Skip to content
Tweet Binder

Hashtag Tracking

This post is also available in: Español (Spanish) Français (French)

What is a Hashtag and how to track it on Twitter

Nowadays, it is very difficult to find a campaign or big event that does not contain a hashtag. But what is a hashtag? Hashtags are those words or group of words that are typed together and after a #. Hashtags are perfect to find tweets that are about the same topic. Users can find hashtags on every social media platform but also on every offline campaign. This remarks the importance that hashtag tracking have nowadays. Therefore, finding a good hashtag tracker is key to have insights on any social campaign. Track a hashtag now on Twitter:

Hashtag tracking for Twitter

Twitter is where hashtags started. This Social Network is used by thousands of brands and agencies everyday and each of those users needs to know how their hashtags performed. In the beginning, obtaining Twitter hashtag tracking was a tedious task. Nowadays there is the role of community managers whose job is to keep track of all the analytics around a Twitter hashtag.

There are tons of Twitter hashtag tracking that can be obtained from running a Twitter search. Some Twitter stats are about the hashtag itself and some are about the users who have shared content with the hashtag. Because it is not only important to analyze what people are saying using the analyzed term but also who those users are and what is their influence.

Free Twitter hashtag tracking

These type of analytics are about how many times the hashtag has been shared, the impact it has obtain, how many people it has reached, etc. the total number of tweets can be a little bit tricky because there are different types of tweets and each one of them is important.

  • Retweets: A retweet is a repost of a tweet posted by someone else.
  • Original tweets: Every tweet which is not a retweet
    • Text tweets: Tweets that contain nothing but text
    • Replies: A response to another user’s tweet.
    • Links and pictures: Tweets that contain a link or a picture

Depending on the purpose of the Twitter hashtag analysis, a user will need to focus on different types of tweets. They all contribute to increase the impressions and the reach but sometimes it is better to have more original content rather than people repeating what others say.

With Tweet Binder, any user can run a free Twitter analytics report. The only thing that is needed is a Twitter account. In order to obtain free Twitter hashtag tracking, a user will need to follow these steps:

  1. Login with a Twitter account on www.tweetbinder.com
  2. Enter the hashtag term or keyword that needs to be tracked
  3. Click on the search button
  4. Get the stats on the hashtag

A Tweet Binder free Twitter report gives up to 500 tweets from the last 7 days. This is enough to see how the tool works and the kind of information it gives. By upgrading it the user gets an Excel and PDF export, access to the classify tab and all the PRO stats.

Difference between Twitter impressions and reach

These two Twitter metrics are very important but they mean different things. One is for users and the other is for times. On the one hand, the Twitter reach stands for the number of people who have seen the posted content. Whereas on the other hand, Twitter impressions stand for the number of times the content has been displayed in Twitter’s timeline.

Twitter user analytics

Another important thing to keep in mind when analyzing a Twitter hashtag, are the people who are posting content with that hashtag. It is really important to know who they are and if they have influence or not. Every Social Media tracking tool gives a vary range of Twitter user rankings, these are some of the ones that can be found on a Tweet Binder report:

  • Top active users: those who have shared more tweets and retweets
  • Most original users: those who have shared more original tweets
  • Users who post more retweets
  • Users who have received more retweets
  • Highest influencers: users who have generated more impressions
  • Most popular users: those with the highest number of followers
  • Users who have shared more pictures
  • Certified users
  • Users who have liked more tweets
  • Accounts who have received more likes
  • Users who have received more replies
  • Those users who have posted more replies

Each ranking has its importance and depending on each type of analysis, a user will focus on one ranking or another.

Is original content better that retweeted content?

Original content and retweeted content have different aims. When doing hashtag tracking it is important to pay attention to these two types of tweets. If a brand launches a campaign, it is better to have more original content than retweeted, why is it so? Because that will mean that people have engaged with the hashtag enough to post their own ideas rather than reposting what others have said. But retweeted content comes in very handy if what is aimed to do is just to generate Twitter impressions.

What is a Twitter impression?

It is not only important to know what is a hashtag, there are more concepts that are important to bare in mind. Twitter impressions is a metric that gives a good overview of the exposure a campaign has obtained. Impressions are the number of times a tweet has been seen by Twitter users. So, if someone retweets a tweet posted by someone else, that tweet will automatically gain a lot of impressions as now it will be displayed in more timelines.

Hashtag tracking for Trending Topics

Analyzing campaigns is a very simple process but, what about Trending Topics? Can Social Media tracking tools track that amount of content? This is not only possible but also very useful because the insights that can be obtained about the market and the users can enrich any research.

What is a Twitter Trending Topic?

After remarking what is a hashtag, it is important to keep in mind the concept of Twitter popular hashtags. A Trending Topic is a term conceived by Twitter to define the most used keywords on this social network during a certain period of time. It can be defined as what every user is tweeting about at a given time.

The Twitter algorithm defines Trending Topics by taking in consideration the number of users who are using the keyword, the increase of those users or the retweets that keyword has received. It is important to keep in mind that all these factors need to occur during the same period of time.

How to analyze a Trending Topic

Analyzing a trending topic is as simple as analyzing a regular hashtag or keyword. There are tons of Social Media tracking tools with which any user can easily create reports on hashtags or terms. The important thing here is to find the tool that better covers the aim of the campaign or Trending topic that need to be analyzed. If the campaign is aimed to discover new clients, the best tool would be the one that provides the higher number of rankings of users. Whereas a tool which provides stats on Twitter impressions, reach, tweets per user would be perfect to know the global performance of a Twitter hashtag.

TV Hashtag tracking

Every TV show has nowadays a hashtag related with it. In order to group its audience in the same place, TV shows have turned Twitter into the place to be. This way, by adding a hashtag to each program television channels allow their audience to interact and talk about the show. @CBS or @NBC are very keen on doing this. Talk shows such as Fallon Tonight or The Late Show with Stephen Colbert always have a hashtag displayed in their screens.

By running a hashtag tracking report on a TV hashtag, networks can get to know their audience better. A Tweet Binder Twitter report includes more than 8 rankings of users. This allows any client to discover who their audience is and what they are saying. The people of the Jimmy Fallon show know how to do this. By encouraging their audience to tweet with a hashtag they can later analyze it and get to know the people who talk about their show. A Tweet Binder report can be easily created for any Jimmy Fallon hashtag and the results will appear immediately on the user’s tab.

Twitter Awards

Awards are always a great topic to talk about on Social Networks. The GRAMMYs, BAFTA awards, Oscars and so on gather tons of users around their TVs and phone to talk about it. People love to share their opinions in these kind of shows. We have written several posts about Twitter awards, you can check them here and read them if you want.

Social Media for events

With Tweet Binder, a client can also display the content people share at their events. By displaying those tweets, not only they encourage the participation but also they enlarge the lifetime value of the event.

Tweet Binder has a wide catalogue of Social Media walls for events that can be fully customized and adapted to the event’s design. It has been proved that every event that installs a Tweet Wall highly increases its exposure.

Instagram hashtag tracking

If Twitter is the place where hashtags began, Instagram is the place keeping them alive. Every Instagram post is filled with tons of hashtags on their caption. Some hashtags have tons of activity because they are very general and other are more specific and are better for marketing campaigns. Finding a good Instagram hashtag tracking app is key to be able to run analysis on every hashtag.

Instagram analytics for hashtags differ from Twitter hashtag tracking in some aspects. Of course, Instagram hashtag tracking do not have retweets, for example. On Instagram posts are classified in:

  • Posts
  • Videos
  • Carousel

Also, there are some common aspects such as the impressions, reach or user rankings. One thing that Instagram allows to build are geolocation stats. As Instagram content is most of times geolocated, maps can be build form the posts people upload.

Instagram hashtag tracking tools for 2020

There are several Instagram analytics apps that will help users obtain Instagram insights. All of them are great and depending on the aim of each campaign or of the analysis that needs to be done, a user will choose one platform or another.

Tweet Binder is a hashtag counter that gives insights on Instagram hashtags. The stats provided by this Social Media tracking tool are more than enough to know how the hashtag has evolved on Instagram.

Instagram impressions and reach

As with Twitter, Instagram has its own metrics. Some are named the same way as on Twitter but their meaning is slightly different. These definitions need to be adapted to each social network.

  • Instagram reach: Number os unique users that have seen the story or post. By increasing this metrics, brand awareness is more likely to increase. It is very difficult that all the followers of an account actually see all the content an account posts. Even if a brand spends a serious amount of money on ads, it is unlikely that it will reach all their followers. That is why it is important to be aware of the Instagram reach when managing a brand account.
  • Instagram impressions: This metric stands for the number of time the post or story has been shown to users. It is common for impressions to be higher than the reach because reach is for unique users whereas impressions stand for times. So, if the impressions are higher than the reach this means that the content from an account is being shown to its followers multiple times.

Instagram stories Vs Instagram Feed

Instagram has different ways of posting content. That is why it is important to know the differences between Instagram stories and the feed. Depending on the approach of a campaign, it would be better to post a story or a post in the feed.

The posts an account sends are displayed on the Instagram feed. This feed is fixed. Meaning that its content does not disappear unless a user erases it. The feed defines an account. When users look for an account the first thing they will see is the feed. So, for a brand, it is the selling point.

Instagram stories are a recent release the social network has done. These are publications that disappear after 24 hours of being posted. It can include videos, pictures, text, emojis, gifs… almost anything. The important thing about the stories is that the account who posts them can see who has seen the stories. This way, a brand can know exactly who their target is as they can see who is watching their stories.

Another thing to consider about Instagram analytics are hashtags, they can now be followed. But, how to follow an Instagram hashtag? It is actually a very simple process:

  1. Go to the search tab on the Instagram app
  2. Look for the hashtag that needs to be followed
  3. A “Follow” button will be displayed next to the hashtag
  4. Click on the “Follow” button

So, what can be displayed on an Instagram timeline? Everything that was aforementioned. Stories are displayed on the upper part of the timelines. To see all of them, the user need to scroll right and left. And on the rest of the screen is where the Instagram feed and Instagram hashtags are displayed.

Facebook Analytics

Twitter and Instagram are the main social networks from which users can get social analytics. However, it is important to not loose the focus on other social networks which are important as well. Facebook is one of this networks.

Social Media Managers usually need to obtain Facebook analytics for their campaigns. These can be easily obtain from Facebook Insights. The Insights tab is placed in the upper menu of a Facebook page.

Facebook Insights overview

The overview tab is first thing displayed, tab where the following metrics are displayed:

  • Actions on Page: number of clicks on the page’s contact info and call-to-action button.
  • Page views: number of times a page has been viewed by logged in and logged out people.
  • Average page previews: number of times people hovered over the page’s name or profile picture to see a preview of the Page content.
  • Page likes: number of people who have liked the page
  • Post reach: number of people who had any posts from the Page enter their screen.
  • Recommendations: number of times people recommended the page
  • Post engagements: number of times people have engaged with the posts by liking it, sharing it or commenting on it.
  • Responsiveness: the percentage of messages responded to in Messenger.
  • Videos: number of times the Page’s videos played for at least 3 seconds, or for nearly their total length if they’re shorter than 3 seconds,.
  • Page followers: number of new people who have followed the Page.

Facebook posts analytics

Besides having general stats for a Facebook page, stats can also be obtained from the posts. In order to know when the best day to publish a post is, Facebook insights gives an estimate of when fans of a Page are online. This way, people will be more likely to read the post and interact with it.