A quick guide to Hashtags on Instagram

May 7, 2018

If you’re on Instagram, chances are you’ve either seen hashtags or you’re using them yourself. They’re a great way to spread your image further than just your followers but they can also get pretty annoying if they’re used in the wrong way (#amIright?!) I want to share my quick tips on how to use hashtags on Instagram to promote your business, connect with like minded people and also grow your following. If you’re not even sure what a hashtag is check out my video explaining them.

Why use hashtags on Instagram?

First of all, Instagram is not like Facebook, which works whether you’re on your mobile or on a desktop computer. Instagram pretty much wants you to stay within the app on your phone. They don’t want you to leave the app which is why they only allow you to have one URL within Instagram which is on your profile page. This means that hashtags on Instagram are the only clickable links within the app.

Apart from the actual navigation buttons of Instagram ‘Home, Search, Add Image, your Activity and Profile’, hashtags allow users to work their way around the Instagram app. Of course, hashtags can be anything you want them to be but they work best when you’re connecting or ‘plugging’ in to collectives of hashtags which other people are using. Such as if you’re at Bluesfest and post a photo, you can tag it #Bluesfest2015 and your image will be shown alongside everyone else who has tagged their image that way.

Five tips to start your Hashtag strategy

Don’t overthink it

First of all, don’t overthink hashtags. They are meant to be a marketing tool and not a source of stress. If you’re just starting out on Instagram use the four questions below to make sense and get your hashtag strategy off the ground!

Which tribe does your product connect with?

Tip: entrepreneurs, hipsters, fashionistas, managers, mums, personal trainers etc

Give your business a broad brush stroke, in one word describe what you do…

Tip: social media tips, nutrition, fashion, handmade, craft, yoga

Where are you located?

Tip: For a lot of businesses starting out on Instagram connecting with the local community is a great way to build your following

What’s the personality behind your post?

Tip: Hashtags are a great way to show more personality, especially if it’s a business account

Congrats! By writing down your answers to these four questions, you’ve got your first four hashtags that relate to what you do.

Three important rules of hashtags

One

Make sure that your post is still readable. We encourage people to add their hashtags at the end of the post, rather than through the text as it can make it hard to read. Better still, once we’ve posted we add in a new comment just below to make everything nice and neat.

Two

There are no spaces in hashtags! That means if you write # yoga it will not work! It needs to be #yoga to be a clickable hashtag link. You do need to have spaces between your hashtags because #yoga#spiritual#beautiful will not work either.

Three

If you want to make sure that your hashtags will connect with your tribe, do your research. To check out what photos people are sharing using a particular hashtag you need to: Be logged into Instagram > Select the Search icon down the bottom > Start typing in the Search bar > Select Hashtags > Press Search.

Go!

You are now ready to start unleashing your Instagram hashtags on the world!