How to use Hashtag for Weddings
There are a number of up-and-coming wedding trends for 2015, but one of the most popular is using one or more hashtags for posting videos and photos on social media, such as Twitter and Instagram. This trend is gaining popularity as more and more people use social media to post photos instead of just text. If you want to use a hashtag for your 2015 wedding, you may wonder which one to use and how to get the word out to your guests so that they all use the same tag. Accomplishing this will take a little bit of planning and understanding how to use these social media services to your best advantage so those who can’t be there can still enjoy up-to-the-moment photos and videos and so that you can look through all the photos later without having to scour the Internet.
Understanding Hashtags
Before you can hashtag your wedding, you have to understand how these tags work. While a hashtag can be made up of almost any combination of letters and numbers, it cannot include special characters or spaces. If these are included in your hashtag, it will break the hashtag into two separate sections, which will make it impossible for your or your loved ones to find. When creating a hashtag, try and keep it simple and remember that the hashtag symbol itself, which is a #, must not be spaced away from the rest of the tag. For example, the hashtag #Joneswedding2015 is a searchable tag, while # Joneswedding2015 is not. It’s also important to keep your tag simple so it’s easy for people to type and for searching purposes. Sarasota wedding photographer Catie Sweeney says: “Many brides are using hashtags to promote their wedding either as part of the invitation or at the wedding itself.”
Choosing a Hashtag
Choosing a hashtag that suits your wedding is important for both the guests who are attending and for those who can’t. This is why simplicity is the key and that while you may think a complicated or clever hashtag is cute, as your guests are posting photos, they might skip using the tag because it takes too long to type out or is easily misspelled. Because you’ll want to be able to find all of your photos later on and add them to your Facebook or repost them on your own Instagram feed, choose something that is easy to remember and to add to any post.
If you have a last name that is common in your area, you might want to do a hashtag search to see if the tag is already in use by another couple. Since you don’t want your photos getting mixed up with those of strangers, you will have to somewhat modify your hashtag. For example, instead of #SmithWedding2015, add the name of your spouse as well to make it unique, such as #SmithJonesWedding2015. This is still an easy tag to remember and will help set your photos apart from the millions of other users who post photos and videos on these services.
Putting the Hashtag to Use
If you’re having a medium-sized or large wedding, you don’t want to have to send out hundreds of texts to let people know which hashtag you’re using. To save time and money, there are several ways that you can get the word out. If your wedding is a bit smaller and people are coming into the ceremony through one central entrance, you can set up chalkboards there that welcome them and remind them which hashtag they should be using. Don’t forget to have several of these boards set up at your reception as well. If you plan your hashtag well in advance, you can add it to your invitations so that people can refer to it when the time comes to post photos. If you don’t want to add the hashtag on the invitations themselves, you can include a small printed card in the envelope that reminds your guests about which one they should use when posting to Instagram or Twitter for the evening.
Anna Lythgoe of professional SEO services company Level9 SEO says: “Using a hashtag to group your wedding photos on social media to make them searchable and shareable is the best way to ensure that your family and friends don’t miss a moment of your big day. It also makes them easy to find, download, and print so that you can make albums as gifts for those who were thoughtful enough to capture the big event and to create memories that you can cherish for years to come.”
Summary: There are a number of up-and-coming wedding trends for 2015, but one of the most popular is using one or more hashtags for posting videos and photos on social media, such as Twitter and Instagram; accomplishing this will take a little bit of planning and understanding how to use these social media services to your best advantage so those who can’t be there can still enjoy up-to-the-moment photos and videos.