Long Hashtag Gripe: #iOnlyHave140characters
I have a hashtag gripe. While I love that brands are embracing social media and making custom hashtags for us to follow and engage with them, why must some of them be so long? I only have 140 characters! I was watching TV a few nights ago and saw a KFC commercial that illustrates this point. I was admiring their use of branding throughout the entire commercial, to include a custom hashtag on the chicken bucket that was in the background. At the end of the commercial, they used the custom hashtag to ask #HowDoYouKFC? All I could think about (because I don’t eat KFC) was, why is the hashtag so long? You can’t even use it in your sentence structure to help cut down on the number of characters.
I felt it would have been better to ask that question in their marketing materials (online, offline, media, etc) and have people respond with #iKFC or something else short and/or that could be used as part of a sentence. The less characters a hashtag takes away from a tweet, the better. The responses would allow for more freedom and creativity. “#iKFC at my super bowl party…” might be a response for the hashtag example.
KFC is not the only example I have seen of a brand using what I consider to be a super long and cumbersome hashtag. I think sometimes in an effort to be creative and on trend, brands sometimes forget about the actual consumer. They want us to engage with them, they want to grab our attention, but in the case of these long and cumbersome hashtags, they are making it difficult for us to actually execute this. For me personally, if it is difficult, I will lose interest and not do it. Make it easy and I will say, “sure, why not?” #NoMoreSuperLongCustomBrandHashtagsIn2014
Colleen Eakins is a dynamic and creative individual that possess a knack for great design. With over 15 years of experience in the field of graphic design, Colleen is able to effectively brand her clients with great design pieces. Her motto is: “Anyone can make a pretty picture, but is it effective? Will it make your customer buy your product or use your services? My design tries to answer with a YES!”