The rules in social media are always changing and that’s no exception for the use of hashtags on Instagram either. Hashtags are a great way to get new followers and more engagement, but make sure you know what’s up when it comes to the latest Instagram rules for 2018. Let’s use hashtags (in the correct way) to help grow your business this year!
Use Relevant Hashtags to Avoid Being Marked as Spam
This is more important than ever. Users now have the ability to follow hashtags that they’ll see right in their feed. So now your photos could automatically be put into user’s feeds, increasing your chance of being seen. However, users also now have the option to mark your content as something they don’t want to see. This is why you need to make sure you’re only using hashtags that apply to your business. If too many people mark your posts, Instagram will start penalizing your account, showing it to less and less people.
Don’t Always Use the Same Hashtags for Each Post
It’s not a great idea to just copy and paste the same hashtags for every single post. If you do, it could be seen as spam by Instagram, again reducing your post visibility to other users. Our suggestion is to create different sets of hashtags depending on the type of post. If it’s makeup related, have a list of top makeup hashtags, if it’s food related, have a list of top food hashtags, etc.
Choose the Most Effective Hashtags
It’s important to choose the correct hashtags for your post, but it can be a bit confusing to know what those are. Let us break it down for you.
- Avoid Those Gimmicky Hashtags: Don’t use the spammy hashtags that seems to be on so many posts, such as “LikeForLike.” This may give you a few more likes, but not from the people in your industry that you’re trying to target.
- Choose Tags That Describe Your Account: Know who you are targeting and what your account and business is all about and choose tags related to that!
- Get Ideas From Leaders in Your Industry: Find those huge influencers in your industry and see what hashtags they use. If you work in makeup, find a beauty influencer and see what hashtags she uses. If they’re relevant, you can add them to your post too!
- Include Very Specific Tags: The more specific the hashtag, the more engaged the users are. There are Community hashtags that people with different interests all use. A great example is “IHaveThisThingWithFloors” and “CoffeeandClothes.” Those are pretty specific, but that’s exactly what those users are looking to find.
- Research Hashtags with the New Follow Hashtag feature: With this new feature we spoke about where you can follow hashtags in your feed, you can also find new ones! Once you go to a hashtag, it will show you related hashtags. You can use the ones that may be relevant to your post.
Post Your Hashtags as a Comment
There are two main ways that people place hashtags on their Instagram accounts. One is in the photo caption and the other is in a comment. Yes, the hashtags in your comments work just as well. To keep your post looking clean, we advise you have your hashtag list ready and copied and then paste it into a comment on your own photo, seconds after you post your photo or video.
Track Your Insights if You Have a Business Profile
If your account is a business profile, you are now able to go into the Insights and see what hashtags are bringing traffic to your posts. Just go to the photo and click on the “Insights” link. Then you can swipe up to see things like reach, impressions and how people who viewed your photo actually found you. Now you can eliminate any hashtags that aren’t working for you and try new ones with these analytics. Instagram lets you use up to 30, so go ahead and use that many if you would like.
Add Hashtags to Your Stories
We hope you’re already taking advantage of Instagram stories. If not, what are you waiting for? And now you can even add hashtags to your stories! this will bring more users that are searching for that hashtag to see your story!
Now you have all of the tools you need to rock your hashtag strategy. Get out there and start tagging!
Information for this article was sourced from here.