Instagram and Twitter have pioneered the use of hashtags on social media. Hashtags, while perhaps gimmicky at first glance, are actually a great method to promote your company and gain new followers.
Hashtags on Instagram can help you connect with like-minded users and get more likes and comments on your photos. Posts on Instagram with at least one hashtag generate 29% greater interaction, according to CompareCamp. Using purposeful, industry-specific hashtags increases the likelihood that your material will be seen.
If you want to understand the fundamentals of utilising hashtags on Instagram, this tutorial is for you.
Hashtag Categories on Instagram
Let’s start with a quick overview of Instagram hashtag categories. Depending on the hashtag’s purpose, it might reach a wide variety of people. Instagram’s key hashtag categories are:
- Specialised hashtags, such as “#maternitydesigner” or “#fitnessblogger,” are used by people in a particular field.
- Hashtags indicating a geographic location include #clevelandmakeupartist and #parisrestaurant.
- Hashtags that revolve on specific times of year include #nationalchocolateday and #summervibes.
- Hashtags for communities or brands: they are used to reach people who share a common interest or passion on Instagram, such as #dogmomsofinstagram or #photographersofinstagram.
- Hashtags that Instagram users use on a daily basis include things like “#throwbackthursday” (or “#tbt”) and “#sleepysunday.”
- Hashtags for products: Hashtags like “#kidclothing” and “#acousticguitar” might draw more eyes to a photo showcasing a product or service.
- Some hashtags, like #ootd (Outfit of the Day) and #lol (Laughing Out Loud), are really abbreviations made up of a series of letters.
- You may make your hashtags stand out using emojis like hearts and cheerful faces.
- Hashtags for phrases include things like #relationshipgoals and #jobhunting, both of which are often used in their respective industries and communities.
Tips for Effective Instagram Hashtagging
You need to adopt a few of tried-and-true best practises utilised by millions of Instagrammers to make hashtags useful for your company.
To begin, make good use of hashtags. Search for some appropriate hashtags to include in your post or new Story. And while there is no magic amount of hashtags, research suggests that using 11 or more increases a post’s visibility and interaction.
You should also employ a wide variety of hashtags in your posts. One possible exception to this rule is the usage of a branded hashtag (on which more below). If you don’t want to seem like you’re hashtag spamming, search for a number of relevant hashtags that you may use interchangeably.
Finally, stay away from the controversial hashtags. Because to the high volume of reports, Instagram has temporarily or permanently banned certain hashtags. No content, including your own, will appear when people seek out these hashtags. Searching for a hashtag on Instagram will reveal whether or not it has been removed from use. If Instagram removes it, a note about it will appear on the search results page.
How to Use Instagram to Promote Your Company
Finding useful hashtags for your business doesn’t require you to generate them at random. Instead, you can use these methods:
Search Rival Hashtags
Take a look at what other well-known companies in your field have posted. In their tweets, they use what hashtags specifically? You may pick a handful to use in your own posts, or you can look for relevant hashtags that can help you attract the right kind of people.
Search for Similar Hashtags
Clicking or searching for a hashtag will take you to the page devoted to that tag on Instagram. You may see a list of relevant hashtags towards the top of that page. These are more hashtags that are often used in conjunction with your search term. Think about incorporating some of these into your own posts.
Keep an eye on your viewers
Your target demographic most likely publishes using a variety of their own hashtags. Explore the hashtags used by your followers by scrolling through their profiles. To keep expanding your network of engaged fans, you may begin focusing on a select handful of them in your postings.
Consideration of Your Hashtags
After compiling a list of potential hashtags, you may monitor their performance with Instagram’s analytics.
Select a post from your feed, then select View Insights just below the image. Clicking this link will take you to a page with detailed statistics on that particular blog article. To show how many people were reached by this post using hashtags, scroll down to the Reach section. You know you’ve picked effective hashtags when they generate a lot of engagement. This is a straightforward method for determining which hashtags to discontinue using and which to maintain.
The Practise of Disguising Instagram Hashtags
Hashtags in post captions have been the subject of discussion over their impact on exposure. Research is mixed on this question. Keep your descriptions neat and avoid clutter by not include hashtags.
To avoid having several dots or emojis show up in the caption preview, some individuals use hashtags after them. However, you may still tag your photo on their hashtag sites by using hashtags in a comment on the article.
You have mastered the fundamentals of Instagram hashtags. Now is the time to think about creating a unique hashtag for your company. Create a unique hashtag to represent your company and urge your fans to use it in all of their postings. You should also include it in your Instagram bio.
Our tutorial on the topic will teach you how to craft the ideal giveaway description for Instagram, which is essential if you want to attract more followers.
Beyond that, we’ve also made a series of free Instagram resources, such as our guide to the Instagram caption character limit, our guide on share Instagram posts, and our guide to choosing the perfect Instagram profile pics, if you’re looking for even more ideas on how to grow your Instagram following.