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Event hashtags
people actually use

7 min readUses Social listening

The short version

  1. 1One hashtag, not a family of five. Short, spellable, yours.
  2. 2Search it before you print it. Someone else might already own it, and not in a good way.
  3. 3Track handles as well as the tag. Most guests tag accounts and forget the hashtag.

Five moves, from idea to tracked

1Step 1 of 5

Brainstorm event hashtag ideas from three formulas

Most good event hashtags come from one of three shapes. Brand plus moment (#MaplewoodAfterDark). Place plus verb (#DanceOnPier9). A phrase people will say anyway (#WorthTheQueue).

Write ten, then cross out anything over about 15 characters, anything with a number people might mistype, and anything that needs explaining. You want a tag a guest can remember after two drinks.

If your brand already has a hashtag people genuinely use, keep it and skip the new one. Starting from zero is harder than borrowing what's already working.

Three shapes that tend to work.
2Step 2 of 5

Search it, read it, camel-case it

Search each finalist on the platforms your guests use. If it's busy with someone else's posts, or something you wouldn't want next to your brand, drop it.

Then read it as one word. Plenty of innocent hashtags turn rude once the spaces disappear. Write it in camel case on everything you print (#WorthTheQueue, not #worththequeue) so it reads properly.

Skip the year unless the event runs annually and you want each year separate. A year in the tag makes it longer and easier to get wrong.

3Step 3 of 5

Put it where the photos happen

A hashtag on the invite is forgotten by arrival. Print it where people take photos: the backdrop, the mirror, the bar, the screen between speakers.

Put your handles next to it, and the venue's and any sponsor's. People are far more likely to tag an account than type a hashtag, so give them both in one glance.

Say it once from the mic, together with the album QR. "Post with #WorthTheQueue, and drop the originals in the album" covers both kinds of guest.

4Step 4 of 5

Set up listening before the day

Decide what you're tracking while you're still printing signs, so the tag on the wall and the tag in the tool match. Add the hashtag, your handles, the creators you invited and a date window from the day before to a week after.

Social listening rounds up the posts and creators talking about the event, so you see what went out without scrolling a feed on your phone in the taxi home.

The Campaigns page, listening for posts about the brand’s events
The Dotti Spring Launch campaign with its hashtags, handles and creators
5Step 5 of 5

Catch the guests who never post

Most guests won't post publicly at all. They take great photos, keep them in their camera roll and send three to a group chat. A hashtag misses all of them.

Give them somewhere else to put the photos: a QR to the event album, where they add photos and videos with no app and no account. You get the originals, and they find the photos your team took of them.

So run both. The hashtag finds the public posts. The album catches everything else, at full size.

The album’s Photos tab: all 22 photos, filed in groups
The album catches the photos that never get a hashtag.

Your take

Three quick ones. Tap an answer to see how everyone else replied. We read every answer, it shapes what we build next.

1 of 3

How many guests actually use your event hashtag?

2 of 3

How do you find posts about your event afterwards?

3 of 3

What annoys you most about tracking event posts?

What you wish this guide covered, what drives you mad about event photos, anything. Read by the people building MyWrap.

Steal this

Copy these for the sign, the mic and your creator brief.

For the photo-wall sign

“Post it with #WorthTheQueue and tag @yourbrand. Want the originals saved too? Scan to add them to the album.”

For the mic

“If you're posting about this, it's #WorthTheQueue. And if you're not a poster, scan the QR by the bar to find your photos in the album, and drop yours in too.”

For your creator brief

“Please use #WorthTheQueue and tag @yourbrand and @venue in any posts from the event. Posts from [date] to [date + 7 days] count.”

Fair questions

How do I come up with event hashtag ideas?

Try three shapes: brand plus moment, place plus verb, or a phrase people will say anyway. Keep it under about 15 characters, avoid numbers people might mistype, and search it before you commit.

Should an event hashtag include the year?

Only for an annual event where you want each year's posts separate. Otherwise the year makes the tag longer and easier to get wrong.

How many hashtags should an event have?

One. Two at most if your brand already has a standing hashtag people use. A family of five tags splits the posts and confuses everyone.

Do people still use event hashtags?

Fewer than they used to. Guests tag accounts more than they type hashtags, and many never post publicly. Track your handles too, and give non-posters a QR to the event album.

What if another account is already using our hashtag?

Search before you print. If it's busy with someone else's posts, pick another, because your event will be buried in theirs.

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