Instagram hashtags are a powerful tool for broadening your brand’s reach on the platform. Known for its captivating visuals and dynamic video features, such as Reels, Instagram also offers the opportunity to target your posts more accurately through the clever use of the best hashtags.
By incorporating a specific Instagram hashtag, you’re essentially informing the platform about the ideal audience for your content. If you’re curious about the mechanics of hashtags on Instagram and their importance, we’re here to explain everything.
Do hashtags even matter? How much?
Employing Instagram hashtags optimally can amplify your online presence significantly. These can be instrumental in expanding your reach and connecting with more pertinent followers, who actively search for and engage with specific hashtags.
Ignoring the potential of hashtags means missing out on engaging these interested audiences. For businesses and influencers, crafting unique, branded hashtags not only elevates brand recognition but also encourages content sharing.
Utilizing tools like Later’s Instagram Hashtag Suggestions and Hootsuite Composer’s AI hashtag suggestions can help you find relevant and popular hashtags for your posts and campaigns.
Such trending hashtags are invaluable in user-generated content campaigns for monitoring brand mentions. Additionally, Instagram hashtags can inject character into your profile through fun or humorous tags, enhancing user engagement and fostering unique trends among your community.
A few hashtags form an integral component of your broader Instagram marketing blueprint. Although not the pinnacle of importance, they crucially clue Instagram into the type of content you’re posting, thereby rendering them important in attracting the appropriate demographic interested in your content themes.
Strategically add hashtags into your posts to broaden your reach. Examining various methodologies for leveraging Instagram hashtags for your brand’s advantage is beneficial.
How Many Instagram Hashtags Should I Use?
On Instagram, you have the flexibility to include up to 30 hashtags in post captions, though the Instagram Creators account suggests adopting a more conservative approach, advising the use of 3-5 hashtags for optimal engagement.
This strategy is supported by data from Statista, revealing that posts adorned with 2-4 hashtags enjoy the highest level of engagement, averaging a 3.41% engagement rate.
Yet, it’s important to remain adaptable and explore different hashtag strategies to discover what resonates best with your brand’s identity.
Some brands may find success with a minimalistic approach, opting for one or two hashtags, while others maximize their reach by utilizing anywhere from 10 to the full allotment of 30 hashtags.
Including more hashtags in Instagram Stories further amplifies your brand’s visibility and engagement, encouraging experimentation to pinpoint the most effective tactic. Leveraging tools like Snappa can elevate the visual appeal of your Stories, ensuring they meet the ideal dimensions for impact.
Regularly monitoring hashtag analytics enables a data-driven approach to refine your hashtag strategy, fostering a deeper understanding of how many hashtags on Instagram can maximize engagement rates and broaden your brand’s reach on the platform.
How to use hashtags wisely
Now that you understand the foundations of Instagram hashtags, let’s look at how to select fantastic hashtags to use in your posts and Stories. Using themed or holiday hashtags, such as #InternationalSushiDay, is crucial to engage with your audience and stay relevant on social media.
Make a List of Topics Related to Your Brand
First, make a list of themes relevant to your brand. What products or services do you provide? What types of content are your target clients looking for?
Then, look into your present metrics. In addition to your social media metrics, it’s a good idea to review your website and Google analytics. This data might reveal a lot about what your users are actively looking for when they visit you.
Having a clear notion of the variety of things you should be posting about can aid you while researching hashtags. You can use this information to create a hashtag list.
Quick Tips to choose the right hashtags:
1. Search for hashtags with lesser volume posts
2. keep searching and create a list related to your niche
3. keep selected hashtags safer where you can copy easily, like instagram notes, notes app in your phone
Use Hashtag Tools
After identifying your brand-related topics, exploit tools like Hashtagify or Later for thorough hashtag research. It’s crucial to select hashtags currently active and popular among Instagram users.
You can check the Best Hashtags tools here.
Deploying hashtags that lack active searches or usage on Instagram proves fruitless unless you’re crafting a unique branded hashtag for your Instagram campaign. Post-finalizing your list of strategic hashtags, it’s advised to integrate a hashtag monitoring tool to gauge their efficacy.
Tools like RiteTag provide valuable analytics on the performance of individual hashtags. Conversely, Later offers insights into your posts’ overall performance, including how your selected hashtags are influencing visibility and engagement. This approach optimizes your Instagram marketing efforts, ensuring your content reaches its intended audience through relevant hashtags.
Look At Hashtags Other Brands Are Using
Investigating the hashtag practices of your competitors on Instagram can provide valuable insights. Identify which instagram hashtags they are implementing. Could any of these be applicable to your own Instagram posts? Experiment with them to evaluate any changes in your posts’ performance.
It’s crucial to avoid using any branded hashtags developed exclusively by your competitors. Stick to general, non-exclusive hashtags that enhance your instagram presence.
Subsequently, scrutinize your primary hashtags. Are your competitors utilizing any of them? By searching these specific hashtags on Instagram, you can assess what other content appears in these hashtag search results.
This exercise can unearth fresh concepts for your content creation, potentially increasing your engagement rates with your target audience. Adopting a mix of trending instagram hashtags and relevant hashtags that align with your marketing strategy can refine your hashtag gam.
Make Your Own Branded Hashtag
Designing a bespoke branded hashtag for your Instagram can significantly differentiate your content from the crowd. As your brand matures, encourage your followers to tag their posts showcasing your products or experiences with this branded hashtag.
Such a move can drastically simplify tracking of user-generated content (UGC), a crucial aspect if UGC forms a component of your content strategy. Besides a general branded hashtag, think about creating event-specific hashtags for use during promotional activities, product launches, or contests.
These specially themed hashtags are perfect for engaging your audience in creative challenges or competitions, elevating the level of interaction and visibility of your campaigns on platforms like Instagram.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is 10 hashtags too much?
It is generally recommended to use no more than 5-7 hashtags in a single post on social media platforms like Instagram. Using too many hashtags can be seen as spammy and may decrease the overall engagement of your post. It’s important to carefully choose relevant and targeted hashtags for each post, rather than using an excessive amount.
Do Instagram hashtags still work?
Yes, Instagram hashtags are still an effective way to reach a larger audience and increase engagement on your posts. However, it’s important to use them strategically and not rely solely on hashtags for success. Quality content, engaging captions, and consistent posting also play a significant role in the success of your Instagram account.
What is a hashtag strategy?
A hashtag strategy is a plan for using hashtags strategically and effectively on social media platforms like Instagram. It involves research, analysis, and careful selection of relevant hashtags to reach a specific audience and increase engagement on your posts. A good hashtag strategy will also help you stand out from competitors by using unique or niche hashtags that align with your brand or content. Additionally, it’s important to monitor the performance of your hashtags and adjust your strategy accordingly to optimize results.
Conclusion
Leveraging Instagram hashtags wisely and strategically can significantly enhance your capability to engage with your intended audience. By smartly incorporating Instagram hashtags, not only can your posts gain improved visibility amongst both new and existing followers, but they also distinguish your brand in a crowded marketplace.
Prioritizing a great hashtag strategy, including the integration of branded hashtags, themed hashtags, and community hashtags, optimizes your social media posts for maximum visibility and engagement on platforms like Instagram.
