Using hashtags is another great way to get a conversation going about your business. You simply create a hashtag to be used for your brand or business, share it in a post (FaceBook), pic (Instagram) or tweet (Twitter), search for that hashtag on your platform of choice, and then find and reply to anyone who shares it. While there are many examples of hashtag marketing campaigns online (just do a Google search) here is an example I’ve offered to my photographer marketing clients…

Tell your followers to share their favorite picture from your photo gallery (you should have social media share buttons already setup on your gallery pages) to their audience with the hashtag #ABCpic4print (replace ABC with your brand) to receive a 5×7 print of that picture. This gets your artwork seen by a much larger audience, allows you to re-tweet or re-post people’s submissions increasing the online endorsements of your work, AND gets you a name & address added to your mailing list.

The relatively small size of the print you’re offering keeps you from devaluing your work since most customers would want much larger sizes. The small print size also limits the physical cost of this campaign to a simple print & mailing (either done my you inhouse or outsourced to an online printer).

As with all things marketing, be creative with your hashtag and have fun with this type of customer interaction!