Instagram hashtags help other people find your content and learn more about your brand. With the right hashtag strategy, you can expand your reach and followers naturally. But where do you start? We’re going to share six top hashtag strategies for Instagram to help you get started.
1. Incorporate Smaller Niche Hashtags Into the Mix
Some hashtags on Instagram have millions of posts. It’s tempting to add these hashtags to your content because they’re obviously popular. But it’s also much harder to be seen and heard because there’s so much competition.
Instead of just focusing on the big, popular hashtags, try incorporating smaller niche hashtags into the mix. These niche hashtags are less competitive and will help you reach a larger range of people.
2. Use Hashtags That are Relevant To Your Niche or Brand
When choosing hashtags for your content, don’t just focus on the most popular or trending tags. Choose hashtags that are relevant to your business.
- #love
- #selfie
- #art
- #model
- #sunset
Unless you’re creating content specifically around these hashtags, there’s a good chance that they’re not relevant to your brand. And the people viewing your content from these tags probably won’t find it interesting.
Spend some time researching hashtags and making a list of ones that are relevant to your niche or market.
3. Use Holiday or Seasonal Hashtags
One great way to hop on trends and get your content seen is to use holiday or seasonal hashtags.
If you’re not already doing so, make it a point to create and post seasonal content and use relevant hashtags.
There are lots of special events, holidays and awareness months going on at any given time of the year, so there’s always an opportunity to use this hashtag strategy.
4. Use the Right Number of Hashtags
Instagram allows you to add up to 30 hashtags to your post, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you Iadd that many.
As a general rule of thumb, Instagram recommends using 3-5 relevant hashtags in your content. Some influencers and brands have seen better results with 10 hashtags.
Experiment to find out how many hashtags work best for your account and niche.
5. Use Hashtags in Your Stories
Many creators neglect adding hashtags to their Instagram stories, but it’s a smart way to gain exposure. You can do this by:
- Uploading your Story
- Adding a text element
- Type out your hashtags
You can also add hashtags to stickers or in your location feed. Hashtags in your Story will make it easier for you to get your Story seen by people who aren’t following your account.
6. Post Content When Your Users Are Most Active
Hashtags are a small but important part of growing your Instagram following. However, you can have all of the right tags in your post and:
- No one views the post
- No one engages with the post
What Gives?
Your audience may not be active at the time you post. There are a lot of guidelines for the best time to post, but we recommend looking at your account’s Insights.
If you have a business account, you can go to Insights > Audience and view where your audience is located and the time your followers are online.
Don’t have a business account?
You can then follow this timetable for (PST):
- 9 AM – 10 AM on Monday & Tuesday
- 5 AM, 11 AM, and 3 PM on Wednesday
- 12 PM and 5 PM on Thursday
- 9 AM – 10 AM and 5 PM – 6 PM on Friday
- 8 AM – 12 PM on Saturday
- 10 AM – 2 PM on Sunday
If your audience is in a different time zone, you’ll need to account for these fluctuations and adjust your posting schedule accordingly.
Final Thoughts
Hashtag strategies for Instagram can help you gain followers and increase your exposure. While great content is always crucial for growing a following, once you incorporate the right hashtags, you’ll find that more people – outside of your current followers – will begin to like and comment on your posts.
