Why Facebook's hashtag function is a #goldmine

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In a move that caught many users by surprise, Facebook implemented the hashtag function previously used by Twitter. After a few weeks, Facebook users went along with it and shrugged it off. Marketing researchers, however, saw a gold mine.

The Twitter staple was used to categorize tweets, helping targeted ads. The only thing missing from Twitter to become an online marketer's paradise was the lack of information from its profile page. Now Facebook, with its plethora of personal data readily available to the public, implemented the hashtag function as well. One can only imagine how excited online marketers became.

Joanna Belbey, a social media planner and strategist at Actiance, explained the method further. "If your customers are using hashtags, you can engage with them in conversation," she said. This is called pinpoint marketing, according to her.

Other social media networks also have the hashtag function. Google+, Tumblr, and Instagram all have hashtag searches available for online marketers to exploit.

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Industry, Facebook

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