Should you be using hashtags in 2025?

When writing copy for digital channels, it can be tempting to throw in a hashtag in an effort to boost visibility. But could this be harming rather than helping your content?

Hashtags have been used on social media since 2007, as a way to categorise posts and track topics. For many, they are reminiscent of an earlier age of social networking, in which platforms’ keyword search capabilities were less advanced, and digital activity was focused more on conversation than conversion.

It’s true that changes to algorithms and improvements in search functionality have made hashtags less important across most major platforms. These days, using hashtags poorly can make your content appear dated and spammy, with limited or negative effects on engagement and reach.

The key word however is poorly. When used strategically, and in the right circumstances, hashtags can still be an effective tool for digital comms professionals.

Below are Empower’s guidelines for using hashtags on LinkedIn and Bluesky – two platforms where they play a valuable role for our clients in the nonprofit sector:

Using hashtags on LinkedIn

LinkedIn keyword recognition tools have improved substantially over the past year, leading some marketers to believe that hashtags are now redundant.

However, in late 2024, LinkedIn shared some tips for boosting performance, which included using “a few relevant hashtags” to increase “discoverability and reach”. These can be embedded in the text, or at the end of the post.

Nonetheless, LinkedIn also explained to Social Media Today: “In addition to hashtags, we also consider conversation topics and keywords to help surface relevant information for professionals looking to advance in their careers. So using hashtags that are not already terms that you’ve mentioned in your post is the most effective approach, as LinkedIn can already infer topics and subjects based on the context of the post.”

This indicates that although hashtags are not critical to the success of a LinkedIn post, they can be valuable in increasing reach if you reference relevant terms not already included in the main caption.

Hootsuite advises combining more general hashtags (#Sustainability) with more specific ones (#Scope3Emissions) to boost discoverability – although in terms of numbers, it’s probably unwise to be using more than 3 overall, or your post might be flagged as spam and deprioritised.

Importantly, hashtags can also be used on LinkedIn to establish and participate in discussions surrounding events or conferences (think #COP30), and track key campaign moments.

So, on LinkedIn, you’re best off using 1-3 hashtags for:

• Discoverability, for relevant keywords not already included in the body of your post, or easily inferred from what you’ve already written
• Events and conferences
• Campaigns

Remember: if you can’t think of any good hashtags, your post is probably best without.

Using hashtags on Bluesky

Bluesky introduced hashtags in early 2024, and anecdotal evidence suggests that they do play a role in increasing engagement.

As on X (formerly Twitter), hashtags can help your content get discovered by others interested in the same topics. They are most useful for niche topics which attract specific audiences (e.g. #AlternativeProteins) rather than broad topics like #ClimateChange, which are more likely to be saturated with vague or low quality content.

Even so, it’s worth testing hashtags to see if they are likely to be helpful in categorising your posts or reaching your intended audience. For example, searching for #DigitalFundraising brings up a series of relevant posts, but #CharityFundraising yields very limited results.

What’s different on Bluesky compared to X is that certain hashtags can also get your posts included in custom feeds, depending on their algorithm (for example, using #neuroskyence will result in your post being added to the ‘neuroskyence’ feed, which collates content on neuroscience).

To summarise, you should use hashtags on Bluesky for:

• Reaching a specific community or niche
• Being included in a custom feed
• Events or conferences (although ‘live tweeting’ events seems to be more common on LinkedIn, given Bluesky’s smaller user base).

Final thoughts

If used thoughtfully, hashtags can still be effective in enhancing the performance of your content in 2025.

They can be particularly be helpful in tracking online conversations around specific events and campaigns moments (e.g. #EarthDay), especially if you’re using social listening software to monitor audience sentiment.

But, as with any tactic on social media, make sure to do your research beforehand, adhere to best practice, and act with your target audience in mind.