If you are a Social Media lover, especially on Instagram and Twitter, you might have seen #TBT or “Throwback Thursday” before on almost every social media platform.

I guess you might have seen #TBT or “Throwback Thursday” a lot and posted some too, maybe a funny photo from your school days or a friend’s birthday party.

Maybe it was from your cousin’s wedding or your family trip with your Mom and dad.

Maybe it was just a casual tweet about an awesome get-together party in a resort.

Maybe it was a cute photo with your first kid or with your pregnant wife floating her pretty pregnancy stomach.

#TBT is trending, and the most viral hashtag used mainly on Instagram and Twitter by almost everyone you, me, your aunt, your Mom, your friend, your dad, Social Media influencers, and wedding couples, and whom not?

#TBT is an excellent hashtag for all businesses to engage their audience with fun and engaging stories, increase awareness, etc.

Now I hope you have some understanding of #TBT. Now I will show you how brands can use it? How to take benefit from it and when to use this hashtag?

What does TBT Stand for?

TBT is “Throwback Thursday.” Social lovers use this hashtag whenever they feel nostalgic and share their old videos and photos with people. Like – suppose you found your ten-year-old photo of yourself and want to share it with your followers. You can post your picture with hashtags like #TBT.

Using #TBT on Social Media is not necessary use it with videos or photos. You can use this hashtag with even audio recordings and text memories like after seeing something you got nostalgic and started writing a few words about that, so you can also use #TBT while posting your thoughts.

The first usage of #TBT and how it came to existence is still unknown, but according to some sources, it was first used by Mark Halfhill in 2006 for his Snickers blog.

According to TIME, The first #TBT post on Instagram was shared by Bobby in February 2011 of Hot Wheels toy cars.

The TBT hashtag has grown a lot since then, and just on Instagram, it has almost 500 million photos and a lot more adding daily. So now you can understand the power of this trending and viral hashtag, and now you have a good understanding of this hashtag, and what TBT is, now you should be caring about why to use TBT hashtag? 

TBT-hashtags-on-Instagram

Why use TBT Hashtag?

TBT is a viral hashtag among popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. On Instagram alone, it has millions of posts, and so using this hashtag, you can benefit your Instagram or your brand’s Instagram page. Let’s see more in detail below :

  1. Increase Social Media Engagement: When you use hashtags on Instagram, there is a chance that your post gets featured on those hashtags, and also using hashtags, you might get a lot of new followers, and your post’s overall reach may increase a lot. On Twitter, brands who use hashtags found an increase of almost 50% in their audience engagement in their tweets concerning those who did not use any hashtags.
  1. Increased Follower Base: People on different social media platforms like Instagram follow popular hashtags like #TBT. When someone makes a post using those hashtags, their posts get featured in the feeds of those following the same hashtags, and thus your post may reach a lot more new people and audiences, and there is a chance of people following your page.
  1. Brand Awareness: TBT hashtag is mainly to share old nostalgic memories, so it’s also best for your brand and businesses; you can use the hashtag to share your brand history and overall journey. Brands can gain a lot of benefits by experimenting with hashtags.

So I hope now you have a crystal clear understanding of why to use TBT hashtags and benefit from using them from time to time on your social media handles.

How does #TBT work?

how-does-tbt-work

#TBT or Throwback Thursday can be used with various media formats and even with plain texts, but all have the same thing: They refer to some nostalgic moments or events that happened in the past.

As long as you use TBT hashtags properly, it will definitely help your brand to increase its engagement online. Below are some of the common formats with which most people use throwback Thursday hashtags : 

  • Images or Photos
  • Video Files
  • Plain text
  • Audio Files

When you post any format mentioned above except text on your social media platforms, you should write a proper error-free copy, and with some good practices, you should add a #TBT hashtag on your post.

Post Images on Thursday

While it is not necessary but you should always post images and videos on Thursday when using #tbt or Throwback Thursday hashtags to keep its essence intact. Some brands use #fridaysales etc., hashtags when they forget to post on Thursdays or for those audiences who didn’t see their TBT posts.

Some Best practices to Follow

Use #TBT or #ThrowbackThursay or both hashtags when posting media or text on social media. This hashtag is essential to rank your content on these particular hashtags and make it searchable; otherwise, your content or images won’t appear in that specific hashtag search.

throwback-thrusday

#TBT has to be old

The Throwback Thursday hashtag is used with old nostalgic photos and videos. You can use it with new recent images, but it won’t help you much. But you can use these hashtags with comparison images like — you are a mother of a ten-year-old cute boy. You can post an old photo of your kid with your ten-year-old recent kid image on Thursday and use hashtags like #TBT or #tenyearsback etc. 

One post per week is sufficient.

This rule is not a must-to-follow rule for social media postings. Still, many great social media managers and social media experts suggest that you should not post one nostalgic or TBT post more than once a week as it can also impact your followers negatively. Once in a week or two is fine when sharing any throwback images or videos. While you can always experiment at your side with how much frequency is working well for you because when it comes to social media, only you can decide what is better for your brand. 

#TBT Hashtags Variations

There are some variations of Throwback Thursday hashtags that you can use on other days of the week if you forget to post on Thursdays.

These are :

  • #TakeMeBackMonday
  • #TuesdayMemories
  • #BackToWednesday
  • #FridayFlashback

TBT-hashtags.

There are also some other popular hashtags related to TBT, which are helpful for brands to increase their awareness and interaction with their audiences. One famous such hashtag is #OnThisDay which is not specific to any day but can be used on any special occasion like your brand launched a new product or updated the current product. This hashtag can also be used on events, ceremonies or birthdays, etc.

#TBT Post Ideas

Now you have a solid understanding of #TBT and how to use it, so let’s start embedding this into your social media marketing strategy. Now you might be wondering how?

The answer is pretty straightforward. Almost every brand or business has some history behind its establishment. Might your brand have one too?

You have to use #TBT with some creative post ideas.

Some cool ideas:

  1. Location: Your business’s location can be a good start with posting #TBT. You can post images of your physical store construction period and its current picture now. If you have changed your location to another location, you can also share a memory of your past location with your followers. If you have renovated your current business location, you can also share images before renovation. You have to be just creative, and then the sky is the limit.
  1. Employees: Your employees are the ones behind your success, and employees form the structure of any brand. So why not share photos with your employees and fun images like having fun on weekends with employees or behind-the-scenes pictures. Your audience will love such posts.
  1. Customers: There is no better way to engage your present and future customers than to share #TBT pictures of your past customers with your audience. You may show images or videos of how your customers interacted with your brand or products.
  1. Product or service: Your products or services can be the best for #TBT posts. You can showcase your previous versions of your products and how it’s improved over time. For example – you own a mobile brand; you can show your audience how your mobile technology, design, and user interface improved from time to time.

Also Read-

9 Best Marketing Ideas to Boost Sales During Diwali

WARNING! Top 10 Best Halloween Ads Examples

Explore more your hashtags-

As a social media manager, you must check out regular TBT tips for marketing. It would be best if you also explored other hashtags and the best ways to use those hashtags. Every Social media Manager requires some social marketing tips, so you should always check out new blogs for information. 

Socioboard

This is an excellent tool for social media managers to handle multiple social media accounts at a go and post, schedule content easily. You can also track your analytics more efficiently with this excellent tool.

cta