You might already be using hashtags in
your Instagram captions and
comments, or you might be skipping those for now. Whether you’re trying to
boost your impact or get started, these tips will help you to hashtag like the
professional! Here are eight tips to master your Instagram hashtag game.
1. Do your hashtag research
First and
foremost, it is important to realize that the art of hashtagging is much more
than simply adding the hash sign in front of words you think of. To use
hashtags in your Instagram content in a meaningful and effective way you need
to do your research. So where to start? Here are a few ideas…
·
Use online tools: There
are tons of Instagram hashtag generators out there—like All Hashtag, Ingramer, and Sistrix—that will generate relevant hashtags
and give you some data on what hashtags are popular.
·
Start Searching: Type
hashtag ideas into the Instagram search bar and see what auto-fills.
·
Check Your Competitors: See
what your competition is doing, as well as brands and account that your target
audience is likely following. Getting inspiration from other accounts can be
super helpful to gain an understanding of what hashtags are trending (more on
this in tip #3!).
The key to
selecting trending hashtags is to ensure they are on target with your target
audience’s interests, and popular but not overly popular—you don’t want to get
lost in the clutter. You know the kid in school who wasn’t considered
“popular,” but was well-liked and known amongst many groups? You want that fall
into a similar arena with your hashtag game.
“We’ve
noticed that the more niche the topic, the more conversations users are having
around it, so it pays off to really hone in on a topic or theme,” says Benjamin Chacon from Later.
2. Don’t Over Hashtag
While it
might be tempting to hashtag your little heart away on each post, it isn’t good
to go overboard on hashtags. When it comes to having more of an impact with
your hashtag game, it can actually pay off more to be picky. In fact, research has found that the optimal number of hashtags per post is 11.
While
Instagram allows you to use up to 30 hashtags per post, your time is better
spent researching and using a handful of super-effective hashtags rather than
stockpiling a ton of tags per post.
“Tossing 30
hashtags on a post only does so much-especially for businesses,” says Alex York
from Sprout Social. “It gets to #overkill pretty quickly. And if your brand isn’t focusing on the right questions or goals, all of this seems a bit
worthless to invest your valuable marketing time.”
3. Get Inspired by
Other Instagrammers in Your Industry
There is
absolutely nothing wrong with spying on your competition from time to time. In
fact, when it comes to hashtagging this can be a super useful investigative
activity. Joining in on trendy industry topic hashtags and finding niche
industry-related tags that your audience is likely following can be insanely
beneficial for upping your hashtag game.
Take this
food blogger, Restoring Radiance, for example. Below, you can see that she posted a picture of her
yogurt, and rather than using simple hashtags, like #yogurt or #breakfast, she
used many hashtags mentioning other brands that her target audience is likely
following like #f52grams and #foodgawker.
4. Create Your Own Hashtag Campaigns
The cool
thing about hashtagging is that you aren’t restricted to using other hashtags
that have already been used. You can get creative and build a campaign around
your very own branded hashtag. This can take your brand to an entirely new
level if done in a creative and engaging way.
Take the
unforgettable #IceBucketChallenge. The marketing team for the ALS Association
was able to raise awareness with this hashtag campaign, but they also raised a
substantial amount of money ($115 million to be exact!). Think about how you can do something
similar by getting your followers to WANT to use your hashtag, which will help
spread brand awareness about
your business to other Instagrammers.
5. Keep Your Hashtags
Consistent—But Not Too Consistent
As
discussed above, it is important to research your hashtags for each post and
ensure you aren’t using hashtags that are overly popular. If you do, your posts
are likely to get lost in the sea of other hashtagged posts. But should you be
using a new set of five to 10 hashtags for every single post you compose?
The answer
is no. There is absolutely nothing wrong with re-using the same
well-researched, highly targeted hashtags if those are what appeal to your
audience. In fact, you should keep a note handy so you can easily copy and paste
your commonly used hashtags into new posts. However, spicing things up a bit is
also encouraged. For example, use the same five or so on-brand hashtags, but
add in a few new ones that are even more relevant to the photograph or video you are
sharing. Relevancy is critical when it comes to hashtag use: If someone is
exploring a popular hashtag and your super irrelevant post pops up, it could make the
entire brand look un-reputable.
6. Build A Giveaway
Around a Branded Hashtag
Everyone
loves free stuff. This is just simple human nature. I find myself entering
Instagram giveaways on the daily to win cookbooks of chefs and bakers I follow.
Often, these giveaways are quite simple to enter. The brand will post about
giving away a copy of whichever cookbook and ask you to tag a friend in the
comments to enter. While this is a super easy and doable way to give something
away, why not take it a step further with a branded hashtag?
Take the
example below from Talalla Retreat, a beach-front resort that emphasizes yoga.
Rather than just having users like and tag someone in the comments, there
contest required folks to post a picture with the hashtag #WINTalalla. What I
love about this type of giveaway is that it is still easy to enter, but it’s
going to get so many more eyes on your brand since those entering have to share
a photo to their entire follower's lists while using the branded hashtag.
7. Use Hashtagging to Connect
Another
wonderful thing about hashtags is that they are a great way to connect with
others and build a community. Keeping an eye on trending hashtags can
help you discover new partners and engage those who are in your target market.
Building an Instagram marketing campaign
around a hashtag can also be a super useful way to partner up with a related
brand. This will help you gain even more exposure since this partner brand
will be posting about your company to their entire audience.
Here is a great example from Lululemon UK and Stava, which partnered to run a fun
challenge encouraging followers to complete a 40-80K run and tag their Instagram
posts #4080challenge.
Not only does this type of hashtag
campaign get both audiences followers involved, but it also grows the brand
awareness for each company with exposure to an even larger audience. Just check
out how many people took part in this hashtag challenge.
8. Create A Catchy
Brand Hashtag to Get Your Customers Involved
Hashtags
don’t always have to be short-lived contests or campaigns. In fact, some of the
most successful branded hashtags are the ones that apply to any post. Take the
hashtag created by the sneaker company, allbirds. Rather than using generic
hashtags on every post, they use one very creative and catchy hashtag
#weareallbirds.
Using a single branded hashtag for instagram that’s catchy and clever is a great way of keeping things consistent. It’s also a great way to building a hashtag that happy customers will be excited to use to share their new kicks!
The 20 Most Popular Instagram Hashtags
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1,995,351,681 posts |
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1,271,975,286 posts |
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904,406,334 posts |
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876,150,269 posts |
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743,552,201 posts |
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712,372,124 posts |
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689,867,909 posts |
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621,659,503 posts |
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614,229,640 posts |
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607,048,727 posts |
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615,463,136 posts |
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593,272,497 posts |
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559,358,325 posts |
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557,414,071 posts |
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588,572,421 posts |
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540,453,994 posts |
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528,458,856 posts |
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524,885,916 posts |
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510,171,388 posts |
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486,320,722 posts |
Use These Tools to Analyze Your Hashtag Performance
- Instagram Insights
- Sprout Social
- Iconosquare
And Now You’re an Instagram #Hashtagmaster!
Woo! That was a lot. Now, you should now be fully equipped to go out into the world and conquer Instagram hashtagging to accomplish your business-related goals. We’re excited to see you take your #hashtag game to the #nextlevel!
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