Hashtags are taking the world by storm, and the world of marketing is no exception. They are in just about every post, for many different reasons. Born on Twitter, which is still the most popular venue for hashtags, they have become a form of shorthand for a world that's already short!

Now even Emojis are getting into the act, with Instagram announcing support for the little darlings. (Not yet on other networks)

Hashtags can help you discover more about your audience, see what they're talking about and interested in, encourage engagement, and also help you with branding.

To get you pointed in the right direction, here's 5 tips you can use to make your hashtag marketing more effective.

5 Tips for making the most of Hashtag Marketing

Learn about what your audience is interested in – Hashtags are a quick and dirty way of getting some audience preferences into the mix. Strategically employing hashtags can help you discern interests, needs and concerns speedily. This can serve many purposes in your marketing plan.

Look into paid promotion – Promoting your hashtag on Twitter can occasionally make a popular campaign wildly popular. Only do this when you've got a good one going. The goal here is to have your hashtag make in onto Twitter's trending list.

Use local hashtags for local promotion – If you want to promote specific local locations for your business, use local geo-modifiers to identify neighborhood businesses. A very easy and effective way to extend the reach of your brand.

Found a trending hashtag? Join the conversation! – An excellent way to leverage the power of popular hashtags is to jump into the ongoing conversation. Don't attempt to hijack, but rather add substance to the discussion, in a way only your brand can!

Energize your other marketing efforts with hashtags – The judicious use of hashtags can be a quick way to amplify your already running marketing campaign. Pointing to and drawing attention with the clever use of hashtags can bring you visitors you may not have had.

Hashtags are simple to use, and can be an added tool in your marketing arsenal. Start using them today!

Instagram has taken the world by storm, and its recent acquisition by Facebook only confirms its entry and place in the big leagues. While it is every bit the social network that Facebook and Twitter are, there are a few differences in marketing with Instagram for your business that you need to understand if you intend to try marketing there.

The chief difference lies in the demographic of the site. There's no avoiding the fact that Instagram is realm of the younger set, and if you have a product or service that you market to the 15-28 audience, you might have a winner here.

If the majority of your target audience is 30 or older, you might find it more difficult. Another important factor to note is whether or not there are images on Instagram related to your product. Sometimes the imagery just isn't a good fit, and if that's the situation, you may not find a lot of success here.

Ways to effectively market on Instagram for your business

Check out these 5 tips for marketing your business on Instagram.

1 – Use Video On Instagram

This newish feature in Instagram is much like Vine, but their videos are a monstrous 15 seconds as opposed to 6. Significantly more canvas to paint on.

2 – Use lots of hashtags

While engagement drops significantly on Twitter if you use more than 2 hashtags, the opposite appears to be the norm for Instagram. Load them up! Click here to learn more about Instagram hashtag.

3 – Don't post incessantly

Unlike many other social networks less may be more here. You don't want to fill up your follower's feeds and be less special. Shoot for a few times a week and post great content.

4 – Optimize your Instagram Profile

Like other social networks, you'll need to make sure your business profile is complete and utterly devoted to finding you and doing business with you.

Photo Credit: Flickr/[cipher]

5 – Follow other brands on Instagram

Finding and following related brands on Instagram is a must. Fortunately there are some good tools that help with this, like Statigram.

Instagram can be a beast for your business if you are fortunate enough to be in their audience demographic and are able to effectively market to them. Check out Instagram for your business today!