Your Guide To Using Hashtags: Techniques For Increasing Your Brand’s Reach And Categorizing Your Content

Have you been wondering whether or not hashtags are worth the trouble? Us too. But the short answer is that yes, hashtags still matter. While they aren’t going to make or break your content, they can act as an additional tool to categorize your content for the algorithm, make your content searchable, and increase your reach to folks outside your current audience.

There isn’t an exact science for using hashtags, but here are a few ways you can set up or revamp your hashtag strategy to increase your reach. The key is to keep trying different techniques until you find what works for you and your brand.

OUR FORMULA

Instagram recommends up to 30 hashtags per post. Here’s how we like to break it down for our clients: 

(Categorical/general hashtags + branded/unique hashtags + location hashtags + hashtags relevant to the content of the specific post) = up to 30 hashtags. 

You don’t have to use all 30 hashtags for every post. We recommend 3-15 to start, but we’ll happily acknowledge that we don’t have the magic number. Nobody does, and everyone suggests something different. The key is to test out different combinations and see what works best for you.

CATEGORICAL/GENERAL HASHTAGS

The first step to creating your hashtag strategy is to write out a list of keywords relevant to your brand or services. Start with general categories or phrases, and then narrow it down a bit from there. For example, if you are offering ballet classes for children, start with #ballet or #balletclass. 

Then you should actually look up the hashtag to see how many times it has been used. Since you are starting out pretty generally, it’s likely that your search may generate millions of uses. This is something that you want to avoid. You want your post to stand out, and it might not if you’re using a hashtag that is oversaturated. We suggest using hashtags that are used anywhere from 500 to 1 million times. For example, #ballet has been used almost 20 million times at the time this article was written. From there, try #balletforkids which has ~40k posts. 

You also want to avoid getting too specific. You want your hashtag to be searchable. For example, #balletclassesforkidsandteens has only 17 posts associated with it. It’s too long and it is unlikely too many folks are searching for that. Think about what people might type into the search bar when looking for content that falls in your market.

You should also examine the types of posts that are associated with the hashtags you’re researching. If your target audience is kids, using hashtags that have a lot of adult-focused content may not be the best choice.

BRANDED/UNIQUE HASHTAGS

In addition to more recognizable or general hashtags, it’s also beneficial to create unique hashtags for your brand. This can be something like your brand’s name or slogan. Though you may be creating something new, it will place your posts under a specific hashtag that is unique to your business.

*Hint: You can place one or two branded hashtags in your Instagram bio to make them even more effective.*

You can also create hashtags specific to a brand event, contest, or giveaway. Not only does it create some hype around your event, it also makes it easier for your team to track entries or participants when you look up that hashtag. Can anyone say user-generated content?!

LOCATION HASHTAGS

The process of building your list of location-specific hashtags is generally the same as finding your categorical hashtags. If you’re located in Chicago like us, look up #chicago (which has tons of hits), and take it one step further: #chicagomarketing, #chicagomarketingagency, etc.

CONTENT-SPECIFIC HASHTAGS

After you’ve chosen a few categorical, unique, and location-specific hashtags, add in a few more that are relevant to the content of the specific post you’re working with. Let’s go back to the ballet example. Let’s say you’re posting an inspirational quote from a famous ballet dancer. Your content-specific hashtags could look something like this: #balletquotes, #inspirationalquoteoftheday, #mistycopeland, etc.

VOILA! YOUR LIST IS COMPLETE!

Now that you have a list of hashtags, keep it handy to copy and paste into your captions. Obviously you’re not going to use the entire list, so pick and choose from your list that feels most relevant to your post. We recommend rotating your choices to keep things fresh.

We can’t wait to hear about how these strategies work for you! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below or by contacting us directly.