Hashtags For Instagram: A Guide

In the Instagram world, hashtags are not just symbols. They are relevant, powerful tools for visibility and engagement. Yet, with millions of posts vying for attention, how can you ensure your content stands out? 

According to insights from my Meta-assigned Instagram account manager, the secret lies in strategically using 5-8 highly relevant hashtags. It is about quality over quantity. This blog post explains how to optimize your hashtag strategy to increase your organic growth on Instagram.

The Magic Number: 5-8 Hashtags

Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post , and I always thought that more hashtags provide for a bigger pool of reach, but my account manager says less is more, and using all thirty comes across as spam-heavy. A curated selection of 5-8 hashtags ensures your content remains focused and reaches the most relevant audience searching for that topic. This approach prevents your posts from getting lost in the sea of generic tags and enhances engagement with a targeted group.

Relevance is Key

The relevance of your hashtags to the content of your reel or post is paramount. Instead of broad, account-type hashtags, opt for those that describe what's actually in your content. I've made this mistake repeatedly, tagging hashtags that relate to the overall theme of my Instagram page rather than what is in the post itself. Paradoxically, this works against growth. The less relevant the tags are, the less engagement the post receives, and the less the algorithm shows the post to potential clients and followers. Engagement and likes tank, and then the algorithm shows less and less of your content to fewer and fewer of your followers. It's so important to be precise with hashtags to help the algorithm understand and categorize your content more effectively, increasing the likelihood of it being shown to users interested in your content. Being shown to the right people encourages engagement, more engagement encourages the algorithm to show your content to more people, more people equals more engagement, more conversions, more followers.

The algorithm works like the analogy: "the rich get richer."

Avoid Spam Hashtags

Common hashtags like "#reel" and "#newpost" seem easy to gain visibility, but they're counterproductive. These "spam hashtags" are overloaded with content, making it harder for your post to get noticed. The variation in content is so vast that even if you show up in that category, few authentic users are likely to be interested in what your post offers. Being one of a few posts in a highly relevant hashtag category feed is much more effective than being one of millions in an irrelevant hashtag category feed. Generally, these types of hashtags are a pool of spam overall; they attract bot interactions and superficial engagement rather than genuine interactions and will take away from your efforts.

A Successful Strategy: Hashtags For Instagram

Research and Customize

Spend time researching hashtags specific to your post's content or reel. What are accounts with high engagement tagging in your space? Looking at your competition or those you aspire to be like can help you tailor your selection, but, ensure the tags match your posts content. 

Mix Popular and Niche Tags

Combine broader appeal hashtags with niche-specific ones to balance reach and relevance. Broader appeal tags do not include those mentioned earlier ("#newpost" "#reel" "#instagood", etc). Tags must still be specific to your content but they can be popular (for example 400k tags). Have a mix of popular and more specific, less popular tags (for example 10k tags). The mix can attract a broad audience of viral hashtags relevant to your post and those more concentrated hashtags that help those deeply interested in that specific niche/content/hashtag find you. 

Monitor and Adapt

On an Instagram business account, through post insights, you can see how many people have discovered your post through the hashtags you used. Keep an eye on the performance, use different hashtags, and see what posts perform better. It's about the content, too, constantly improving, ever-changing, and working to find what hashtags and types of content work best is key to success.

Be ready to adjust your strategy and keep in the loop with platform changes, tips, and education. Join the @creators broadcast channel within the platform and use Instagram's resources, their user guide, and content creators' resources online. These powerful tools are majorly overlooked although they are the key to success. Unfortunately, because the information is available for free and in abundance, it's not valued as a tool or used as a guiding resource by businesses as it should be.

Take control, educate yourself, and do what other businesses overlook or are too lazy to do. That's how you get ahead.  

Conclusion: Elevating Your Hashtags For Instagram

Hashtags are still helpful and work for you as a vital component of a successful Instagram post or reel. They act as beacons that guide your content to its ideal audience. To use them successfully, embrace the practice of using 5-8 highly relevant hashtags, ensuring they match exactly what is in that specific reel or post. You set the stage for meaningful engagement and organic growth.

You are in control of your business and your content. If you're to spend hours creating content, take an extra ten minutes to research and get the hashtags right, too. Overusing irrelevant hashtags damages your engagement on that post and on future posts, undermining the work you put into your content.

Remember, relevance and authenticity are your strongest allies in the dynamic world of social media.

Don't half-ass hashtags.

Let them reflect the essence of your content, and watch (over a long time, as the algorithm takes time to adjust to your changes) as your Instagram presence begins to flourish.

CLA Socials is dedicated to helping you navigate the complexities of social media. We are here to help you succeed. When you win, we win, and that's why we share this kind of content. Stay tuned for more insights and tailored strategies, sign up for our blog, and follow us on Instagram.