Can you imagine using Instagram without the hashtags? Hashtags make Instagram one of the most powerful social media platforms these days. Without hashtags, Instagram won’t be the Instagram we know today.
But, just like any other social media features, Instagram’s hashtags are also getting revamped every now and then to boost the quality of user experience. If you haven’t noticed already, there are some changes on how hashtags are used these days compared to the past.
Read: How to Gain Loyal Followers on Instagram and Keep Them
The Top Things You Need to Know When Using Instagram Hashtags in 2019
If you often checked your Instagram feed, you should have noticed these changes already, but if you are like most entrepreneurs, who are too busy to take notice, then you must take note of the following to keep yourself up-to-date on how to use hashtags effectively when you are promoting your business on Instagram.
1. You can now follow hashtags
Instagram users can now follow hashtags. This is the best time you need to up your hashtag strategy to leverage from this new update. More than ever, you need to use highly relevant hashtags so that your post would be included in the news feeds of your target audience.
Make sure that you know your niche so that you can come up with the right hashtags. You can also look for related hashtags and use them to get more visibility.
2. Spammy hashtags don’t work anymore
Remember those days when you download apps that give you a long list of hashtags that can increase the number of likes on your posts? Well, those hashtags are now banned on Instagram. Check the rest of the banned hashtags here.
We learn from experience that any under-handed tactics to game a platform’s algorithm don’t really work for a long time. Thus, it is important to stick by the rules and only do ethical practices all the time. Just imagine how much traffic you’ll lose if you are still using those spammy keywords banned by Instagram. It’s not worth your time and effort.
3. You can now measure the effectiveness of your hashtags
This one is for business account only. You can now monitor how effective your hashtags are by checking the Insights section of your account. From there, look for the Impression section and check the performance of your hashtags.
With this new data, you can now easily monitor which of your hashtags are performing well and which ones are not.
4. You can now use hashtags on your Instagram Stories
Hashtags on Instagram Stories? Yes! Stories in Instagram hashtags? Oh, Yes! If you click on a hashtag page, you can now see a collection of stories on the left side. This means that aside from regular posts, you can now use hashtags in stories to increase the visibility of your brand.
When your stories can be potentially seen by thousands or even millions of users on Instagram, it is something that you should not fail to leverage.
When adding hashtags in your story, remember that you are only allowed to add up to 10. Thus, only use the most relevant and popular keywords.
5. You can now put hashtags on your bio
Definitely not a news, but for sure there are still many who don’t know this. Strategically put your brand and most relevant niche hashtags on your bio to increase your profile’s visibility. Your brand hashtags should be something unique so that every content that can be found there are from you, your followers, and your community.
Putting hashtags on your bio also helps you boost your personal branding, which can help you build your reputation in your niche.
6. You can use 30 hashtags on regular posts
Have you tried using 30 hashtags on your regular posts? Instagram actually allowed this but based from experience, 30 hashtags are just too many. But, if there’s really a situation that calls for that, then why not?
If you use 30 hashtags in a single post, make sure that every hashtag is relevant and that these hashtags won’t make your content spammy. You can do this by splitting the hashtags into two groups. The first one you add into your post and the second one, you add on the comment section of your post.
Putting hashtags into your post’s comment section can actually help make your post look clean and professional.
7. Hashtags only works on your posts
If you think you can spam your hashtags on the comment sections of other accounts’ posts, then you are in for a disappointment.
Hashtags only work when you use them on your posts, thus save your time and effort and don’t copy and paste your hashtags when you comment on someone else’s Instagram posts.
Read: Social Media Experts Warn Instagram Algorithm Changes in 2019
How to Find the Best Hashtags for Your Brand?
There are actually a few ways that can help you find appropriate hashtags that are relevant to your brand, and at the same time, the ones that are used and searched by many Instagram users. Here’s how you can do it.
1. Use Instagram’s search. For example, if you are an online marketing agency, try to search for the hashtag #digitalmarketing, and you’ll see these hashtag suggestions.
You pick the one with the most number of posts because that means there are many people who are using that, and that increases the chances of your post getting seen by hundreds or thousands of people.
2. You can also find relevant hashtags from related hashtags section when you search for a hashtag. See screenshot below.
When you click those related hashtags, you can see another set of related hashtags again. Pick the ones that are the most relevant and most popular.
3. Last but not the least, you can use a hashtag generator. This is the one that I usually use especially in times when I run out of ideas.
All Hashtag can also help you find out if a certain keywords that you want to use is popular enough. Try it out for you to appreciate.
When deciding what hashtags to use, always consider your target audience. It is also highly recommended that you use a couple of your own brand’s hashtags so that you can track if your followers are using them and at the same time, it can help you monitor if a certain campaign is taking a momentum or not.
How about you? What is your hashtag strategy? If you don’t have one, our team can help you run an organic Instagram campaign. This kind of campaign doesn’t only increase your followers naturally but also helps you drive high quality traffic to your money site. Contact KISS PR organic Instagram growth agency today at 972-437-8942 for a free consultation, or you can simply fill out this form.