How to use hashtags and get results? Read the complete guide to strengthen your presence and strategy on Instagram.
Using the correct hashtags can give visibility to posts to people potentially interested in the brand or products/services and why not acquire new followers.
What is a hashtag?
A hashtag, as you well know, is a combination of letters and numbers preceded by the symbol # , with no spaces between the letters (that's right).
These are clickable and searchable via the bar – they then create a page that shows all the posts linked to it.
Hashtags can therefore be a way to create a community (users can follow them as if they were a page).
Example of the Huawei brand : it has its own Instagram account and invites those who own its products to use a specific hashtag in their bio, precisely to create a community.
And here's the hashtag page that groups them together:
Instagram divides hashtags into nine types:
Product/service: keywords to describe your product or service, such as #marketingagency or #sunglasses
Community: There are numerous communities of "enthusiasts", such as #skincareddict or #cakelover
Niche: hashtags related to your industry, for example #bakersofinstagram
Location: related to your location, for example #restaurantmilan
Acronyms: like #tbt ( throwbackthursday), meaning "throwback to the past"
Events or seasons: These refer to holidays or seasons such as #summerlover
Emoji : Hashtags can include emojis
Daily: such as #mondaystartsagain
Phrases: mix product, niche and community ones.
You can download our guided procedure to choose the correct Hashtags to use on Instagram: you will find many insights and practical advice.
How many hashtags should you use?
Each post can have a maximum of 30 hashtags, while for stories a maximum of 10. But there is no correct number of hashtags for each brand and for each post. It is good practice to test the quantity for your profile, starting from at least 11. per post up to a maximum of 30.
There is a magic formula to define these hashtags tailored to your profile: this is because, since these are often small profiles, it is useless to focus on a general division of medium and large hashtags.
Which hashtags to choose?
Unlike Twitter, Instagram does not display a list of trending hashtags. The alternative is to search, via the bar, the macro topic and see which are the popular related ones.
In this way:
The best hashtags on Instagram
Top hashtags compiles a daily list of the 100 most used hashtags.
Remember though that the best hashtags are the ones that are used the most, this does not mean that they are necessarily the most effective.
A large number of posts may mean that a lot of people are following this hashtag, but it also means that there is a ton of content and that your posts could get lost. Instagram itself suggests using a combination of popular and niche hashtags to reach different audiences , from broad to specific.
Here's an example:
How to find the best hashtags for your brand?
The first step to finding the right hashtags for you is to take a look at your competitors : you can find new ideas or decide which community to join.
Then move on to analyzing your audience.
What hashtags are they already using? Search existing communities - this is a great way to reach people who are likely to be interested in your business.
Also look at your top followers and see which ones they are using: through the search bar you will also find out if the people you follow also follow that hashtag.
Finally, use the related hashtags feature: Instagram itself suggests other niche hashtags based on the keywords you searched for.
3 Tips for Using Hashtags on Your Profile
Save Hashtags It is very useful to have a list of hashtags relevant to the various types of content you publish: do not use the same ones for each post, adapt them to the content by keeping a base of these relevant to your business.
Avoid banned or spam hashtags When inappropriate content is associated with a hashtag, Instagram blocks it. This does not mean that you cannot use it, but it certainly causes a drop in engagement on your post, and even risks a shadow ban (a sharp drop in engagement due to the "invisible penalty": images published by the affected profiles are no longer visible in the hashtags section by users who do not follow the profile) Here is a list of banned hashtags
Insert hashtags in stories Hashtag pages have a stories icon in the top right: there is a collection of stories containing the hashtag published by profiles. In your stories then add your hashtags, through the dedicated sticker or simply through the text.
Is there a magic formula for hashtags?
It may not be a magic formula, but in addition to the quality, it is also worth taking a look at the size of these.
How? Choose a proportionate number of hashtags between small, medium and large.
The formula : number of followers x 10/100/1,000
If your profile has 3,000 followers then you will need to have:
3.000x10= 30.000
3.000x100=300.000
3.000x1.000=3.000.000
So:
10 small hashtags with volume up to 30,000 posts
10 medium hashtags with volume up to 300,000 posts
10 large hashtags with volume up to 3,000,000 posts
Why this magic formula?
By ending up in the popular section of small hashtags, Instagram will understand that you have posted quality content and will therefore open the doors to a good percentage of organic visibility, which could allow you to enter the popular section of medium hashtags as well, and so on.
Download our Guide to choosing the right hashtags for your Brand and start growing your profile.
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