There is no doubt hashtags are very effective on Instagram.
You can reach your target audience, develop a recognizable brand image, attract followers, and increase engagement with your blog posts. Your Instagram marketing strategy depends significantly on your choice of Instagram hashtags. By using them correctly, you can reach more potential customers with your posts.
Using the wrong hashtags can do more harm than good, especially if you want to gain followers or if you want to ensure that you do not get penalised by algorithm changes on Instagram. Think about your hashtag strategy to learn how Instagram hashtags work.
One of two approaches tends to polarize opinions on hashtags and grow your Instagram following. There are two ways to use hashtags: either you love them and use them throughout every post, or you dread them, avoiding them like the plague. However, hashtags still serve an essential purpose; Instagram was explicitly designed for hashtags.
It is arguably hashtags that are the primary means by which Instagram sorts and filters content. On Instagram, unlike Twitter, users usually use all 30 of their allowance of hashtags per post rather than one or two.
However, you do not have to use 30 hashtags in a post just because it is possible.
There’s no need to use 30 hashtags simply because you’re allowed to. Use plenty of relevant hashtags in your Instagram posts so that your fellow users can benefit from your efforts.
In fact, as per Instagram, you should use 3-5 hashtags. Use of unrelated hashtags will lead to a shadowban from Instagram if you spam the system.
For this reason, we’ve shared this guide with you.
What are Instagram hashtags?
Hashtags consist of letters, numbers, or emojis. It is usually followed by the # symbol (e.g., #Hashtag). The purpose of tags is to categorise and discover content more effectively. You can click on them.
The use of hashtags on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook creates links to be clicked on. This link displays all posts with the same hashtag.
Using hashtags helps you find content related to your interests on Instagram to include them in your posts. You can use them to find new content you’ll enjoy and promote your content to an audience that will find it interesting.
Your content can be grouped with hashtags. Use a hashtag when launching a campaign or project to connect all the posts related to it. The hashtag is simply a pound sign followed by a word or words without spaces and can be added to a post.
When you type a hashtag, you’ll see the number of posts that use that hashtag pop up as you type. You can add one by tapping the one you’d like to use.
Why use Instagram hashtags?
Hashtags are a great way to reach more Instagram users.
You will be able to see your post on the hashtag page if you use a hashtag. If you use a hashtag on your Story, it could be included in the relevant hashtag Story, which appears on the hashtag page.
Using a hashtag correctly will display your post on the hashtag-related page. Your story can be tagged with a hashtag, which appears on the associated hashtag’s Story page.
People can also follow hashtags, so they might see your hashtagged posts in their feed even if they do not follow you (yet).
Using Instagram hashtags can build your followers’ engagement with your brand and bring them closer to your brand online.
Types of popular Instagram hashtags
A hashtag is a short text string that can be used. It can be used to create a community, increase your account’s visibility, or attract users who share your interests.
Hence, explore the most common hashtags and their classifications before selecting a set of hashtags for your posts.
There are nine types of hashtags on Instagram:
- Product or service hashtags: Companies use these keywords to describe their products and services on social media. The general term will usually be something like #hairsalon or #handbag.
- Niche hashtags: These are a bit more creative, showing how you fit within a specific industry, such as #travelblogger or #foodblogger
- Industry Instagram community hashtags: Instagram consists of communities that you can find and join using hashtags. Using these hashtags will increase your visibility to other Instagrammers who do the same thing as you. You could, for example, use #knittersofinstagram if you are a knitter.
- Special event or seasonal hashtags: They can be used for holidays or seasons, for example, #winterdays, or apply to any National Day holiday, like #nationalicecreamday or #worldhindiday.
- Location hashtags: It’s still possible to use a hashtag that refers to your location without geotagging your Instagram posts. These hashtags are perfect for connecting with people in your vicinity. For example, #delhifood.
- Daily hashtags: From #MondayBlues through to #SundayFunday, there are hashtags for every day of the week. You can easily include daily hashtags in your posts.
- Relevant phrase hashtags: Combining elements of product hashtags, niche hashtags, and community hashtags, these hashtags fit into any social media campaign. You can use these hashtags on Instagram to connect with community members in an insider mode, like #amwriting or #shewhowanders
- Acronym hashtags: It’s probably #TBT for Throwback Thursday, the most notable acronym hashtag. The acronym #OOTD (outfit of the day) is the most popular hashtag, while #FBF (flashback Friday) is the second most popular.
- Emoji hashtags: They can include emojis or words or phrases that include emojis, such as #????, or optionally emojis with words or phrases, such as #sunglasses????.
How to use hashtags on Instagram?
The following are guidelines for using hashtags on Instagram.
1. Identify the best tags to use with Insights
You can see how many impressions you receive by hashtag if you switch to an Instagram business profile.
- To view insights for a specific post, select the post and select View Insights.
- You can also see the impressions gained from hashtags by tapping up.
- In this way, you can determine which hashtags are best for reaching your target audience.
2. Use hashtags for Instagram stories
The top left corner of hashtag pages has the Instagram Story icon. If you click on it, you will see all Stories posts from people with public profiles tagged with the hashtag.
Adding hashtags to your Stories is possible in two ways.
- Using hashtag stickers is the first method.
- Simply add the hashtag to your post using the text tool and the # symbol.
3. Use only hashtags that aren’t banned or spammy
An Instagram hashtag might be banned when inappropriate content is associated with it.
No, this doesn’t mean you can’t use it. However, you will only see posts that contain the tag selected. Recent posts and stories related to the hashtag will not appear. In the same vein, using banned hashtags may cause you to lose some of your engagement if you weren’t dropped in the algorithm for using legitimate hashtags.
4. Use only relevant hashtags
Despite the temptation, you shouldn’t just paste the same hashtags onto every post. It is clearly stated in Instagram’s community guidelines not to make repetitive posts or comments.
Using the same hashtags for all your posts will lead to the algorithm penalizing your post as it’s against Instagram community guidelines. Thus, use hashtags only when they make sense in your post.
You don’t want to be seen by many people; you want to be seen by the right people. That’s how hashtags work. Pick out the right keywords for every post.
Brands that used hashtags for the best results.
1. Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke
We can’t start this list with anything else, can we? One of the best hashtag campaigns we’ve ever seen was Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke campaign.
Coca-Cola cups with names and titles on them sparked huge sales and generated a lot of user-generated content for social media. It was common for people to snap photos of bottles with the names of their friends on them.
#ShareACoke’s success was due to the combination of mass personalization (without being the least bit personal) with the strength of community-building; the word “share” is in the name after all.
Coke did not let their momentum from this campaign fade; it is still going strong, and it is unlikely to stop any time soon.
2. Lay’s #DoUsAFlavor Campaign
A popular part of Lay’s social media marketing strategy is hashtag campaigns. It’s been several years since this brand launched a successful hashtag campaign, from its #lifeneedsflavor campaign in 2017 to its current #wishflavors campaign.
There’s no doubt that Lay’s biggest hashtag campaign was #DoUsAFlavor, during which people voted for their favourite Lay’s flavour, and the person with the most votes won $1 million.
The brand also tapped influencers that use the #DoUsAFlavor hashtags to celebrate the contest. Influencers followed by millions helped reach the brand through this strategy.
Gain More Instagram Followers by Using Hashtags
Instagram success relies on hashtags. Use hashtags to increase your reach, expand your audience, and increase engagement—across all components of Instagram. Your content can then be seen by the right people, who are most in need of (or curious about) it.
However, hashtags need to be strategically placed. The key is knowing which ones to use, how to use them, and how to maximise the potential of each element of Instagram for success. Try to find better hashtags by looking at those you’re using right now. Explore the hashtags used by other brands. Review the hashtag search on Instagram and check the “similar” hashtags list.
Also, using the right hashtags enables you to create exponential increases in traffic for your Instagram post and, ultimately, your profile. Strong Instagram marketing requires the use of hashtags.
Using hashtags is an important part of Instagram marketing. By following these best practices, you can increase your followers and generate more leads on Instagram. Have fun!
