Instagram has become one of the best marketing platforms for e-commerce businesses. Instagram is great to market your latest products and get new customers. It is also great for interacting with your followers directly.
Instagram has more than 1 billion active users every month, that's why it’s a great marketing tool.
Whether you want to take advantage of Instagram for marketing or personal use, you should consider using Instagram hashtags.
Hashtags are a simple yet very effective way to grow your Instagram account.
What Is an Instagram Hashtag?
An Instagram hashtag can be either a single word or a series of words that are identified with the hash (#) symbol in the beginning. It is used on an Instagram post description or in the comment section.
Hashtags are used by Instagram to categorize and organize content. It allows Instagram to present the right content to the right users.
If you are an avid social media user, you have seen hashtags in use. You might have used one as well without knowing the potential hashtags hold.
Why Use Hashtags On Instagram?
Hashtags have several purposes on Instagram. Here are some of them:
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Get More Likes
Instagram users with an interest in a particular field are likely to search using hashtags. Therefore, using Instagram hashtags will give you a chance to reach a wider and relevant audience.
The relevant audience is likely to like your post since they can relate to it. This is why it is best to know the best hashtags to use for your posts.
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Get More Followers
Using the best hashtags is the best way to gain more followers on Instagram. Hashtags will give you a wider reach and that enables more users to discover your content.
If you are posting content that is relevant to users, they will always like your posts and follow your account.
This is great for e-commerce entrepreneurs because you are going to be in a position to promote your brand to users who are already engaged with your content.
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You'll Generate More Sales
Instagram hashtags are not just to help you grow your account. You can use them to increase your sales by having them as part of your Instagram posting strategy. This is even better if you find top hashtags in your niche.
If you use a niche-specific hashtag when promoting your product, you will draw the attention of people who are likely to buy something related to your content.
With compelling content and well-thought-out IG hashtags, you will be able to boost your store sales easily.
How to Find the Best Instagram Hashtags?
Now you know how Instagram hashtags work, let’s see how to find the best Instagram hashtags for the growth of your account.
When using Instagram for business it is best to take time to research the best Instagram hashtags for your niche. Always remember that data-informed decisions are always the best when marketing your products.
It is important to note that you do not need to use the most popular hashtags to increase Instagram engagement rate. It is better to use Instagram hashtags that have a lower reach but are visible to a relevant audience.
The main reason for using Instagram hashtags is to increase the reach of your post. It is also important to make sure that your post reaches the right audience you’re targeting with your product.
That is why you have to be strategic with the hashtags you decide to use. Here are some tips that should guide you to get the best Instagram hashtags for your posts:
Do Some Research On Your Audience
Merely adding a random Instagram hashtag will not guarantee the success of your post. You need to know what your audience is interested in and find out what they are searching for.
You have to include keywords that your audience is in search of. With that, you increase your chances of being founded by your preferred audience.
Research On Your Competitors
Look at the Instagram hashtags that the competition is using on their posts. This will give you an idea of the hashtags that provide maximum engagement.
The biggest brands in your niche have probably done their research on which are the best hashtags to use and which provide the best engagement.
You do not need to copy the same hashtags they are using, but their hashtags should provide you with the right idea of what your posts should look like.
Research On Instagram Influencers
Instagram influencers are people that perform very well on Instagram and other social media sites.
In most cases, they have thousands of people following them and create content that their audience can relate to.
Checking which hashtags the top influencers are using, is one of the best ways to know which hashtags perform best.
You can tell the performance of the hashtags by looking at the engagement they get from their posts.
Utilize Tools to Get the Best Instagram Hashtags
There are many tools available in the market that will provide you with information on the best hashtags to use for exceptional performance.
These tools provide hashtags for all online store niches.
Here are some tools that will go a long way when you are looking for top Instagram hashtags for likes.
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TagBlender
The TagBlender tool is an Instagram hashtag generator tool that is great for sourcing authoritative hashtags for your content.
TagBlender generates the perfect hashtags for different niches. TagBlender is free, and simple to use so you can easily try it out.
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HashtagsForLikes
HashtagsForLikes is a great Instagram generator tool for e-commerce businesses with social media accounts.
HashtagsForLikes is easy to use and navigate and offers the best Instagram hashtags for your e-commerce brand.
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InstagramTags
This is a great tool for e-commerce entrepreneurs. It offers ready-made hashtags that relate to different fields.
InstagramTags will provide you with the best Instagram hashtags that will help you grow your social media presence.
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Seekmetrics
Seekmetrics is a great analytical tool that will provide you with a comparative metric to see the growth you are performing against your competitors.
Seekmetrics uses Instagram API to find the relevant hashtags for a particular niche.
While using this hashtag generator you just need to type in a hashtag and click generate. You will be offered all the similar hashtags that are related to the one you typed in.
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All Hashtag
All Hashtag generator tools allow you to analyze and create the top relevant hashtags by offering thousands of suggestions that you can simply copy-paste to your Instagram post.
All Hashtag generators create hashtags based on the selected keyword you have entered.
It has three different filter options where you can discover the Instagram hashtag you are looking for.
What Are the Different Types of Instagram Hashtags?
Instagram hashtags are of nine distinct types. They are broken down based on the area of relevance.
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Niche Hashtags
These show where you fit in terms of which industry you are in. A good example is #travelblogger and #foodblogger.
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Service or Product Hashtags
These are simple keywords that describe the product or service you are offering. An example is #coffee or #lipstick.
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Industry Instagram Community Hashtags
Some communities exist on Instagram. These hashtags help you find them and join them. Examples are #gradernerofinstagram or #hairstylistsofinstagram.
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Special Events or Seasonal Hashtags
These hashtags are used to refer to real holidays or seasons such as #winterdays. They can be used for all National (anything) days. Examples are #nationalcoffeeday or #nationallefthandersday.
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Daily Hashtags
Typically, every day of the week has its hashtag. On Monday we have #MondayBlues and on Sunday we have #SundayFunday.
There are different day hashtags available and you can choose the best for your Instagram posts.
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Location Hashtags
Even when you do a geo-tag on your Instagram post, it is a good idea to add a hashtag to refer to your location. An example is #Bali or #Maldives.
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Relevant Phrase Hashtags
These are Instagram hashtags that combine different types of hashtags such as niche hashtags, product hashtags, and community hashtags.
These are phrases that people generally use to connect on Instagram to the existing communities in an insider way. An example is #amwriting or #shetravels.
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Acronym Hashtags
The renowned acronym hashtag is the Throwback Thursday #TBT. Other popular acronym hashtags include #OOTD to stand for outfit of the day and even flashback Friday hashtag #FBF.
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Emoji Hashtags
These are hashtags that can only include emojis or word phrases with emojis.
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Branded Hashtags
This is a simple tag you create for your brand or campaign. The best hashtag for your brand is one that you create for yourself.
How Many Hashtags Can I Use in One Post?
There is a hashtag limit on Instagram. You can only add 30 hashtags per post on Instagram and only 10 for an Instagram story.
It is important to keep the Instagram limit in mind when sourcing hashtags for your e-commerce business. The hashtag limitation is in place to avoid spam and to ensure that the content on Instagram remains relevant.
Also remember, just because you can use 30 hashtags on Instagram, doesn’t mean that you should use all of them. There is no specific number of hashtags you should use for your posts. You will even find that different posts will require a different number of hashtags.
Someone said that 11 hashtags are a good number for your posts. But in most cases, 1 to 3 hashtags are enough for your post.
You will also need to test the different hashtags in your niche to know which one works best for you.
You can use an Instagram generator tool to get the best hashtags for your niche. You can also opt to do your research and come up with a list of hashtags that will work well for your business.
Tips On How to Optimize Instagram Hashtags
Hashtags are a great way to grow your engagement. However, as it is with anything in tech, the best practices in every field keep changing.
A good Instagram hashtag strategy will help you reach the right people for your business.
Here are some tips that you can use to optimize your Instagram hashtags to reach your target audience.
Keep Up with Your Instagram Hashtags Analytics
Looking at how your previous hashtags have performed in the past is a great way to know which hashtags you will use in the future.
Instagram’s analytic tools offer some of the hashtag data but are quite limited. You can utilize some tools such as Later to get analytics to track the insights about the hashtag you use.
You get to see a breakdown of the hashtags that are driving the most likes, impressions, comments, saves, and reach on your Instagram posts.
When you add new hashtags, you will get to see how they perform on your content.
Try to get into the “Top” results for a hashtag.
If you have ever searched using a hashtag, you will notice there is “Top Posts” at the top of the result page. Getting on the Top page is a great way to get discovered by new users on the Explore page.
It can also create a huge network and make your posts go viral on Instagram.
So how do you get to the top post for a hashtag you make? There are generally two factors that determine if your post makes the top post for a hashtag. They include:
- How quickly your post gets engagement;
- How much engagement the post gets.
In most cases, top posts gain their position on the page after 24 hours of posting. So you will need to get the likes and comments quickly after posting.
If you generate a lot of engagement on your post immediately after posting, it signals Instagram that your post is quality and has engaging content.
Include Branded Hashtags in Your Instagram Profile
Due to a recent update, you can now click on hashtags and usernames to your Instagram bio. This makes it quite easy to build an Instagram bio that will convert to website visits.
This feature makes your bio more functional. You can use your hashtags to promote your Instagram community and helps you highlight your branded content as well as announcing your Instagram campaigns.
All you will need to do is add a “#” before ant word on your bio and it will become a clickable link that leads your visitors to the hashtag.
Post Your Hashtag in The First Comment
Adding hashtags to your post is the best way to increase your engagement and help your post reach its target audience. However, too many hashtags in your caption will look untidy and spammy sometimes.
This is why posting your hashtags as the first comment is a great idea. It will help you keep the caption clean while still reaping the benefits of having hashtags on your post.
Add Hashtags to Your Instagram Stories
Instagram stories are also a great place to add your hashtags. Having hashtags in your posts is a great way to have your content discovered by new audiences on Instagram.
When people search for a hashtag on Instagram they will be able to see Instagram stories on the search result page.
You can add a maximum of 10 hashtags to each Instagram story and 1 clickable hashtag sticker.
If you are worried about how the hashtag will affect your crafted aesthetic, there are few hacks you can use to keep your hashtags hidden.
A great way is to pinch your text-based hashtags to make them smaller and then hide them with a sticker or GIF.
Make sure that you do not pinch your text too small. Make sure that the text is legible enough. Otherwise, Instagram will not pick it up and it will be unlikely for your post to appear on hashtag searches.
Ask Your Followers to Follow Your Branded Hashtags
In 2018, Instagram made it possible for a person to follow hashtags. This means you can easily stay up to date with the different topics and communities by following the related hashtags to your interest.
Following a hashtag is just the same as following a user profile. When you find a hashtag you like, click on it to open the hashtag page and tap the follow the button, the same way you would follow a user account.
For brands and businesses, the hashtags provide a great opportunity to appear on the followers' feed often. If you have a branded hashtag, you can ask your followers to follow your special hashtag.
This means that if you post any content with the hashtag, it will appear twice on your follower’s feed. In turn, it'll double your chances of engagement.
Run Hashtag Based Campaigns and Promotions
You can use contests that are structured around user-generated content to improve your hashtag engagement. Such contests are funny and are a great way to drive both engagements and reach a new audience.
The simplest way to do this is to encourage your audience to tag the relevant content with your branded hashtag.
This is like a filing system that everyone in your community can use to get user-generated content.
You can create a contest where you encourage your followers to upload photos on Instagram and tag their posts with your branded hashtag. This will create a wide reach for your business and brand.
Avoid Using Banned Instagram Hashtags
When a hashtag is banned, it means that it has been flagged and disabled by Instagram, mostly for infringing community guidelines. This means that such hashtags are useless for your brand reach.
Make sure that you check to see if a hashtag is banned. Innocent hashtags such as #elevator and #humpday are on the ban list.
How to Use Hashtags On Instagram for Business
Most e-commerce entrepreneurs use Instagram to promote their businesses. It is therefore essential for you to learn how to use Instagram hashtags to increase your business’ reach as well as sales.
Here are some pointers on how to use Instagram for your business:
Make Sure Your Hashtags Are Organized
If you want to have an excellent hashtag system, used a spreadsheet or an Instagram analytical tool to organize your hashtags.
If you go with a spreadsheet you will need to keep track of the number of times you use a particular hashtag and which hashtag is most popular depending on the performance of the post.
You will see there is a relationship between some hashtags and the most popular posts. This will help you determine which hashtags works best for your business.
If you have a social media team, you might want to consider using an Instagram analytical tool that will help you identify top hashtags and also provide reports on the hashtags that reach most people.
If you are a small business, a spreadsheet will do. You will upgrade to Instagram tools once your business has advanced. Make sure that you get a tool that will help you track your data.
Using a manual system can be quite a task especially if you will need to post three times a day with about twenty hashtags on every post.
Figure Out the Number of Hashtags to Use
You will find that most of top brands have a specific number of hashtags per post. Most have seven hashtags or less.
It is important not to stuff your caption with hashtags that do not match your content. Research shows that it is safer to use hashtags below 20 for your posts.
You cannot know the number of hashtags that will work for your brand if you do not test them first. So before you settle for any number of hashtags, make sure you test them to know which number of hashtags works best for you.
Narrow Your Hashtags
This means that your hashtags should be smaller in volume. By smaller in volume, we mean fewer words on your hashtags.
Smaller hashtags have been proven to work better for brands. Also, make sure that the hashtag you use is closer to the interest of your brand. Use hashtags that are ideal for a specific topic.
For example, if your post is about #dogs, the #dogs, as a is quite broad. To make it more specific you can use for example #goldenretriever to get to your specific audience.
Short specific hashtags perform better because these are seen by the specific audience interested in the topic. This will lead to increased engagement with your posts which in turn leads to more sales.
Look Up What Other People Are Hashtagging
A simple way to get hashtags you can use on your posts is to see what your competition is using on their posts.
Another great way to get the best-performing hashtags is to see what influencers are using. Influencers have a large followers audience on Instagram so they must be doing something right.
Use Related Hashtags
Instagram gives you a list of related hashtags once you type a hashtag on the search bar. Instagram will also give you a list of related hashtags if you click on a particular hashtag.
This is a great way to create a list of hashtags that you might want to try out.
Make Sure You Follow Your Hashtag
Another great way to market your hashtag is to follow it on Instagram. When you follow it, you get to see anyone using the hashtag and interact with them.
Make sure your account is not private so you can be in a position to interact with your followers.
It is also a great way to learn what people are talking about your brand and create a great relationship with your followers.
Create A Brand Campaign Hashtag
If you can create a great campaign hashtag, you will be able to attract new followers who will eventually turn into your customers.
While creating a brand campaign hashtag, remember it has to be funny, witty, and memorable to work well.
This type of hashtag works well when you are introducing a new product in the market.
How to Search for Hashtags On Instagram
When searching for hashtags on Instagram you need to tap on the magnifying glass icon on the bottom of your screen.
Then tap the search bar on top of the screen
Select the Tags option.
This will help you get hashtags related to the word that you type on the search bar.
What Are the Top Hashtags for Individuals?
If you use Instagram for personal use, here are some of the top hashtags that you can use.
Daily Hashtags
These hashtags have a theme. They include #motivationmonday, #wackywednesday, and #flashbackfriday just to name a few.
Personal Hashtags
These are hashtags you use for posts that are related to you. Some are #selfie, #me, #vacation and #livingmybestlife.
Acronym Hashtags
These include #ootd which stands for outfit of the day, #tbt for throwback Thursday, and #sotd for the scent of the day.
Holiday Hashtags
These are hashtags ideal for specific holidays such as #IndependenceDay and are used to share how you are spending your holidays.
Can I Use the Same Hashtag for Many Posts?
The easiest answer is no. Instagram will penalize you if you keep using the same hashtags by pushing your posts down so that they do not show up on the tags.
Instagram can further ban your account because of using the same hashtags which could look like you are spamming other users with your content.
Make sure that you keep changing up your hashtags to keep them relevant to every post you put up. You can also look up different hashtags in the same field to avoid getting banned.
What Are the Best Practices for Instagram Hashtags in 2021?
Instagram hashtags are very useful but if used incorrectly, they can look spammy. Many hashtags on the caption can damage your brand perception.
Here are some rules that will help you get more from Instagram hashtags in 2021:
When to Use Instagram Hashtags
You should use Instagram hashtags as often as you can. You need to use hashtags on both posts and stories if you want your content to reach as many people as possible.
With that, there are instances where using hashtags is not necessary, moreover when you are sharing a post on a sensitive topic.
When posting you can decide the tone or the topic you are posting on and what you hope to achieve then from there you can decide if you want to use hashtags or not.
The Number of Hashtags to Use
With this, there is no rule on the number you should use for your post. However, some experts recommend that you use the maximum number of hashtags allowed for a wider reach while others recommend that you should use 5 to 10 hashtags.
Some different strategies and ideas work, but it is up to you to decide which way you will go with your brand.
If you find 30 relevant Instagram hashtags for your brand, use them. If you are not comfortable using many hashtags, you are also free to use the one you are comfortable with on your posts.
The rules are not set here; all you need to do is find what works for you.
What Hashtags to Use
When using hashtags, you have to be very intentional. Make sure that you use hashtags that your target audience is following and searching for.
Also, make sure that you keep changing up your Instagram hashtags for different posts to avoid looking spammy.
Avoid gimmicky hashtags such as #likeforlike, and hashtags that have been used more than 1M times. While they might get you extra likes, they will not help you grow a highly engaged following.
Look for ultra-niche community hashtags that are related to the content you post.
Make sure you use your branded hashtag when it makes sense. This is the first step to get other users to use your brand’s hashtags.
Hashtag Visibility
Instagram gives the option to have the hashtag on the caption or the comments.
Adding hashtags to captions will help you get extra engagement as soon as you publish your post. Having your hashtags on the comment sections, on the other hand, you will have to wait for your comment to be written and posted.
If you are the kind of person who would prefer a tidier caption, you can add break lines between the main part of your caption and the hashtags.
This will keep the captions tucked away so you may maintain a clean aesthetic.
How You Can Hide Hashtags On Your Instagram
After you’ve spent time coming up with a great caption, then you should also ensure that it’s not overcrowded with the many hashtags.
Thankfully there are simple ways you can make the hashtags you use less visible.
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Hiding Instagram Hashtags in The Comment Section
Write a caption without including any hashtag.
Publish your post and click on the speech bubble to write your comment.
Paste your hashtags on the comments box then post.
The hashtags will not be visible on mobile unless users tap “view all comments”. On desktop, however, your comments will remain in the top position. And this works better if you’re looking to reach a mobile audience.
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Hide Your Instagram Hashtags in Captions
You also have the option to hide the hashtags within the caption with them being less visible.
Here is how to hide Instagram hashtags in captions.
At the bottom of the caption, tap Enter or Return. If you do not see either of the buttons then tap 123 to display it.
Enter any punctuation mark, either a dash, period, or bullet then hit return again. Be sure to repeat these steps no less than three times.
As such, Instagram will hide captions after the three lines. That means your hashtags will not be visible to your followers unless they tap more. After that, your caption will be separated from your hashtags so they’ll not distract your followers from the caption.
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How to Hide A Caption On Your Instagram Stories
You can also hide Instagram hashtags on your Instagram stories.
All you need is to decrease the appearance of the hashtags by pinching them so they appear small. Also, you can change the hashtag sticker background from white to semi-transparent.
Again, if you want to hide the hashtags entirely, consider putting a sticker, GIF, or emoji to obscure them.
How You Can Find Trending Hashtags On Instagram
Instagram does not have a list of the trending hashtags as Twitter does. But if you search hashtags on Instagram you’ll see the number of times it has been used.
You will also see other popular hashtags related to the one you just searched for.
When searching for hashtags on mobile, you will need to enter the name on the search box and then tap tag. When on your desktop you will need to add the symbol "#" before the word on the search box.
Sometimes your Instagram feed will display a list of trending hashtags. However, avoid jumping on trends too quickly unless they make sense to your business or the content on a specific post.
Ways You Can Find Multiple Hashtags On Instagram
One of the easiest ways to find multiple hashtags on IG is to have search streams on a social streaming tool such as Hootsuite to get insights on hashtags you may be interested in.
There you get to see how relevant a hashtag is to your content on a single screen without you searching different hashtags like you would on Instagram.
If you have an Instagram business profile you can conduct 30 unique hashtags searches in any seven-day period.
Instagram Pro Tips
It can be a task growing your e-commerce following. It is therefore important to take advantage of every Instagram marketing trick available to help widen your reach.
Here are some tips on how you can use Instagram to broaden your reach as well as some of the best hashtags to help you grow your business account.
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Interact with Your Followers
One of the simplest ways to keep your existing following and grow more is to engage with them. You can even follow your Instagram followers if you like their content.
If they comment on your photos, be sure to like their comment and reply to the comment if you can.
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Post Often
If you post often you will be guaranteed success on Instagram. If you want to post compelling content frequently you get to interact with your customers more often.
If you only post once in a while it will be hard to get the attention of your potential customers.
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Keep Up with Your Competitors
Go through your competitor's post and note down what you like and see what you could do better.
You can use your competitor as your blueprint to success. That's considering they have already discovered a successful formula, so you might as well take advantage of it.
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Visual Content
Make sure that you take the best photos and videos for your content.
Make sure you have quality content to get the attention of your customers. Also, remember to take photos with a similar aesthetic to represent the voice of your brand perfectly.
Instagram Hashtags For Increasing The Reach Of Your Posts And Brand
Instagram has become one of the best places to market your products. Instagram hashtags are one of the best ways to increase the reach of your posts.
Before you use any hashtags on your posts, it is important to do some research to see if they will perform well or you will need to change them.
Always keep up with the hashtag insights with the different tools available so that you can decide if you will continue using the hashtags on your posts or not.
Remember, the best Instagram hashtags for your posts will always depend on your niche and the category your post is in.
Even then, Instagram hashtags can help you increase brand awareness and grow your audience for best results.
