Hashtags on Instagram are a great way to give your posts context and help people find them. Instagram makes it easy to search for hashtags based on your post's topic.

However, just slapping any hashtag on a post isn't going to be enough. Irrelevant and overused hashtags can bury your posts in the feed.

Use a Hashtag List

Hashtags are more than words preceded by a pound sign (#). They connect Instagram users who otherwise wouldn’t find one another. Instagram’s hashtag stream makes it possible for people interested in the same topic to easily scroll through and discover new posts, as well as follow accounts that publish content on the hashtag.

While the official advice from Instagram is to limit the number of hashtags on a post, it’s important to test out different combinations of hashtags to see which drive significant engagement and reach. In addition, try varying the location of the hashtags in your caption and comment sections to reach more relevant followers.

You can create and add hashtag lists to your account, which is a helpful way to keep track of the hashtags you use on your Instagram posts, stories, and reels. Using a hashtag list saves time by allowing you to input a pre-selected group of hashtags that you can easily select and insert into your next post or reel.

When selecting hashtags to include in your Instagram posts, research influencers and other brands in your industry to understand what hashtags they’re currently using. Then, include those hashtags in your posts and reels to reach similar audiences. You can also try using niche hashtags that may not have as many posts, but which are still relevant to your target audience.

Identify Your Hashtags

Hashtags can be incorporated into your posts as a comment or in the caption of a post, Reel, or Story. If you choose to include hashtags in your caption, keep in mind that they will be visible to anyone who clicks on the post. To hide them so that you don’t look spammy, put them in the first comment of your post or Reel, preceding each one with five dashes or periods (NO space). Instagram will then see them as invisible and won’t appear in your photo stream but will be visible to IG users who view your profile.

If you use the same hashtags repeatedly, your posts may be seen as spam and flagged by Instagram. This can affect the visibility of your content and result in a dip in engagements. To avoid this, make sure that your hashtags are unique and relevant.

Using the right hashtags can improve your reach and engagement on Instagram. It takes time and effort to develop a winning strategy, but the rewards can be well worth it. You can also check your Instagram Insights to monitor the performance of your chosen hashtags. Using the 'Professional dashboard' option on your Instagram business account or tapping ‘View Insights’ on a post can help you identify hashtags that are performing better than others and which ones drive more impressions and reach. Alternatively, Flaminjoy's competitor benchmarking feature lets you compare your competitors’ hashtag strategies and uncover new opportunities to grow your reach.

Create a Hashtag Strategy

While sprinkling random hashtags on your Instagram posts may get you some likes, it’s unlikely to grow your audience. Instead, build a comprehensive hashtag strategy that’s relevant to your audience. This will help you attract a more consistent following and achieve better long-term results.

When choosing hashtags for your content, try to avoid overly-popular ones because they will quickly become saturated with content. However, don’t be afraid to use niche or “longtail” hashtags if they’re more specific to your product or service. These typically have fewer users and will allow you to be discovered more easily by new followers.

Hashtag research can be tedious but it’s well worth the effort. Take a look at the hashtags used by your competitors and influencers to find those that are most relevant to your business. Once you’ve found a handful of hashtags, create a list and refer to it every time you create a post. By tracking the performance of your hashtags, you can adjust them to improve your reach and engagement metrics.

Instagram’s official recommendation is to use three to five highly-relevant hashtags per post, but you can also track and test the impact of using more. For more granular insights, consider using a third-party hashtag monitoring tool that connects directly to your Instagram account and tally the number of interactions for each tag. The best tools also provide detailed analytics, helping you optimize your hashtag selection for more effective results.

Track Your Hashtags

When posting on Instagram, you can add hashtags in the caption of your post by typing a hash mark # followed by a keyword or phrase. This allows users to easily discover posts related to that topic on their feeds.

Hashtag tracking tools help you keep tabs on your hashtags’ performance and identify ways to improve. They offer real-time data reflecting impressions, reach, and engagement metrics. Hashtag monitoring also helps you identify trends and discover new hashtags to include in your content. You can also buy Instagram accounts in bulk for social media marketing from PVA Accounts Buy.

Tracking your hashtags is essential for maximizing the impact of your Instagram business account. Hashtags are a critical tool that can help you get discovered by people outside your immediate network and engage with your content. Hashtag monitoring also gives you insights into the audience of your competitors so you can avoid mistakes and make better strategic choices.

It’s important to use only relevant and popular hashtags in order to attract the attention of a wide variety of potential customers. Hashtags that are repeated or irrelevant are considered spammy and can be flagged by the algorithm, resulting in a lower visibility for your content. Hashtag tracking tools can help you avoid this by showing you the number of times your hashtags have been used on a daily basis. These platforms can also provide a breakdown of the types of users who engage with your hashtag, including location, gender, and devices.

To use hashtags on Instagram effectively, integrate them naturally into your captions or comments. Choose relevant and popular hashtags related to your content to increase discoverability. Limit the number of hashtags to maintain a clean aesthetic, and consider creating a branded hashtag for community engagement.