Have you harnessed the power of hashtag marketing to promote your brand via Twitter?  It can be a handy tool that “tags” a tweet and allows searchers to find it more easily.  While it can be very rewarding to run a successful campaign, it’s also easy for your plan to backfire.

What are trending topics?

Twitter’s help center explains:

“Twitter’s Trending Topics algorithm identifies topics that are immediately popular, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help people discover the ‘most breaking’ news stories from across the world. We think that trending topics which capture the hottest emerging trends and topics of discussion on Twitter are the most interesting.”

Why use hashtags?

The Good

First, Twitter redesigned their website last year to highlight key services, one of them being hashtags.  At the top of your Twitter home page there are three large icons: Home, Connect, and Discover, which all allow for more fluent navigation of the popular social media website.  On the side, you’ll see the most popular trending topics for specific locations, e.g. Los Angeles, New York, or the United States.

Apple recently announced the latest version of OSX, Mountain Lion, with Twitter integrated into many Mac programs like Safari, iPhoto, Photo Booth and more.  That means even more tweeting in the near future, so getting a jump start on developing your social media marketing campaigns is a good idea.

Second, hashtags give users a way to interact with your brand by referencing a specific topic.  Back in 2010 retail giant Target used hashtags to promote their #blackfriday deals, giving away $25 gift cards and offering special deals through their trending topic.  But hashtag topics don’t have to be promotions.  According to Carmen Hudson, CEO and co-founder of Tweetajob, between 300 and 500 jobs per minute are posted on Twitter with hashtags like #jobs or #salesjobs.  Of course with the saturation of job postings on Twitter, hashtags should only be used to supplement other job resources like your Job Board.

Hosting an upcoming seminar on Social Media Basics?  Why not establish the hashtag #socialmediabasics to allow guests to live-Tweet your event.  Then anyone not attending the event can easily search for highlights from your event by plugging #socialmediabasics into Twitter’s “Discover” section.

Finally, hashtags are a cross-platform tool.  Hashtags are not exclusive to Twitter; they can be used to promote brand unity across popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest just to name a few.

Now, The Bad

McDonald’s recently made headlines with their hashtag campaign, #McDStories, which garnered some bad press.  Intended to help spread positive experiences at McDonald’s locations around the world, #McDStories was hijacked by angry patrons and used to share unpleasant dining experiences at the fast food chain.

It started innocently with tweets like, “Meet some of the hard-working people dedicated to providing McDs with quality food every day #McDStories”.  However McDonald’s hashtag campaign quickly turned into an ugly bashtag campaign with tweets like, “One time I walked into McDonald’s and I could smell Type 2 diabetes floating in the air and I threw up”.  Oops.

The lesson?  Know your brand.  McDonald’s has to know that they have just as many detractors as they do supporters.  They set themselves up for failure and had to quickly pull the plug on their #McDStories campaign.

Avoid making a similar marketing gaff by identifying your intended audience.  It’s important to believe in your product and trust that your audience does too.  However, before launching a hashtag campaign, really think about what you’re trying to accomplish.  If there is any chance that your positive message could be spun in a negative way then consider a different marketing strategy.

As a final note, having a unified brand across all social media platforms is extremely important.  Make sure your new Twitter page reflects your current color scheme, logo, and website address.  Had the same homepage for a few years?  Consider a Twitter page redesign.

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Like it or not, Facebook Timeline is here.

I like to fancy myself an early adopter of new technology.  I was a Twitter-er before anyone else I knew, I begged friends for a Google+ invite, I converted to Gmail’s newest theme when it was still just a trial version, but most recently I changed my Facebook profile from the classic view to the new Timeline layout not because I wanted to but rather because I would be forced to sooner than later.

Am I fan of Facebook Timeline?  Aesthetically speaking, no I am not a fan.  Timeline displays your activity in a chronological column alternating left to right and back again.  It’s a bit jumbled compared to the classic news feed view, but just like any other design change Facebook has made over the last few years I’m sure Timeline will grow on me.  Love it or hate it, Facebook Timeline is going to be mandatory for everyone in the next few weeks as they “roll it out.” (according to their blog)  It’s social networking Darwanism at its finest.  Adapt or be left in the dust.

Facebook is famous for rolling out changes to the site’s design, layout, and privacy settings frequently enough to frustrate users who had “just gotten comfortable” with the previous version.  Speaking of privacy settings, there are a few of those to pay close attention to as well.  The big one being that Facebook Timeline goes way back like Steve Jobs’ hairline, displaying information from the beginning of Facebook time (okay, that’s only 2004, but still!).  Once you make the switch to the Facebook Timeline layout (or when the switch is made for you) you will have a seven day preview of your profile during which you will be able to edit or delete any information from your Facebook past that you don’t want to be visible.

Don’t worry; the seven day grace period isn’t the only opportunity you’ll have to edit your information.  Whenever you post on Facebook, there is a “Public” dropdown menu that allows you to choose whether your info will be public, for friends only, close friends, acquaintances, only you, and more.  You can also delete your past activity from friends’ Timelines.

To some, Timeline may seem pointless.  For example, do I need to know what I posted or who I was dating in 2006?  Do I really need to relive my college years?  If that is important to you however, Timeline makes old information much more accessible.  If you wanted to see one of your posts from 2005 in classic Facebook you would be required to scroll to the bottom of the page and click “See More” an exhausting number of times.  With Timeline, you just select the year that you want to view on the right, and voila, there are all of your posts.

Apps

Facebook is also pushing Timeline Apps as a way to share activities and interests with your friends.  Facebook explains “Apps on Facebook allow you to play social games with your friends, remember friends’ birthdays, share your taste in movies, send gifts to friends, and much more.”

With categories like entertainment, music, food, fitness, news, fashion, and more you can add apps like Words With Friends, Hulu, Rdio, Spotify, Urban Spoon, Wall Street Journal, and Pinterest just to name a few.

A Little Creative Freedom

My favorite part about Facebook Timeline is the new “Cover.”  Facebook encourages you to “fill this wide, open space with a unique image that represents you best.  It’s the first thing people see when they visit your timeline.”  Finally, Facebook gives users a customizable (even if it’s just one spot) profile for the first time.

Here are a few examples of really creative (and funny) Facebook covers:

http://mashable.com/2012/01/26/funny-facebook-timeline-covers/

As usual, there are plenty of Facebook Timeline critics.  As reported by the Washington Post, a SlashGear poll revealed that forty five percent of responders admitted to considering nixing their Facebook accounts altogether over the mandatory switch to Timeline.  But let’s get real for a moment, Facebook isn’t going anywhere.  In fact, I doubt it will see a very steep decline in users once Timeline becomes the norm.  We’ll just have to learn to enjoy Facebook Timeline until the next big change comes.

No Changes for Facebook Business Pages… For Now

For the time being, Facebook Timeline is only being rolled out for personal pages, so business pages will have to wait for any profile design updates.  However, rumors are swirling that Timeline could be available as soon as the end of February.

Facebook VP of Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson said:

“The goal has always been to have your personal experience on Facebook not be so different than the brand or page experience. And right now, it is different. You have Timeline and you have a page-brand profile. So we are absolutely moving in the direction to sync those up. We believe that brands want to be able to curate how they’re represented in a more visually pleasing way, and we’re in the midst of trying to figure out how best to do that.”

If that’s the case, then now is a great time to get a head start on Timeline design concepts for promoting your brand to millions of Facebook users.

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