Resources · For accountants
Should accountants use hashtags on social media? A few, chosen well, and never instead of a good post
Hashtags help a little with discovery and almost nothing on their own. Here is what a good hashtag looks like for an accountancy firm, how many to use, what to avoid and when to skip them entirely.
The short answer
Yes, but only a few, and never as a substitute for a good post. Hashtags help a little with discovery and almost nothing on their own.
A good post with two or three relevant hashtags beats a weak post with thirty. No hashtag replaces useful content, a clear next step, or a reputation in your local area. Treat them as a small finishing touch, chosen in a minute or two, not as a marketing plan.
On Facebook, for example, the Facebook help centre explains that a hashtag turns a topic into a clickable link, and clicking it shows a feed of posts with the same tag. That is all a hashtag does: it files your post under a label. It cannot make anyone want to read it.
What a good hashtag looks like
A good hashtag for an accountancy firm is specific. It names a service, a place or a real audience that the post is actually about.
- A service. A tag for the topic of the post, such as Making Tax Digital or payroll, tells a reader what the post covers before they read it.
- A place. A town or county tag can help a local firm reach local business owners, as long as the post is relevant to people there.
- A real audience. A tag for the people the post is for, such as landlords or sole traders, if it is one that group actually uses.
- One firm or campaign tag, used consistently. If you run a regular series, such as a weekly tax tip, one tag used every time beats a new invention every week.
Broad tags like #accounting or #business are not wrong, but they are crowded and say little. Your post sits among a great many unrelated posts, and the business owner you want to reach is unlikely to be browsing them.
Write multi-word tags with a capital letter at the start of each word, such as #MakingTaxDigital rather than #makingtaxdigital, so it is easier to read. Hashtags must be one word with no spaces, and the Facebook and Instagram help centres both say special characters such as $ or % will not work.
Landlords: start a single folder today for every repair invoice and letting agent statement. When your accountant asks for the year's figures, you will have them in one place instead of three inboxes. Questions? Reply here or call the office. #Landlords #PropertyTax #[YourTown]
That example is ours, written to show the shape: the post makes one useful point, and the tags name the audience, the topic and the place. Swap in your own town, and only use a tag for a service you actually offer.
How many to use, and where
Use a handful at most, chosen for that post. A block of tags pasted onto every post looks like broadcast marketing and adds nothing a reader wants.
Each platform sets its own rules, and they change. On Instagram, the Instagram help centre says you can use up to 5 hashtags on a post, and that a comment with more than 5 will not post. It also says hashtags can go in the caption or the comments, and that posts from private profiles do not appear publicly on hashtag pages. Our guide on whether accountants should use Instagram covers the rest of that channel.
On LinkedIn and Facebook, the same rule of thumb works well: two or three tags that fit the post, placed at the end so they do not interrupt the sentence. Our guide to LinkedIn for accountants lists a row of tags among the common mistakes there for the same reason.
What does not work
Most hashtag mistakes come from treating tags as a shortcut. Avoid these.
- Copying a rival's whole block. Their tags were chosen for their posts, their area and their clients, if they were chosen at all.
- Trending tags unrelated to the post. Adding a popular tag to reach more people puts your firm in front of an audience that did not come for tax advice, and it can look opportunistic.
- Tags that promise advice you do not give. A tag for a specialist area, such as a sector or a type of tax work you do not handle, invites enquiries you will have to turn away.
- Tagging or naming clients.A hashtag is a public, clickable label. Putting a client's name in one can reveal a client relationship. ICAEW's social media helpsheet reminds firms to consider whether a post discloses a confidential client relationship, and the same applies to its tags.
- The same block on every post. Tags that do not match the post tell readers it was not written with them in mind.
Picking hashtags in two minutes
Choosing hashtags should take a couple of minutes, not a research session. Follow these steps, then stop.
1. Start from the post's one point
Every good post makes one point. Name it in a word or two, such as payroll year end or landlord tax. That is your first candidate.
2. Add the service and the place, if they fit
If the post is about a service you offer, tag it. If it matters to people in your area, add your town or county. Leave either out if it does not fit this post.
3. Check the tag before you use it
Click or search the tag on the platform. Check that real people use it for the same topic, and that it has not been taken over by something unrelated or something you would not want your firm next to. If it has, drop it.
4. Stop at three
If you have more than three good candidates, keep the most specific ones. The time you save is better spent making the first line of the post clearer.
Hashtags and AI drafts
AI tools often add a row of generic hashtags to every draft. Treat them like any other part of an AI draft: check each one, and delete any that do not fit the post or your firm.
Our guide on whether accountants should use AI for social media posts covers how to brief an AI tool and review what it writes, including asking for no hashtags and adding your own.
This is one place a purpose-built tool helps. Pillrdrafts a month of LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram posts from your firm's website, in your firm's voice. Its drafts use no more than three hashtags, and only where they fit the post, so you are not deleting a block of tags from every one. You can edit or remove them, and nothing is scheduled until a partner approves it. Pillr does not post to other channels.
How to tell if they are working
Hashtags are working when the right people find your posts and get in touch. Hashtag reach and likes alone tell you very little.
- Enquiries from real business owners. Ask every new client how they found you, and write the answer down.
- Questions under posts. A local owner asking about the topic of a tagged post is a better sign than a burst of likes from other accountants.
- A fair comparison. If you want to test tags, compare similar posts with and without them over a few months, not a single week.
For what to track and how to tell which marketing is bringing in clients, read our guide on how accountants measure marketing.
When to skip hashtags
Skip hashtags whenever choosing them is taking longer than the post deserves, or when no tag fits. A post with no hashtags loses very little.
If you have ten spare minutes, put them into the post itself: a clearer first line, a more specific example, a simple next step. Or spend them asking a happy client for a Google review, which our guide to Google reviews for accountants covers. A steady rhythm of useful posts matters far more than tags; our guide on how often accountants should post on social media covers that. To see a month of posts drafted from your own website, paste your firm's address on the home page.
Questions accountants ask about hashtags
Will hashtags bring us new clients?
Not on their own. A hashtag can put a post in front of a few more people who follow or search that topic. Whether any of them gets in touch depends on the post itself: a useful point, written for the right reader, with a clear next step.
Should we create a hashtag for our firm?
Only if you will use it consistently. One firm or campaign tag, used on the same kind of post for months, gives people a way to find your past posts. A new tag every week does nothing, because nobody else uses it and nobody searches for it.
Is there a limit on how many hashtags we can use?
On Instagram, yes. Instagram's help centre says you can use up to 5 hashtags on a post, and a comment with more than 5 will not post. On other channels, a handful that fit the post is a sensible rule whatever the platform allows.
Can we use a client's business name as a hashtag?
Not without the client's clear permission. A hashtag is a public, clickable label, so naming a client in one can reveal that they are your client. ICAEW's social media helpsheet reminds firms to consider whether a post discloses a confidential client relationship.
Does Pillr add hashtags to the posts it drafts?
Sometimes, and sparingly. Pillr drafts posts for LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram from your firm's website, in your firm's voice. Its drafts use no more than three hashtags, and only where they fit the post. You can edit or remove them, and nothing is scheduled until a partner approves it.