10 Easy Steps to Facebook Hashtag Analytics [2024]

Facebook has over 3 billion monthly users! That’s a lot of people scrolling, sharing, and connecting. But how do you stand out in such a crowded space? Hashtags are your secret weapon! This article will show you how to analyze hashtags on Facebook to make the most of them. Ready? Let’s begin!

Facebook Hashtag Analytics is a process of analyzing the performance of hashtags on Facebook. It’s best done with external tools. Why? Using a hashtag analytics tool helps you understand the impact of your hashtags, optimize your social media strategies, and enhance audience engagement.

How to start Facebook hashtag analytics?

Hashtags are great if you want to reach new people beyond your follower base. Why?

When you add hashtags to your content, you’ll likely appear in a hashtag search. So if people search for those hashtags, they’ll see your content.

According to Facebook, you can add up to 30 hashtags in a post and up to 10 in other formats.

However, pros suggest lowering this number and focusing on adding relevant hashtags. So, the rule is simple:

Quality over Quantity

SocialPilot recommends sticking to 2-3 hashtags to avoid overwhelming your audience.

Facebook Analytics doesn’t provide any hashtag tracking tools. However, the platform is directly linked with Instagram, so you can use the information about hashtags it provides and apply them to your Facebook strategy.

Many people publish their content simultaneously on Facebook and Instagram, so it’s a reasonable idea.

In the Instagram app, you can find:

• top trending hashtags
• hashtag usage insights
• a list of suggested hashtags

Free hashtag tracking tools can be used to track hashtag performance across various platforms, providing valuable insights and real-time data.

How to get that info?

To search for relevant hashtags:

1. Tap the magnifying glass.
2. Type your search and tap the hashtag icon.
3. This will bring up a list of hashtags that contain your search.

Psst! You can also follow hashtags to related content in your feed and story (even from accounts that you don’t follow).

For example, I take care of my Brand24 profile, so I follow #sociallistening to make sure I stay updated in my niche:

Ok, all fun and games, but these aren’t even the basics of hashtag analytics. Plus, as you probably sniffed – there’s a big room for error.

Even though the platforms are linked – it’s not the same, so your data won’t be perfect.

So, how to actually track hashtag performance?

To make the most out of your hashtag marketing campaigns, you should monitor your hashtags with a more advanced external hashtag tracking tool.

These tools can help you:

• Understand how many people use the hashtag and what audience it reaches
• Know what sentiment the hashtag creates
• Find related hashtags
• Discover influencers that use the hashtag and are active in your niche
• Benchmark your hashtag performance against competitors
• Track multiple hashtags in one place
• Evaluate your hashtag progress over time

Tracking hashtags is also crucial as part of a comprehensive social media strategy, providing insights into trends and audience engagement patterns.

How to analyze hashtags on Facebook? 10 steps 

Facebook hashtag tracking can be a simple and fruitful process!

Now that we have access to many hashtag analytics tools with advanced AI features, getting comprehensive insights into hashtag performance is at our fingertips.

Let me show you how you can get your hashtag analytics using Brand24, an AI-powered tool.

01 Check the volume of mentions

You should start your Facebook hashtag analysis by examining the fundamental metric – the volume of mentions.

If you look at it from a social listening perspective – most hashtags are just keywords preceded by the hashtag symbol.

So just like for any other keyword you might want to track – monitoring how often it’s mentioned can offer many valuable insights.

By analyzing increases and decreases in a hashtag’s usage, you can assess your performance over time, identify if your content resonates, and adjust it if necessary.

Moreover, hashtag popularity can help you uncover industry-specific trends and understand your competitors’ social media strategies.

Plus, looking at the distribution of hashtags over time can help you identify patterns, such as seasonal fluctuations or regular weekly trends.

This is what a # iPhone analysis looks like. The hashtag was mentioned over 2700 times on Facebook:

But using media monitoring for tracking your Facebook hashtags means you’ll also access data about this hashtag from many other platforms.

Brand24 allows you to track and analyze relevant hashtags published on all major social media platforms (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Twitch, Reddit, and Telegram).

After selecting all mention sources, it turns out that in just 30 days, hashtag #iPhone was used over 465.000 times!

The hashtag is mostly used on Instagram. And it completely makes sense – most people use it when adding photos taken on an iPhone.

But what if your hashtag is not easy to keep up with and suddenly attracts a lot of attention?

Typically, you’d need to sift through mentions to find out what happened. However, there’s a much simpler way to do it!

An AI Anomaly Detector can analyse it for you and provide you with an explanation under each spike. Just like it did for #iPhone:

02 Measure social media reach

Monitoring reach helps gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns and content. It shows how far your message is spreading and how many people see it.

Let’s take a look at the green line on the chart – this is the reach. The hashtag # iPhone generated a reach of 13 million on Facebook within 30 days.

As you can see it is usually in a direct correlation with the volume of mentions. But not always!

Sometimes, the reach is higher than the volume of mentions, which tells us one thing—mentions from that period must have gone viral.

It creates an opportunity to engage with this high performing content, respond to any comments and perhaps establish a relationship with the author?

03 Detect the hashtag popularity

This metric helps evaluate the effectiveness of your hashtag strategy by indicating how visible and influential your hashtag is online.

Let’s get back to our example:

The Online Presence Score for the hashtag #IPhone is 67, which is higher than 82% of brands. This high score means that the hashtag is performing exceptionally well and is widely recognized.

In the chart, the upward trend in Presence Score signifies increasing popularity and engagement. It also shows a steady increase, indicating consistent engagement over time:

Marketers can use this hashtag monitoring tool to align their content strategies with trending topics and protect their brand reputation.

Exactly, reputation – one of the most important hashtag metrics.

04 Detect the hashtag reputation

Measuring the Reputation Score of a hashtag helps assess the overall perception and sentiment associated with the hashtags you use.

Knowing whether your audience has a positive or negative view can guide your strategy and content adjustments.

For instance, the hashtag #iPhone has a Reputation Score of 28, which is higher than 64% of brands. This score suggests that while the hashtag is relatively well-regarded, there is room for improvement.

Over recent weeks, this score has shown a gradual increase, indicating a steady improvement in how the hashtag is perceived.

Let’s look at the chart. 

The blue line represents the Reputation Score, which shows a slow but steady rise. Positive media mentions (green line) have been significantly higher than negative ones (red line), which is a good sign for the brand’s image.

This analysis is especially important for branded hashtags as it will be directly linked to how your brand is perceived and any potential PR crisis.

05 Conduct sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis of a hashtag is crucial because it reveals the emotions and attitudes of your audience towards your content. 

Such insights can help you ensure your hashtag campaign got the results it was supposed to and if it reached the right target audience.

The Brand24 tool can conduct the context analysis of a post or a comment where someone used your tracked hashtag. The sentiment can be positive, neutral, or negative.

For example, in the last 30 days on Facebook, the hashtag #iPhone received 431 positive mentions and 18 negative mentions, and a majority of mentions were neutral.

This indicates a generally favorable sentiment towards the hashtag.

Here are examples of positive and negative mentions:

And here’s a general chart about the hashtags sentiment analysis:

The sentiment chart shows that most mentions are positive, while a small portion of negative mentions suggests isolated issues that can easily be addressed.

Understanding where these negative mentions come from helps identify areas for improvement and leverage platforms that boost your brand’s image.

To make it easier, Brand24 offers an AI Metrics Tab. You can learn which source generates most of the negativity and address it more effectively.

06 Track engagement

Engagement is a key metric in the world of social media analytics. Everything you do on social media can influence it (including the use of hashtags).

Engagement in terms of hashtag analytics reflects how users interact with posts that use your hashtag. These interactions typically include likes, comments, and shares.

To put it simply: social media engagement reveals how effectively you grab your audience’s attention and motivate them to join the conversation.

And you should add a big “!” in your notes with this one:

Social media algorithms evaluate the amount and type of engagement your content receives to decide whether to promote it to more users.

Additionally, monitoring engagement metrics helps you spot trending hashtags and topics. It also provides insights into your competitors’ strategies by showing which posts are currently popular for them.

Understanding these interactions allows you to create more engaging posts and make better use of hashtags.

07 Detect influencers using the hashtag

Influencer marketing, when used wisely, can significantly boost your Facebook visibility.

By partnering with influencers who are relevant to your niche, you can extend your message to new audiences and boost your authenticity.

But how to find one?

Well, hashtag analytics can greatly simplify this process.

The idea here is simple: if someone uses your hashtag it might be a right person for your niche.

Hashtag analytics helps identify top influencers who discuss topics that matter to your brand.

Here’s how you can discover prominent Facebook accounts that frequently mention your brand hashtags:

In the Brand24 tool, head to the Analysis tab and scroll down:

• On the left, you’ll find the top public profiles discussing your hashtag.
• On the right, you’ll see the most active profiles adding hashtags of interest.

For a more targeted search, visit the Influencers tab directly.

Here, you’ll find the most influential profiles talking about your chosen topic and:

• the platform they use
• the number of times they mentioned your hashtag
• their follower count
• share of voice
• influence
• their Influencer Scores.

With this information, you can identify the influencers you should collaborate with to maximize your brand’s reach.

This is what it looks like in the dashboard:

08 Check related hashtags

Social listening tools like Brand24 help you find Facebook hashtags related to your primary one.

Why is this important?

Tracking related hashtags gives you an opportunity to discover trending hashtags in your niche. This makes it possible to stay up to date and address these topics in your social media strategy.

On the other hand, it also allows you to refine your hashtag strategy by including less popular, niche-related hashtags, enabling you to target a more specific audience.

For instance, by looking at hashtags related to # iPhone, you can find competitors’ hashtags, general tech topics, and mentions of Apple’s top products.

Understanding related hashtags gives you a comprehensive view of the conversation in your industry, helping you stay ahead of the curve.

09 Compare to competitive hashtag

Comparing competitive hashtags is a powerful tool for social media strategy. By using the “Compare Projects” feature, you can analyze how different hashtags perform and identify what makes one more successful than another.

Let’s take a look at the hashtags #iPhone and #SamsungGalaxy.

In this comparison, #iPhone clearly outperforms #SamsungGalaxy across almost all metrics.

The reasons could include a stronger brand presence, more effective marketing campaigns, or higher overall popularity.

Benchmarking competitive hashtags can help you;

• understand your position in the market,
• identify strengths and weaknesses,
• & and refine your approach!

By regularly conducting competitor monitoring, you can stay ahead of trends and make informed decisions to enhance your brand’s performance.

10 Track the hashtag performance over time

Hashtag tracking over time is crucial for understanding its impact. It lets you see how a hashtag performs across different time frames, revealing trends and patterns.

By using the “Compare Periods” feature, you can compare your current hashtag performance to historical hashtag data.

How did the # iPhone go?

Let’s examine the performance of the hashtag #iPhone compared to the previous period:

This data shows increased engagement and visibility. The increase in social media reach, and presence score further supports the hashtag’s rising influence.

However, the decrease in non-social media reach and AVE suggest areas that might need attention.

Tracking the performance of a hashtag and benchmarking it to historical data allows you to:

• Discover patterns in user engagement and seasonal spikes.
• Measure campaign effectiveness.
• Adjust content and posting schedules for maximum impact.
• Tailor content to audience interests and behaviors.
• Allocate resources more efficiently and focus on high-performing hashtags.

Conclusion

Let’s face it, hashtags can feel like a guessing game. You throw a few out there hoping they stick, but how do you really know if they’re working?

Social listening tools are your secret weapon. They’re like having a backstage pass to the conversation about your hashtag. You can see who’s using it, how they’re using it, and even if they’re loving it or hating it.

Think about it this way: would you run a marathon without tracking your progress?

Hashtags are the same.

By monitoring them over time, you can see what’s working and what’s not. This lets you adjust your strategy and make sure your message is resonating with the right people.

Final thoughts:

• I suggest using a hashtag tracker with AI features. These tools offer comprehensive data, actionable insights, and detailed reports that will impress your clients or boss.
• You can discover key influencers by tracking related hashtags. It’s about joining the conversations that matter to your target audience.
• Social media users actively search for relevant content through hashtags. This makes hashtags essential tools for marketing strategies and brand monitoring.

Stop wondering and start analyzing! Sign up for a free Brand24 trial today and see how your hashtags perform!