Hashtags on Instagram are a very rumour buzzing topic. There are people telling you exactly how many words to use in a post.
Then there are others who say it’s all about the pictures you post. Don’t forget to post twice a day. Keep your posts enticing and entertaining.
You see, it can also be a very time-consuming endeavour.
You need to research all the right hashtags for your post. Also, it can be quite a hassle to make every hashtag count.
In the end, you don’t want your Instagram post to look spammy. But, how do you work hashtags on Instagram the right way?
Fear not, here are 3 simple ways on how to improve your Instagram hashtag game!
There are so many ways to optimise your hashtags on Instagram
A little disclaimer beforehand. This blog post is by all means not a complete guide to whatever. Nor is it the answer to all your hashtags on Instagram problems.
Don’t get me wrong. I do love an ultimate guide from time to time. Like this Ultimate Guide To: YouTube.
However, I also believe that sometimes all you really want are little nuggets of information. Something that you can process without breaking a sweat.
Mix your hashtags!
Different hashtags have different sizes or volumes. What does that mean? It means that there are popular hashtags that are used on many posts.
For example, really big ones like #love or #happy with over 1 million posts. However, there are also mid-tier (100.000-1m.) and small size hashtags (25.000-100.000).
At the far end of the spectrum are minimal hashtags with fewer than 25.000 post.
The best practice here is to vary your use of the hashtags and their sizes. The bigger the hashtag, the more post use this, the higher the competition.
If you only would use big ones, the attention span of the viewer will be very small. On the other hand side, if you only use very small ones, there might not enough people being interested in that specific hashtag.
Here’s the deal: it’s best to use a mix of all hashtag sizes. However, there is no other way than trying it all out.
The best thing would be to keep a spreadsheet and track each hashtags performance. This way, you can clearly identify the winners and only keep on working with them.
Remember, analytics and social media is a process and never really finished. You just keep on optimizing!
Hashtags are your ticket to the all important Explore Page!
Important to realize, hashtags on Instagram are not only a way of contextualising the post or picture.
What is more, they can be a gateway for your post to end up on the all-important Instagram Explore Page!
This is crazy, one’s your post made it to the Explore Page it can really blow up. Meaning, you will be able to attract lots of new followers and reach broad engagement and coverage.
Hidden analytical benchmarks like ‘saves’ highly depend on how well your post performed.
The way to go forward here is to understand the funnel that underlies the Instagram algorithm. When you publish your post, the first people to see it are your followers.
They see your post on their home feed. However lovely the engagement with your fanbase is.
Those people are already converted, meaning, they already follow you. However, in order to grow your channel, you also need to attract new followers and drive more engagement from external accounts.
You can do this by clever usage of the hashtags. If you manage to select the right hashtags, you’ll be able to drive more and more engagement to your account.
The more this happens, the more likely you post will make it to the Explore Page!
Don’t forget a branded hashtag for your band or artist name!
Here is the kicker, so many people spend hours trying to get the gist of hashtags on Instagram.
Now: they so often forget the most obvious hashtag of them all. Your name! May it be your band/ artist name or company name.
Make a point and always use your own hashtag as well. If you are in a band with multiple people than you can use hashtags of their names too.
You can also come up with hashtag challenges with your fanbase. That way, you can easily find fan content and redistribute that over your channel as well.
Firstly, this shows your fans that you care and secondly it shows the Instagram algorithm that your channel is worth being promoted to new followers.
Hashtags on Instagram can indeed be tricky. Don’t let yourself be discouraged however!
I know from experience that starting a new Instagram account can be rather challenging.
However, there is no other way than to move forward. Hashtags on Instagram can be a great tool to attract new follower and to drive engagement to your account!