If you’ve seen any ad lately, chances are there’s something hashtagged in it. 

Hashtags have become a standard part of marketing campaigns. They’re a quick and simple way to maximize the reach of a piece of content.

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Log into any social media platform and you’ll see them -- hashtags. 

To the untrained or unfamiliar eye, words preceded by a hashtag may just seem like something done for emphasis or to be funny. In actuality, hashtags are part of a much larger world within the social media universe and are absolutely critical to social media advertising.

Ray Tomlinson sent the first networked email in 1971. Back then, an email was a way to copy a file to another user’s file directory.

Email has evolved a lot since 1971, and email marketing has evolved right along with it. Because of smartphones and tablets, we have access to emails 24/7. And with more than 293.6 billion emails sent daily, you don’t want yours to get lost in the shuffle.

Social media is everywhere you turn and the number of platforms can be overwhelming to choose from. Do you choose the most popular social media? The trendiest? Or targeted channels specific to the medical tech industry? 

If you're alive in the 21st century, you've seen the impact social media can have on businesses. Dollar Shave Club made their name on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Most small businesses that we work with have not taken a social media step beyond Facebook. Most have only used Facebook because they are using it personally. Many have created a Facebook business page for their company but rarely, if ever use it. Facebook is not always the best place to focus, but because they already "know" how to use Facebook, that's where they start. Twitter is often overlooked by small business owners because they don't use it personally. If they were already on Twitter and had "figured it out", chances are they would have a business Twitter profile as well. This post aims at removing the "figuring it out" step that so many business owners put off.

It's no secret that Twitter has not caught up in rural areas...especially in Pennsylvania. If you have ever been around PA you'll know that much of it is rural, and depending on your interests that is either a pro or a con.

It can certainly be frustrating to get excited about bringing social media to your business and have it take off slow. You hear over and over how fast word travels on Facebook and Twitter, but word is still not travelling about your business. Your message is being sent into space and you are getting really good at one-sided conversations. I am sure you have asked these questions to yourself...how long does it take before I start seeing the fruits of my labor, when do I know it's working, and am I even doing this right??? Don't get frustrated just yet, it takes time and patience.

I read a pair of contradictory blog posts this weekend, one stating that Twitter needs to break through the 140 character limit for messages in order to grow market share, and another that discussed why the 140 character limit is appropriate and that there are other, more pressing needs for Twitter to address in order to continue gaining in popularity. This topic is one I touched on very briefly during episode 4 of the protocol 80 o'er coffee podcast, but since it has gained attention since then I figured I'd post my thoughts here. Are you ready? Let's do this thing!