Instagram has progressed rapidly from being a social media platform being used by 1.34 billion Instagram accounts as of October 2021 to becoming a convenient tool for business promotion. 

If you are using Instagram to promote your business, double-taps take on a new meaning. Attracting attention and getting into the spotlight is becoming more difficult. So what can you do to get noticed?

Hashtags, a word or short phrase that has a pound sign or number sign (#) in front are used in social media platforms including Instagram so it can label and categorise posts by topic. Hashtags help posts get discovered by relevant users most interested in seeing it. 

All these being said, how do you discover the appropriate hashtags for your account? Let’s try to understand exactly how they work and put some thought into a strategy.

Why Hashtags are important

Instagram posts that use hashtags gain an increase in engagement percentage compared to those without. Fundamentally, hashtags, as part of Instagram’s algorithm, help classify content. They help you reach your target audience, and more importantly, they help the right people find you. These users are more likely to engage with your post because it is exactly what they want to see.

Types of Instagram Hashtags

There are four main types of hashtags to consider: 

1. Branded Hashtags

Come up with a hashtag that is simple enough for your target audience to recognize and remember. The tagline or slogan, even a product of your business, can be used as a brand hashtag to help  build a community around your whole brand. 

      2. Campaign Hashtags 

This is a great way to connect with your audience and improve your chances to be discovered by both local and global users for your next event, marketing campaign, or giveaway. 

      3. Community Hashtags

These hashtags are used to bring together users who share a mutual interest in a specific topic. Make your posts more searchable and have a higher possibility to gain followers and grow your own community. 

      4. Industry Hashtags

Out of all the hashtags used on Instagram, industry hashtags have the most competition. To make this type of hashtag more effective, indicate the specific work you do, preferably narrower than your brand hashtags. 

Best Practices for use of Instagram Hashtags – how many hashtags can be used?

You can use a maximum of 30 hashtags on an Instagram post. However, be reminded that more does not automatically mean better. Be as specific as you can and ensure that the hashtags you use are relevant to your brand. 

Excessive hashtagging can make it difficult to be found when part of the reason people are using these tags is to discover something new and unknown. Stick with hashtags that specifically describe your content, like #photography or #sponsored if it was a sponsored collaboration post.

Where do I place the hashtags?

You may place hashtags after the message in the caption of your post. You may also opt to add hashtags in the comments section of your post.

When posting an Instagram photo or video, a short text introduction is associated with the still or moving photo/video. This caption will be used by the platform to show related posts to your own that could spark people’s curiosity, leading them to click and check out your content. 

You may also add hashtags in line with the image but these must be placed after a comma in a way so it makes sense to read them. Remember there are no limitations on how many hashtags you can use but also remember not to overuse them as this may negatively impact your engagement rate.

Research your competitors

Study your competitors and industry influencers to find the best hashtags and to bring some attention to yourself. Hashtags should be seen as opportunities to bring awareness around your brand, rather than strictly a trend-driven focus. 

Be cautious with how many hashtags you use, however. Finding the perfect balance between too much or too little is key to bringing a strategy down the line that will effectively represent your business and serve a purpose for years to come.

Use Instagram hashtag generators 

Instagram analytics tools help entrepreneurs narrow down their focus with regard to identifying the key elements that make up the recipe for a successful Instagram marketing strategy. 

By carefully examining your results and honing in on areas that either need improvement or could become strengths over time, will enable business owners to constantly monitor what’s working and not working so they can refine their social media efforts accordingly.

Here are some tools that you can use to track the use of your hashtags:

1. Iconosquare

This free tool provides comprehensive data analytics on your likes, engagement, influence, and saves. You can also see how your individual hashtags are doing, look at the best days and times to post, and gauge your engagement rates with your competitors.

     2. Instagram Insights

All business profiles automatically gain access to Instagram Insights, Instagram’s free built-in analytics tool. It provides a summary of data your account content posted in the past seven days including your follower engagement and actions, profile views, reach, and impressions. 

     3. Keyhole

This tool specializes in keyword tracking, along with all the usual Instagram metrics. It can be used to measure how brand hashtags perform, and track real-time promotions, Instagram contests or giveaways, and user-generated content. 

Top Instagram Hashtags 

1. #love
2. #instagood
3. #photooftheday
4. #fashion
5. #beautiful
6. #like4like
7. #picoftheday
8. #art
9. #happy
10. #photography
11. #instagram
12. #followme
13. #style
14. #follow
15. #instadaily
16. #travel
17. #life
18. #cute
19. #fitness
20. #nature

Takeaway

Using Instagram hashtags is a surefire way to increase how popular your brand is within the Instagram community. By choosing the proper keywords and using them often, your company can be identified as being associated with that niche. Regularly review the hashtags you are using in association with your content, continue to engage with the community, and interact with other users’ content. Followers are one thing, but engaged followers are what your brand needs to be after.