Be happy with the hashtag before you use it

In my last blog post I explained that when it comes to hashtags you should check, check and check again when generating one for your own marketing campaign.
Always assume that a hashtag has been used before and therefore research what message or connotation is attached to it.
Allied to this if you are planning to jump on the back of a trending hashtag (one that is proving so popular it is among the most used at that current time) then understand the message behind it, if any, and decide whether it is in good taste for you or your business to either endorse it or to be seen to try and win business off the back of it.
There are many examples where this hasn’t been done.
In 2014 US based DiGiorno Pizza fell foul of the hashtag when they tweeted

#WhyIStayed You had pizza

On the face of it fairly innocuous but the trending #WhyIStayed hashtag was generated as domestic violence had become a key issue due to a story that had developed at that time.
It was being used to discuss abusive relationships and clearly in no way the sort of territory in which DiGiorno wanted to promote their pizza. This was not a cynical exercise which backfired, simply one person who didn’t check the hashtag and failed to fully grasp why it had been generated.
The tweet was later deleted but to their credit DiGiorno didn’t leave Twitter or fall silent, they attempted a personal response to each heartfelt complaint. But more of that when we look at how to deal with a crisis on social media.