Instagram hashtags are still an effective way to get more eyes (and engagement!) on your Instagram posts in 2021.
A post with at least one Instagram hashtag averages 12.6% more engagement than posts without a hashtag. So it really is worth creating a hashtag strategy for your brand if you want to grow your account!
This ultimate guide to Instagram hashtags will help you understand everything you need to know about using hashtags to get more followers, improve your engagement rate, and build a community around your business.
Why Instagram Hashtags Are Important
Instagram has gone through a lot of changes since 2010, but through it all, one thing has stayed consistent: the importance of Instagram hashtags.
Even in 2021, using relevant, targeted hashtags on your posts and stories is one of the best ways to get discovered by new audiences on Instagram. And this can translate into more engagement, more followers, and more customers for your business.
In short, hashtags are what make your Instagram content discoverable.
Think about the time and energy that goes into any given Instagram post.
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From snagging the perfect snapshot to crafting a clever caption, you don’t want all of that legwork to go to waste.
That’s where hashtags come in. Users can discover content by searching hashtags on their own or tapping through related posts for a particular tag. Here’s an example of how hashtags can send you down a rabbit hole of relevant content.
You can almost think of hashtags like you might think of keywords for a search engine, all confined to Instagram.
Neglecting Instagram hashtags means making your posts more difficult for potential followers to spot. On the flip side, taking a few seconds to tack on some tags instantly makes your posts discoverable.
Hashtags encourage audience interactions
Food for thought: according to recent Instagram statistics, posts including at least one hashtag score more engagement than those that feature none.
Followers engage with hashtags, plain and simple. That’s why so many brands promote their own branded hashtags to encourage interactions with their customers.
For example, check out how Punky promotes its #punkycolour tag in its Instagram bio. Followers who do so have a chance to be featured on the Punky feed via user-generated content.
Clicking through tags, it’s crystal clear that Punky’s followers are more than happy to hype up their latest purchases.
In turn, Punky publishes follower photos to its own feed. They also manage to include a variety of beauty-specific hashtags within posts to further expand their reach.
As a result, followers and influencers are empowered to continuously engage with branded hashtags so they can eventually be featured themselves.
See how that works? Without branded hashtags for Instagram, these organic opportunities to create brand advocates would be impossible.
Hashtags can clue you in on industry trends
If you’re on the hunt for what’s hot in your industry, look no further than trending hashtags.
Whether it’s your target audience or fellow brands, hashtags can clue you in on what people are buzzing about.
Consistently following tags can help you keep a close eye on competitors as well as what people are saying about your own brand.
And hey, that’s where tools like Sprout Social can come in handy.
Sprout’s suite of Instagram analytics tools makes it easy to monitor hashtags related to you and your competitors. Additionally, features such as social listening help ensure that tags related to your brand are based on positive mentions and interactions versus negative ones.
How to use hashtags for Instagram
Now that we’ve highlighted why hashtags matter, it’s time to talk about coming up with a publishing strategy.
In other words, which hashtags make sense for your business’ posts?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer here, but here are some ideas to help serve as a starting point.
Community and industry-specific hashtags
The best hashtags are the ones that speak your customers’ language.
Simply put, these are tags that are popular enough that they’ll actually get used but aren’t so popular that your posts will get lost in the shuffle.
For example, there are tons of beauty-related hashtags such as #unicornhair or #mermaidhair that speak to a more specific audience than just #beauty.
Similarly, a fitness brand with a predominantly female demographic might find more success with tags related to #femalefitness versus #fitness by itself.
You might be surprised at what types of niche hashtags are out there. Beyond Instagram’s own recommendation engine, there are a few Instagram analytics tools that can help you discover new tags. Here’s a screenshot from Keyhole, for example.
And here’s another from All-Hashtag.
Branded hashtags
As noted, creating your own hashtag should be a matter of “when,” not “if.”
Perfect for promoting your Instagram and encouraging user-generated content
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