Hashtags | How to Use Them for Maximum Reach and Exposure

Hashtags seem to be a bit of an anomaly on Instagram - you know they’re important, you’re just not sure how or why. 

Starting with the basics, a hashtag is used to group posts together relating to specific topics. People can then search specific hashtags and find the most recent and top posts within that hashtag used on Instagram. 

On instagram, you’re allowed to use up to 30 hashtags per post. If you’re wondering how to go about finding the best hashtags to use, whether they go in the caption or the comment, and how hashtags can get your brand or business exposure, keep reading.

How to Find Hashtags to Use

There are lots of tools out there - both free and paid - that promise to get you the most reach and exposure with hashtags by using their tool. But you don’t have to pay anything to learn which hashtags work best for you. There’s really just three things you need: 1. Know your audience. 2. Post valuable content. 3. Create a hashtag bank. 

First, when you know your audience and can relate to them, you know what kinds of things they’re searching for. Because Instagram allows you to follow specific hashtags that are meaningful and important to users, you can make an educated guess on what hashtags your audience might be following or searching for. For instance, if you’re a residential realtor, your audience can be buyers or sellers. What types of things are sellers and potential buyers looking for? What type of content is relative to the moment in time. Maybe it’s information on selling your home during COVID-19 and what to expect. Considering searching what content is being put out under #buyersguide or #homebuyingguide. 

Second, post valuable content. You want your content to be shareable and valuable. When you’re posting valuable content, users will interact with it, showing the algorithm that your content is engaging, and therefore will be shown to more people and make it more accessible via the explore page. If you’re simply posting content for the sake of posting, don’t expect to see an ROI. 

Third, creating a hashtag bank is the best way to ultimately save you time and allow you to better understand what types of content and which hashtags perform the best.

When I say a hashtag bank, I mean sets of 30 hashtags that align with your content themes and the type of content you’re most likely to share. Using a realtor again as an example, it would be beneficial to have hashtag banks for themes such as selling, buying, area home listings, and tips and tricks. From there, get a bit more granular with each one. For selling, think about  preparing to sell your home, home staging tips, cost-effective updates to do before selling, how to add curb appeal. Then, research hashtags related to those things and keep them in a document that’s easily accessible and use it as a reference. 

Which Hashtags to Use

Now that you know which types of hashtags to search for, how do you know which ones to use? Hashtags have a use number associated with them. That number tells you how many other posts are using that hashtag. Broad topics, such as #artofinstagram, has 6.7 million posts associated with it. The chances that your post being shown under that hashtag are honestly, slim to none.

There’s a lot of information out there regarding how many hashtags to use within each range, but I typically recommend the following:

10 hashtags that are very specific to your content (1k-10k). 5-10 hashtags slightly more broad (10k-100k). 5-10 hashtags with further reach (100k-1m). 

When you’re deciding which hashtags to use, really focus on the content you’re about to post. Being as specific as possible with your hashtags in relation to the content will help get more granular.

It’s also worth mentioning that yes, you should utilize the full 30 hashtags Instagram allows, because why wouldn’t you want the opportunity to reach as many people as possible?

Comments or Caption?

There’s a lot of debate out there about whether posting your hashtags in the comments or the caption works best. I recently read something that I thought made the most sense and has influenced my recommendation. 

When you’re posting to Instagram, you have seconds to post accompanying hashtags in order for your post to show up in the ‘Most Recent’ section of hashtags. So, if you post your photo to Instagram, then have to turn around, copy your hashtags, open Instagram back up, paste the hashtags, post the comment… well, that’s longer than necessary and you may have already missed out on your ideal customer finding you under that hashtag.

Because of that, I think putting hashtags in the post caption is the best way to go. Instagram even allows for line breaks now, so no more dots and dashes have to be used to separate lines of copy.

Engagement is King

I’m going to let you in on a little secret that most brands and businesses aren’t privy to. Growth and engagement on Instagram is all about what you put in. It’s very much a tit for tat game. People, influencers, and brands alike all want their content to be engaged with, and when you do, they will likely return the favor. 

Ten minutes before you’re getting ready to post to Instagram, go into a few of the hashtags you’re getting ready to use and engage with posts that also are using those hashtags. Like their post, read it and leave a genuine comment of 4 words or more, and save the post. 

Then, ten minutes after you post, go in and do the same thing for a few other hashtags you didn’t engage with previously before posting.

The method to the madness is that when you engage with hashtags immediately before and after, there’s a better chance your content will be shown to those that you engaged with. It will also put your brand top of mind for the people you engaged with. They’re more likely to go to your page and engage with your most recent post to return the favor, therefore boosting your post to the algorithm.

Hashtags don’t have to be difficult or confusing. When you spend some time upfront creating a hashtag bank that you can use and reference again and again, it will pay off in the long run. 

Still have questions about Hashtags? I’d love to answer all your questions! Let’s chat sometime.