag” button located at the bottom left and select a related hashtag next to the button. Remember not to add spaces or symbols, as that makes them un-clickable. 

Use hashtags on your company page

Associate your law firm’s company page on LinkedIn with relevant hashtags to be part of conversations happening on the platform. To do so, follow these steps:

• On your company’s page, click on the “Add” button on the bottom right under “Hashtags”. This will open a smaller page. 
• Click “Add a hashtag” and choose up to three. 

Add hashtags to your LinkedIn comments

You can also add hashtags when you comment on a post or an article. It’s another way of reinforcing your topic and making it discoverable.

How do I select the best hashtags for my posts?

Choosing the right hashtags will change on a post-to-post basis. In general, you should aim to use hashtags which are specific to your industry and niche consistently across different posts. You can then add additional hashtags that are specific to what you’re posting about.

After using hashtags for a period of time, you can take a look at the analytics of your posts and see how posts are performing and look for any trends. From there, you can adjust your strategy and continue to optimize content.

For hashtags to make the most impact, keep these things in mind:

• Stick to three hashtags. More than that can look spammy. 
• Remember that hashtags just provide discoverability. You still need a compelling description to let people know what the content (article, whitepaper, etc) is about. 
• Use more than just the most popular hashtags, or you risk getting lost in the noise. Mix in one or two niche hashtags that will better target your audience. 

Follow hashtags on topics you’re interested in

Following hashtags is another smart tactic. LinkedIn lets you find and follow hashtags on the topics you’re interested in. To find hashtags, you can start by going to the search bar and entering the hashtag you want to follow. Then, choose a selection from the dropdown menu. That will take you to the hashtag’s feed where you can see any content posted using that hashtag. Click “follow” at the top of the page. 

To gain a more tailored recommendation of what hashtags to follow, you can use the recommendations in your feed which you can access through your personal LinkedIn account.

Takeaway

Hashtags are used to categorize content on LinkedIn, which can only serve to expand your reach and improve your content’s deliverability. Hashtags are one proven way to reach people beyond your own connections, and following hashtags will help you to keep a pulse on popular topics and content ideas.

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