Though most of us think of hashtags as something done on Twitter, they are not unique to that social media platform. Most social media now use hashtags (sometimes simply referred to as tags), and Facebook is among them.

Hashtags can help Facebook users who aren’t your friends or haven’t yet liked your book page to discover you. Whenever a Facebook user types in a hashtag that you’ve used, your post will come up. In addition, each hashtag receives its own unique page at Facebook, so if a user finds one he likes, that page might be bookmarked and returned to. That helps ensure future hashtagged posts you make will be seen.

Unlike Twitter or Google+, however, hashtags aren’t as central to the use of those networks. That’s because Facebook largely remains a social network between acquaintances and relatives, though a number of users do market their books and businesses on it. Indeed, at least one marketing study shows Facebook hashtags have no significant effect on reaching an audience. Don’t let that discourage you, though, as there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to the contrary, especially with promotions.

If you decide to make Facebook a component of your book marketing strategy, you’ll need to determine which hashtags exist that will draw people to your books. Generally, the same hashtags popular on Twitter or Instagram work on Facebook, so this can save you some time if you’re already using them on the former.

Don’t go overboard on hashtags at Facebook! Those with one or two hashtags receive far more interactions than those with three or four, which receive far more interactions than those with five or six.

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.