Have you ever wondered what all the hype was about hashtags, those silly tic-tac-toe–looking things you see everywhere on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms? #dotheysometimesgetonyournerves?
When used correctly, they really do serve an important role in social media, and it’s possible they can help you as a fitness professional if you want to increase your presence in the industry, become known as a leader, and/or attract more clients or students.
Amanda Vogel, fitness writer and presenter, has created a great short video that will help you understand what all the hype is about hashtags.
I have to admit, I’ve been known to use hashtags like she mentions in #3 in the video #justbecauseitsfun. But it also saves space in Twitter! 😉
Amanda is a wealth of information. Make sure to check out her website here, and connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter.
If you haven’t yet followed ICA on Twitter, check us out here, and make sure to LIKE us on Facebook. [We are only a handful of fans away from 6000—help us get there soon!] You can follow us on Instagram too…but we are just getting started.
At ICA, we have several member articles on how to use social media and e-mail promotion to connect with your riders and to increase your class size or promote your programs. In the coming months, we are planning on a lot more posts to help individual instructors as well as studios to promote their passion via social media. If you are not doing this yet…what are you waiting for? It really does work when done well!
Here are a few ICA articles:
Connect with your students through Facebook
Using Email to Communicate With Your Students
The 2014 Indoor Cycling Summit included a presentation on using social media for fitness pros, among the 29 sessions offered at the Summit. You can expect our 2015 Summit to continue with more workshops.
While I find the article interesting and helpful for my understanding I am not convinced that hashtags are really beneficial or much more than hype.
What is ultimately your goal if you publish information, articles, blog entries or other statements on the Internet ? Do you want to become famous or get heard and noticed as expert for something ? For this it might be that hashtags are one possible tool. But for me as instructor it is more about building community, establishing and maintaining relations to customers and peers. The vast majority of these “connections” are of personal nature (to be instructor or coach means physical presence) and limited to rather local geographical scope. I don’t see the value for me to use hashtags for that reason.
But as always: your milage may vary.
Fabulous no nonsense advice! Thank you Amanda 🙂
Thank you so much for the shout-out and for posting my video on hashtags! Glad you found it useful. – Amanda