SocialFacebook Hashtags: Why It’s Too Early to Declare Failure

Facebook Hashtags: Why It's Too Early to Declare Failure

Simply Measured released findings of a Facebook study that mentioned the adoption rate of hashtags by Top 100 brands was strong, but that hashtags weren't yet bringing additional engagement. Dramatic reactions on the web ensued.

New features are released all the time in social media. Many of them take a while to catch on with users. Most marketers and tech-savvy people jump on them first … then about a fortnight later, the general public. This is pretty common even for something as fast-moving as tech.

Which is why early data about the performance of features can be interesting, but not hard evidence of their success. This is why the reaction to newly released stats about Facebook hashtags is a bit dramatic.

Simply Measured released findings of a study that discussed several aspects of Facebook engagement; the report merely mentioned the word “hashtags,” and headlines spreading the news about Facebook’s hashtags failing to catch on or have an any impact on engagement began to fly.

In its study, Simply Measured analyzed activity from the Top 100 brands on Facebook and found that hashtag adoption was strong. By the end of June, data showed hashtag usage had increased 20 percent.

Percentage of Brand Posts Containing Hashtags

The report also said that of the Facebook posts analyzed, hashtags were not driving additional engagement and are performing at the same rate as other posts. Simply Measured followed up by saying:

“As brands integrate more Facebook hashtags in social campaigns, and Facebook users become more familiar with discovering content through hashtags, post engagement will indicate whether including hashtags is an effective brand tactic.”

So all of that is to say: It’s new, try it. See if it works. And it’s too soon to tell.

You can view the full report of Simply Measured’s Facebook study here:

So what do you think? Have you been using Facebook hashtags, and anything to report?

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