We all know that hashtags are a very powerful tool for expanding your reach and engagement on Instagram or other social media platforms. They help categorize and recommend your posts in suggested content streams, making it easier for your target audience to find you. However, the number of hashtags you should use is still pretty up in the air, and the golden number of hashtags always seems to be changing. The reality is, there is no magic number, as the number and type of hashtags that you should be using will vary depending on your specific goals and target audience.
While there's no one-size-fits-all answer to the ideal number of hashtags to use, Instagram's @creators account has recently suggested using between 3-5 hashtags. The emphasis here is on using fewer, more relevant hashtags to the specific content. This approach helps accurately categorize your posts to reach more niche and engaged audiences.
Although this does seem like a solid strategy, we still believe that using more hashtags will be more beneficial to bringing more reach to your posts. That being said, you still shouldn’t sacrifice the relevance and quality of the hashtags you use just because you are using more.
So what types of hashtags should you be using?
There are several categories of hashtags you could be using, but here are some of the more popular ones:
Product or Service Hashtags: Keywords that describe your product or service, such as #shoes or #restaurant
Niche Hashtags: More specific tags, like #travelblogger or #realestateagent
Seasonal Hashtags: Referring to holidays or seasons, like #summertime or #nationalcoffeeday
Location Hashtags: Even if you use geo-tags, including hashtags like #torontodesigner or #canadianartist
Branded Hashtags: Custom hashtags that relate to your brand, in our case, it could be #DesignHour, #HappyHourList
Let’s dive into the Branded Hashtags for a minute - should you be using them? Yes!
Using custom hashtags for your business can be a great way to build a community and create a conversation around your brand. They are great for tracking engagement, as well as easily organizing all of your content under a consistent tag. With all of your content under a hashtag specific to only your brand, it allows for those who come across your hashtag to have easy access to the rest of your content, which could convert them into a potential new customer or follower.
You can also create awareness around your own hashtags by adding it to your bio, using it consistently across your captions and stories, or even by including it in a promotion or giveaway, that will encourage people to use it!
How else can you use your hashtags?
Include them in the bottom of your Post or Reel captions
If you prefer to hide them, add them as a comment instead of a caption
Include hashtags in your story posts and them hide them behind an element, like a photo or make the text very small so it’s not noticeable. This will help with getting found on the explore page or search engine, without interrupting the actual content of the story
The most important thing to remember is that hashtags are not a short-cut for instant reach or engagement. They require a long-term strategy combined with valuable content, and a little bit of trial and error. So, will using a specific number of hashtags increase your following overnight? Probably not. But over time, with consistency, it will expand your content to reach new audiences.
If you want to learn more about social media content creation and how to figure out what works with your specific brand, reach out to us for a free design consultation or book a 30 min social media audit with us at hello@designhour.ca