The actual steps to tagging a person or business account on social media can vary slightly by platform. Here are a few techniques to get you started. When in doubt, check out the platform specific recommendations for tagging as things can change over time. Not sure if you should be tagging other pages in your posts? Check out our blog on the topic! 

Facebook

There are several ways to tag on Facebook.  This example shows where Erika is tagged within the content of the post. Since the article is about her, it is a great way to let her know that the post is up and she can share it with her friends as well.  Depending on her privacy settings, she may even choose to add it to her timeline.

You can also tag locations and people in the pictures. This lets people know where you or your image is from as well as who is all in the image. Here is an example of Amy Jauman and I tagging the National Institute for Social Media in our location.  You will also notice that Amy and I are not tagged (in blue) within the content of the post, but instead in the header saying who is in the post and where we are located.

To tag on Facebook you can simply type your message and include the @ symbol followed by the name of the person or business you are wishing to tag. 

If it is a long name or doesn’t come up right away add a _ between first and last names as I have done in the shot to the left. When it brings up the name of the person you are trying to tag, click that person and it should transfer them to your post. 

 

 

When tagging a location, you can choose the … button for more options and choose “Check In”.

 

 

 

If you forget to tag someone in your original post, don’t fret. You can add the tag at a later time. Here is a screenshot of an image that was published and the photo itself didn’t tag the person (although their name was tagged in the text box above). All you have to do is click “tag photo” and add the persons tag to the box. You can even tag yourself in images where others may have forgotten. 

Twitter and Instagram

Tagging on Twitter and Instagram is a little bit easier as you simply need to know the persons (or brands) handle to tag them in conversation.  Just like Facebook, the search handle will start with the @ symbol. Unlike Facebook, the @ symbol will remain part of the name in your post or image.

When adding the tag to your image, you can do so by clicking the button on the lower left corner of your Tweet box.

On Instagram you can also tag both the text and the image as shown below:

LinkedIn 

Known as the professional social network, it is important to make sure that you are tagging your company, colleagues, speakers, industry experts that you meet or have the pleasure to work with. In the post below, Erin has chosen to tag the people and companies who are sponsoring their upcoming Gala.  This is recognition for those sponsors and also encourages them to engage with and share the post with others. You will notice that anyone tagged will come up in blue and those are hotlinks that you can click on to go directly to their profile/page.

Well, that should get you started in choosing why, when, and how to tag people in your social media posts.  How will this change your approach to including tags in your content going forward? 

Author: Jennifer Radke

Jennifer Radke, CEO of NISM, is a dedicated, passionate and strategic business leader with 15+ years in sales and recruitment management, leadership, coaching, development and training. Most recently, she was the owner and chief strategist at Socially Inspired, a social media training and consulting company. In addition, she is an NISM-certified Social Media Strategist (SMS), serves on the board for Women Entrepreneurs of Minnesota and can be found speaking and presenting to job seekers and businesses alike, on how to better utilize social media in the workplace. Jennifer believes that lifelong learning is the key to continued growth and your networks are the best way to expose yourself to new opportunities.