Since 2011, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has been saying that Hashtags are the new URL. Hashtags have been appearing regularly in television advertisements, including Super Bowl spots, occasionally replacing company URLs all together. Since Audi started using the tag #ProgressIs in 2011, this trend is becoming clear

It makes sense. Hashtags are trendier, catchier, and easier to remember than URLs and they allow for much more user engagement. A survey done by RadiumOne found that 58% of social media users take advantage of hashtags regularly and 42% click on interesting hashtags to find more posts related to a given topic.

Given how widespread hashtags are, they can provide the perfect bridge from print advertising to newer media. Everyone wants to transition to new media, but often times, the rate and CPMs of traditional media can be tough to beat. Newspaper advertisements utilizing a hashtag, calling readers to action, can successfully drive traffic to a brand’s online presence through the use of traditional media.

College newspapers can be especially effective in this regard.  In terms of the percentage of a paper’s target audience who reads it, college newspapers remain among the highest read newspapers in the country. ,  Statistics show that about 80% of college students have read their college newspaper in the last 3 months. Since college newspapers directly target a younger audience, hashtags, partnered with new media, are especially effective and popular with the college demographic.